{"id":20011,"date":"2013-07-06T17:49:56","date_gmt":"2013-07-07T00:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arizonafoothillsmagazine.com\/aznightlife\/?p=20011"},"modified":"2013-07-06T17:52:14","modified_gmt":"2013-07-07T00:52:14","slug":"july-4th-at-maya-day-and-nightclub-with-fatboy-slim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arizonafoothillsmagazine.com\/aznightlife\/july-4th-at-maya-day-and-nightclub-with-fatboy-slim\/","title":{"rendered":"July 4th at Maya Day and Nightclub with Fatboy Slim"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"fatboyslim_three\"<\/a><\/p>\n

by: Amanda Savage<\/a><\/p>\n

Fatboy Slim\u2019s performance at Maya Day and Nightclub transitioned day-drinking to nightlife. As the sun set, the ear numbing, grooving bass of the DJ veteran rattled through the the club.<\/p>\n

Norman Cook, a.k.a. Fatboy Slim, danced inside the DJ booth, parading a loose Hawaiian shirt and board shorts. His intensity and high-energy had the back stage banging, as sun cooked skin covered in wet bikinis and board shorts\u00a0\u2014\u00a0with a smell of chlorine, sunscreen and vodka\u00a0\u2014 danced mindlessly around the DJ pit.<\/p>\n

Red, white, blue and neon rocked to Slim\u2019s eclectic DJ set that included sounds ranging from: pop, rock, electro, house and even Middle Eastern styles.<\/p>\n

At times Cook was reminiscent of a mad scientist behind the tables. He wore a wide grin that would frequently lip-sync the words to the song he was playing. He would move between an intense focus on his mixing board and laptop, to releasing himself \u00a0from the tables and breaking into a dance.<\/p>\n

He wrapped-up his set \u00a0wearing a mask of his own face while spinning mashups of Cypress Hill\u2019s \u201cJump Around,\u201d \u201cGet Low\u201d \u00a0by Ludacris, \u201cSatisfaction\u201d by The Rolling Stones and his classic, \u201cFunk Soul Brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

AFM caught up with Cook after his performance to discuss the recent success of his new single, \u201cEat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat,\u201d making music and juggling his two identities: Norman Cook the dad, and Fatboy Slim the wild \u00a0DJ.<\/p>\n

\"fatboyslim_one\"<\/a><\/p>\n

AFM: Hey! Great show! How long has it been since you\u2019ve been here?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> I\u2019ve actually never been here before.<\/p>\n

AFM: Really? What did you think?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> It\u2019s interesting, I actually came straight off of the plane. It\u2019s weird kind of sort of, the whole EDM thing in America.<\/p>\n

AFM: Yea that was something I was going to talk to you about. I mean, how is it for you? You were touring in 1999 and 2000, now you\u2019ve come back and it\u2019s completely different.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> It\u2019s nice. It\u2019s lovely seeing a a new generation of kids getting into it. And it\u2019s weird because this music was kind of invented in America 25 years ago, we took it to Europe and then me and the Chemical Brothers brought it back in the 90s, and now it\u2019s around again. It\u2019s lovely to see the way is cross pollinates around the world. Obviously the internet, it\u2019s bringing us all together.<\/p>\n

AFM: How is that? With technology? Going from the old-school system of making music to playing off of your laptop?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> I\u2019m kind of old school. it took me a while to get from vinyl to laptop.<\/p>\n

AFM: Do you like it better now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> I like it now, I\u2019ve gotten used to it. The social media is still a bit beyond me. I\u2019m always chasing it around. . . it\u2019s so instant. It\u2019s hard for a man of my age to keep up.<\/p>\n

AFM: You update regularly though.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> Well, I kind of have people do that for me (smirks). If I were left to my own devices I would be updating things three weeks later, when people would be like, \u201cthat\u2019s been, and gone.\u201d \u00a0It\u2019s amazing how fast things are happening (now), ya know \u201cEat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat\u201d came out a few weeks ago and people are already making their own t-shirts.<\/p>\n

