Missed the Good Vibrations Festival 2009 line-up? Check it here on inthemix!
The legendary Fatboy Slim has lived to see another day. Dance music fans went into collective shock in May when UK rag The Sun reported that Norman Cook was slamming down his vodka shot glass and retiring his notorious Fatboy Slim moniker. “The good news is I’m not dead,” Norman confidently states. “I’ve had thirty five gigs around the world since, so the news was vastly premature.” So how did it happen? “‘No’ was read as ‘yes’,” Norman explains. “It didn’t achieve anything except we keep talking about it. I’ve learnt that I will never talk to tabloid journalists again.”
Dance diplomat, trailblazer, icon of popular culture, musician, producer and DJ. Norman Cook is all these and more. After pursuing an instrumental career with The Housemartins in the 80s and Beats International until the early nineties, it was his big beat revolution under the pseudonym Fatboy Slim that made Norman Cook a global name. With tracks like Rockafeller Skank and Praise You smashing apart both dancefloors and radiowaves, Fatboy Slim successfully bridged the gap between mainstream and the underground back in the heady days of the late 90s. Alongside his infamous beach parties in his home town of Brighton, Fatboy Slim can undoubtedly take a slice of the credit for elevating dance culture into the mainstream.
But who exactly is Fatboy Slim? “Fatboy Slim is an idiot alter ego who puts on a bad Hawaiian shirt, drinks a bottle of vodka and becomes Mr Hyde. He doesn’t give a fuck about food, never eats and forgets his family.” So the question then begs, who is Norman Cook? “He’s the Dr Jekyll,” Norman quips. “A loving husband and father who cooks a lot, loves his family and owns restaurants.” So why the need for aliases? Do the different stage names satisfy the different musical tastes perhaps? “There are daily barriers and you don’t always get away with just the one character,” he counters. “You can swap personas and push the boundaries of each genre and do different things.”
The phenomenon behind Fatboy Slim begins with a young Quentin Leo Cook who grew up in the historic town of Reigate in Surrey. Quentin, affectionately nicknamed Norman, was nurtured through a middle class upbringing and his parent’s collection of 60s music on vinyl. At age sixteen he stumbled into black music where a world of dance rhythms opened before him. It was while attending college in the seaside town of Brighton at age eighteen, studying English, Politics and Sociology, that the turntables drew his attention. He began DJing for parties and weddings, an endeavor that helped him pay his way through university.
The party spirit of Fatboy Slim was fostered in the frantic vista of Brighton, and shaped by the seaside city’s frantic pace. Still keen to be involved in music, Norman took on the bass guitar role in his afore mentioned pop band The Housemartins. While the group scored a couple of hit tunes, the project was shortlived. As he told ITM, with the benefit of hindsight he prefers to dance industry to the live music scene. “DJs are a lot less bitchy,” he says. “We all seem to stick together. We’re friendly with each other and there’s hugs all round. With bands, everyone is more standoffish. There are more egos to deal with.”
It was after leaving The Housemartins that Norman met studio engineer Simon Thornton, who proved to be a longterm musical partner. Projects like Beats International, Freakpower, Pizzaman, The Mighty Dub Katz were quickly formed, as well as a venture into nightclub promoting with The Big Beat Boutique. But it was with the release of Better Living Through Chemistry in 1996 that Fatboy Slim stepped up to the limelight. Two years alter he took over the world with Rockafeller Skank, with his ensuing album You’ve Come A Long Way Baby scoring a home run as Praise You reached number one on the charts, winning many awards for its Spike Jonze directed video.
So how has Norman Cook brought his background as a musician to play with his mischievous dance music alter egos? “First, I leave my guitar at home,” he says. “When I’m DJing, I’m thinking about the crowd and about the equipment. I entertain the crowd rather than stand around. I’ve learnt a lot more showbiz tricks from being in a band though. I know more about showbiz stuff rather than just standing around the decks.” Fatboy Slim has since traveled the world over in the last 10 years, performing in festivals and clubs. In spite of his global superstardom, he’s retained a sense of humility. “I’m not very artistic,” he insists. “I’m creative and love producing great music and great clips but my drawing is shit. I sing about as well as I draw too.” When you’ve achieved as much as he has, what can you do musically to push the limit and set the bar even higher? “I constantly ask myself that question,” Norman ponders. “You just keep trying things. You keep making noises.”
He’s continuing to do exactly that with his current project Brighton Port Authority. Labeled by Norman as a collection of collaborations from over the last twenty years, that were never quite finished after Fatboy took over. Norman notes that it was his musical partner Simon who pulled out all the tapes from a cardboard box and resumed the project. Hesitant at first and believing it to be “eclectic and all over the place”, once Norman heard the music remastered, he thought it didn’t actually sound too bad. Featuring massive names like David Byrne, Iggy Pop, Dizzee Rascal, Jamie T and more, most of it was recorded in a studio in the Port of Brighton. “It was recorded on the ground of Brighton Port with no authority,” Norman said with his tongue firmly in cheek. “We definitely won’t be touring. The follow up album will be in twenty five years and Iggy Pop may soon make a guest appearance.”
With the exciting news that Fatboy Slim will be headlining Good Vibrations, Norman notes that he’s a very happy man at the moment. “I’m coming to the end of six months of touring. I’ll have a bit of a rest and holiday with my wife and son, and mentally prepare myself for Australia… Good Vibrations is going to be banging. Expect something really visual. Technically, I’m playing records. I’ll be using Serato, which is linked to the visuals so anything I do on the decks will be seen on the screen. We’re going to build a big fucken screen too. Big. But… expect the same old bullocks with my music,” he flippantly adds
Run for cover everybody, cause the return of Fatboy Slim is nigh. “Hullo!” he shouts to his fans. “It will be nice to see you again. Sorry it’s been a while!”
Fatboy Slim will be unleashing the mayhem at the Good Vibrations festival in February 2009… For all the latest on the tour check out ITM’s festival page:
Sat Feb 14 – Sydney, Centennial Park
Sun Feb 15 – Melbourne, The Nursery: Flemington Racecourse
Sat Feb 21 – Gold Coast, Parklands Showgrounds
Sun Feb 22 – Perth, Heirisson Island
To get a taste of the madness, check out the clip for Brighton Port Authority’s Toe Jam featuring David Byrnes and Dizzee Rascal!
Quiet Chaos says...
I’ll be using Serato, which is linked to the visuals We’re going to build a big fucken screen too. Big. But… expect the same old bullocks with my music Sounds amazing! just what we need at Good vibes, Great Beats and something big and purty to look at
Gypsy says...
I can't wait. I loved him at Summadayz a few years back and though he put on a great show. Next yrs Good Vibes looks the goods. New venue...every exciting!
dleklas says...
Who cares. He is past it. Hasn't produced a good track in almost a decade.
ssparks says...
does anyone have the Nokia presale code to purchase good vibrations tickets today???
i_have_ADD says...
am told the nokia presale password is - nokiamusic
Oli-G says...
an interesting tidbit is that his real name is Quinten not norman he changed it when he was in some anti thatcher band during the 80s because quinten was a name for toffs