What was the first pub you got served in?

I used to have a dodgy Youth Hostel Association fake ID – I think I found it somewhere – and that seemed to serve me pretty well. I was probably like 14 or 15, hanging out in West London. I seem to remember being able to get a Southern Comfort and Coke in some scout hut for some evening event somewhere, and James Brown was playing.

Is Southern Comfort still your go-to pub order?

Absolutely not. Disgusting stuff. But you know, when you’re a kid, you just want the nearest thing to orange squash, right? When I go to a pub now, I’m pretty happy with a pint of Stella or Kronenbourg. Normal lagers. I might progress on to a wine if I’m eating. If it’s winter, I might go for more of a bitter, or an IPA.

You grew up around Twickenham; you’ve got a studio in Clerkenwell – but what’s the best area of London?

I think Clerkenwell has a proper vibe. I moved there in my twenties. It was super busy during the week, and then at the weekend, it would just be like The Twilight Zone. Turnmills was there, and there was one petrol station to buy cigarettes or whatever on Clerkenwell Road. And that was it.

And the worst area?

I think it would have to be deep east. I feel very out of sorts there. As the river gets wider, I get a little less kind of confident of where I am.

Your dance music beginnings were in jungle and hardcore – what’s your favourite record from that era?

“We Are I.E.”, Lennie De Ice.

What were you wearing during the glory days of UK garage?

I was basically a jungle and drum and bass head. So when I was going out, I was wearing long sleeve Champion tops, trainers, and jeans. When the garage thing came along, suddenly it was all No Caps, No Hoods, No Trainers. I had to have a specific set of shoes that I used to wear when I went DJing – they were pretty gross, sort of like slip-on blue suede shoes. I had to dress up a little bit to fit in in those circles.

Do you have a go-to fragrance?

Tacit by Aesop.

Are there any songs or remixes you’ve done that you look back on and aren’t happy with?

No, I think generally I’m pretty fussy about what I put out, so I think I’m probably proud of 99.9% of things that I’ve released. I think I might have done maybe a couple of remixes where the originals were a bit cheesy and I didn’t necessarily like, but I felt like I managed to put my take on them and make them a little bit more palatable.

Your Madrugada album from 2020 showed a different side to MJ Cole – who are your classical music influences?

Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Schumann – those quite flamboyant, heavily emotional, expressive, romantic piano pieces. I was less good on the more restrained composers like Bach and Mozart.

What has the rest of 2025 got in store for you?

The live show that I’ve been doing this year is brand new, so that’s been exciting. I’m working on new versions of “Sincere” and “Crazy Love” at the moment. And then I’ve got a big run of making new music with new people.

What did you have for lunch today?

I had a salad with lentils, feta, tuna, chilies, and a bit of balsamic vinegar.

MJ’s Insta - LINK