If dance music lovers had a zodiac calendar, 2011 would be the year of the Fatboy. At the end of 2008, Brighton-based DJ and producer, Norman Cook, decided that he was potentially going to discontinue performing under his pseudonym, Fatboy Slim. After partnering with ex-Talking Heads member, David Byrne, they set out to record and eventually release an album under the name, The Brighton Port Authority. Lucky for us and bad for the music industry, music downloads surged and it had become increasingly difficult to survive as a successful studio musician. (Not to mention it isn’t anywhere near as fun as playing live in front of 250,000 of your closest friends, like he did in 2002.)
After the release of the BPA’s album, I Think We’re Going To Need A Bigger Boat in 2009, the Fatboy Slim moniker was revived to a ready and willing Australia. Touring sporadically around the world through 2010, including a two year run at Glastonbury, Norman Cook began picking up speed as a force to (still) be reckoned with. With over 70 shows slated for 2011 alone, this year is the most demanding touring schedule he has ever seen.
After kicking his drinking habit over two years ago, Fatboy Slim appears to be having the most fun of his career. Although his productions have slowed, his headlining slots have not. After returning to the United States earlier this year for the first time since 2008, Fatboy Slim headlined the Detroit Electronic Music Festival and this past weekend’s HARD Haunted Mansion. With the end of the year nearing, Norman Cook has achieved what very few could do. He came, he conquered, and he reignited a sense of nostalgia in hundreds of thousands of his loyal fans. Fatboy Slim reminds me a simpler time in dance music, a time where you could watch a music video of Christopher Walken defying gravity and walking on walls, and not have to worry about the media asking you how much drugs you’d have to take to enjoy it.
I was able to speak with Norman before his headlining slot over the weekend at the Los Angeles based, HARD Haunted Mansion and quickly learned that although he might take a break every now and then to satisfy other musical urges, he will always have an insatiable thirst for being Fatboy Slim.
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