\"IMGL6384\"<\/a><\/p>\n

AFM: Yea, so you\u2019re new song, \u201cEat, Sleep, Rave Repeat,\u201d \u2013 I read online that you ran into some guy who was talking about a bender he had been on, and you were like \u201cI\u2019m going to make that a song,\u201d Is that correct?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> Yea, it\u2019s correct. He was a crazy dude.<\/p>\n

AFM: What\u2019s that story?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> He was just some crazy dude we met. And again, thanks to technology you just record things you find. Then you can take it to the studio, chop it up and make a tune out of it.<\/p>\n

AFM: How does your brain connect some crazy story you hear to wanting to turn it into a song?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> It was the way he said it. \u201cEat, sleep, rave, repeat\u201d \u2014 I could hear the rhythm. Ya know, the way he said it (partially singing) \u201ceat, sleep, rave, repeat, eat, sleep, rave, repeat,\u201d then I\u2019m like, I just hear the rhythm. It\u2019s the same way I came up with \u201cright about now, funk soul brother.\u201d He wasn\u2019t rapping it, he just said it, \u201cright about now, funk soul brother\u201d and I heard the rhythm (singing it to the songs rhythm) \u201cright about now. . . funk soul brother.\u201d So yea, ya know, you just hear rhythm in things.<\/p>\n

AFM: Your mind \u00a0is kind of always there?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> Yea, yea, you just think too, \u201cthat kind of sounds like a good slogan.\u201d You can see it on t-shirts, \u00a0and I think it (\u201cEat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat\u201d) strikes a chord with various people (smiles).<\/p>\n

AFM: Yea, it definitely does (laughs).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> Yea, I was just in Glastonbury, and at Glastonbury everyone was like (smiles) \u00a0\u201cyea, Eat, Sleep, Rave Repeat.\u201d<\/p>\n

AFM: It was definitely on their level. Is your new music going to be kind of random and fun like that? What\u2019s that going to sound like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> To be honest, on the whole, I\u2019m mainly DJing. That was just one little thing, so ya know. With the success of it I\u2019m surprised if I don\u2019t get pressure to do it (make more music). The last few years I\u2019ve been pretty happy just DJing. I haven\u2019t really been in the studio.<\/p>\n

AFM: So you think you probably wont be making any new music this year?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> I think I\u2019ll be brought into it because of the success of it (\u201cEat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat\u201d). Ya know I feel the pressure but I don\u2019t feel like I have to<\/em> do it (make new music).<\/p>\n

AFM: You\u2019ve paid your dues.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> Yea. . .but then you come into this joint and the next thing you know you\u2019ve got a record in your hands.<\/p>\n

AFM: So,where did the name Fatboy Slim come from?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> Thin air.<\/p>\n

AFM: Really? You just woke up one day and were like \u2018Fatboy Slim.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> I just needed another name for a different label and a \u00a0slightly different kind of music. \u00a0It\u2019s not an oxymoron or anything like that.<\/p>\n

AFM: So you\u2019ve went through a lot of phases and changes in your life, where are you today as Norman Cook and Fatboy Slim.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> Today I\u2019m half a committed father of two, and the other half of my life I\u2019m Fatboy Slim the DJ. . .<\/p>\n

AFM: And jumping around on stage . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> (laughs) Excellent, yes. Jumping around on stage and turning people on to me records.\u00a0And like I said, at the moment that doesn\u2019t really involve being in the studio as a producer and an artist. I\u2019m half DJ half dad.<\/p>\n

AFM: A bit of a double life?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> Yea, it is a double life. Ten years ago the lines were blurred with where Norman ended and where Fatboy Slim begun. But now, I\u2019ve got a grasp on that. When I\u2019ve got the Hawaiian shirt on I\u2019m Fatboy Slim, when I take it off, I\u2019m Norman.<\/p>\n

AFM: So when you change the shirt, we know?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> Yea, it\u2019s kind of like Superman, but instead stupid man (laughs).<\/p>\n

AFM: (laughs) So, on a perfect day, you\u2019ve got no obligations. What are you doing? Are you Norman or Fatboy Slim?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norman:<\/strong> Both. I would love to get on a plane and come do this. Or I would be at home being a dad.<\/p>\n

Follow Amanda on Twitter @Amanda_Savage<\/a><\/p>\n

Photos from Maya Day and Nightclub by Steve Yap Photography<\/a><\/p>\n