One of the best things about being at the very top of your profession is that you get to call the shots. A powerhouse of a man with an encyclopedic knowledge of dance music, seemingly limitless reserves of energy, and a passion for his craft that has never for a minute faded into cynicism, Carl Cox is indisputably one of the best-loved DJs in the world. His name will always ensure that a club is packed, and his talent means that no one ever leaves the dance floor disappointed. Carl Cox can make any demands he wants, and expect them to be fulfilled by keen promoters.

So this is what he wants: ‘Realistically, I’ve only got another ten years or so doing this. So what I’m doing now has to matter. I want to play sets that are a minimum of three hours long, preferably six. I want to take over the night, and give people their full money’s worth. I don’t want to play for an hour and if you blink, you miss me. I want people to be able to see me still there, at the end of the night.

‘If I take on a residency anywhere in the world now, there’s a reason for it. I want to give people a journey, to break down barriers by playing all kinds of good music – whether it’s old school tracks, jazz, funk, or thumping techno. I want people to now know who I am and what I’m about. All the stuff I have done has been a build-up to where I am now. It’s taken 12 years of hard, solid graft. I’ve kept the momentum, the stamina. Now I want to use that expertise.’

A big, genial man who makes his job seem easy because he does it with such passion, Carl Cox has more than paid his dues. He started off playing weddings and house parties in South London in the early 80s, then promoting his own events at a time when it was almost impossible for an unknown DJ – let alone a black DJ – to break into the small, elitist London club scene. Carl was there at the very start of the acid house revolution, providing the sound system that fired Paul Oakenfold’s now-legendary after-hours parties at The Project in Streatham in 1987 and the first nights of Danny Rampling’s Shoom club. But his skills as a DJ went largely unrecognized until the big illegal outdoor raves of 1989. Few of the established DJ names wanted to play these events, and suddenly Carl had his chance to shine: he quickly became the rave DJ, the name every promoter wanted on their flyer, driving hundreds of miles across the UK to play several different events on the same night and keeping up a punishing schedule week after week that would have floored most of us in a night.

Since then, he’s continued to push at the boundaries, to work hard and always to do it on his own terms: setting up his own label, and establishing his Ultimate Bass night, which ended after celebrating its fifth and final birthday this March. But most of all, he began swapping miles on the motorway for hours in the air as he travelled ever further to spread his musical message. His huge success has led to a string of awards – this year alone, the NME Brats Award for Best DJ, Outstanding Contribution to Dance Music at both The Diesel U: Music Awards and Dancestar Awards as well as Best DJ at The Dancestar Awards. He’s also found success on the radio and as a TV presenter. But for Carl, the main thing will always be the music, and he now wants to focus all of his considerable energies on it. ‘I want to give as much to it as possible.’

At the moment, Carl has just one UK residency, playing monthly at Renaissance in Nottingham, right in the centre of England in a venue – Media – that offers the kind of quality he demands. ‘My agenda is still very packed.

Because every year now I have to make sure that I play in certain places in the world: Mexico, Portugal, Spain, America. I have to choose my gigs really carefully, make them more of an event. I don’t want to be on a flyer with ten other DJs any more.’

He runs his own small independent label, In-Tec (International Techno), a labor of love which refreshingly is more about showcasing new artists whose music he enjoys than about chasing commercial success. ‘I’m able to play every single record that I sign to my label, and enjoy it,’ he smiles. ‘If it has four tracks on it, I’ll play all four tracks. It’s more personal.’

Carl is also currently writing and recording his third album as an artist, working on musical collaborations with the likes of Norman Cook, Josh Wink and Christian Smith, and moving into soundtracks (he’s created the new theme music to the cult action cartoon series Dragonball Z ). But most of all, he’s traveling the world doing what he loves best – taking the music to the people on the dancefloor.

‘I’m still having fun’ he says. ‘I’m still enjoying what I’m doing. Things are still progressing. That’s all that really matters.’