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Fatboy Slim on Electroclash, Britney Spears and Football

Author: Angie Ng
Friday, June 21, 2002
Flying into Kuala Lumpur last weekend just after England had reached the last 8 of the World Cup, Fat Boy Slim was both good humoured though realistic about the soccer team's realistic prospects. "When England play well, they play really well; when they play bad, they play terrible," he told a selected group of journalists. "I think if we can beat Brazil…it's er…it's possible we'll win the World Cup."

England of course, didn't beat Brazil, but for Fatboy Slim at least, the Japanese venture appears victorious. Skrufff's Angie Ng fired in the crosses.


Skrufff (Angie Ng): Did you spot any football players attending your gigs in Japan-

Fatboy Slim: No. I don't think any of them were even allowed anywhere near me. I did send a message to somebody who works for David Beckham and said 'wish him luck for me' and he sent a message back saying 'good luck with the tour and he said 'If we do go out, maybe I'll come to one of the gigs'. But obviously with World Cup to play, he wouldn't want to be hanging around in nightclubs drinking with me."

Skrufff: Do you often get soccer players at your gigs in the UK then-

Fatboy Slim: "Yeah, I had the whole Man United team once. I was playing in Dublin coincidentally the night before Beckham's wedding and the entire team, apart from Beckham, came down to my show. Brighton, my team, regularly come down to the club, but only on a Saturday night after the game; on Friday nights they're not allowed anywhere near the club."

Skrufff: You were supposed to work on the Blur album; what happened to that-

Fatboy Slim: Basically what happened was The Gorillaz. We were supposed to start a year ago but because of The Gorillaz's success, everything went back. I thought it was still on and then I heard that they'd started the album without me, so I thought it was off. So, I told NME that it wasn't gonna happen and then the next day Damon called me because he had read it in the NME and said 'Oh no, it's still on'. To be honest I don't think I've got time now, last year I had time to produce the whole album. What I'm gonna do is just help. They didn't want me necessarily to tell them what to do, they just wanted someone else to 'come to the table'; an extra input. So I'll try and do that but I haven't got much time. It takes 5 months to produce a whole album and I've got a Fatboy Slim album to make."

Skrufff: Have you got caught up in the electro-clash thing; are you, for example, playing Sunglasses At Night or Fischerspooner-

Fatboy Slim: No. I haven't really got into it, it's a bit too 80's for me. I never really liked 80's music the first time around and that's why The House Martins sounded like we did. It was a kind of reaction to the whole synth-pop thing. I like Sunglasses At Night and I like Fisherspooner but there are certain things I'd think 'No…I'm jumping on the bandwagon here'. When drum and bass came out, everyone back then said 'Why don't you make drum and bass records' and I was like 'Just because they're good doesn't mean they're really me'. I don't want to copy every new fashion that just comes along. I've played Sunglasses At Night a few times but it's not something that's really "floating my boat" (enthusing him) at the moment."

Skrufff: Besides The Chemical Brothers, is there any one else that you hang out with back in the UK and talk about the state of the music industry-

Fatboy Slim: "A lot of my friends are DJs, Jon Carter, Damien from Midfield General, Darren Emerson I get on very well with; they're the ones that come around my house for dinner, Ashley Beedle from X-Press 2 too. Being a DJ for so long you get to know everyone and a lot of my friends are DJs."

Skrufff: Being a DJ for so long; is there one thing about the industry that you guys could or should change-

Fatboy Slim: Erm…No everything seems to be going rather well, for us. The whole DJ culture is stronger than ever, we're getting more work, we're getting paid better, we're getting treat
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