LIFE is pretty good for Fatboy Slim, the DJ alter ego of British musician Norman Cook.
Whether he’s ‘orchestrating a collective euphoria’ on dance floors around the globe, or planning his next restaurant, Cook is having a great time.
He owns a beach-front cafe in his hometown of Hove and will soon open an eatery in LA.
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READ NOWNow 54, Cook began his musical life as bass player in The Housemartins before being vaulted to stardom with his 1998 album You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby.
With tracks like Right Here, Right Now, The Rockafeller Skank and Praise You, the record introduced a generation to electronic music.
Cook said the period following the album’s release was like being caught in a storm.
“It did feel like you were swept up in it and there was no getting off,” he said.
“Bits of it were a little bit scary.”
Of all the music he’s recorded, he nominated Right Here, Right Now as the track he’s most proud of.
“I hear it in a lot in different environments – a lot of football teams come out to it,” he said.
“Rather than thinking ‘Oh my god, that’s one of my tunes’, I actually get goosebumps.
“It’s got a kind of epic quality that I never tire of – it doesn’t seem to have dated.”
It’s one he’ll be sure to spin when he travels to Perth in January for his second headline performance at Red Hill Auditorium’s Electric Gardens festival.
Cook said last year’s show at Red Hill was one of the most memorable of his career.
“Red Hill Auditorium is lovely,” he said.
“It was one of those really magical venues and one of those magical evenings that I will cherish and take to my grave.”
THE ESSENTIALS
What: Fatboy Slim at Electric Gardens
Where: Red Hill Auditorium
When: January 19, 2018
Tickets: www.electricgardens.com.au