Half an hour of interview, before two hours of a set as frenzied as it is powerful, with the good scent of the 1990s. The famous English DJ, Fatboy Slim, is giving two concerts in France, this Friday in Bordeaux and Saturday in Paris, after that of Marseille on Thursday, the opportunity to return with him to the evolution of his discipline, since its genesis in the nineties, but also of the public. Without forgetting to talk about football, he is a big fan of Brigthon, Roberto De Zerbi’s former club.
You don’t often come to concerts in France, why?
Because the world really is a huge place. And there are so many places to go! But I’ve played quite a bit in France over the last two years, in any case I’ve played more there than in the last ten years. In reality, we go where we are invited, where we have great offers, where we feel a good vibe, and we haven’t really felt that in France for many years. And we weren’t really invited. I don’t know what’s changed since then, maybe because I did Cercle, and we found some very cool fans. I was also distracted by Brazil, Japan, Australia, New Zealand. I really like traveling and now everyone dances, so I can perform everywhere.
Where do you feel the best vibe with the audience?
In Brazil, Japan, and Australia, I would say that it is my top 3. Oh and there is Argentina too, we have the same sense of humor. I really like the sense of humor in France, but we don’t dance to the same rhythm and we don’t laugh at the same jokes. In Australia, I’ve been playing there for twenty-five years, we speak the same language, we have the same sense of humor, we like bad jokes. It depends a lot on whether you laugh at my jokes, actually.
A documentary on DJ Mehdi met a lot of success in France, did you know him?
Ah Medhi, of course I knew him, I knew him well! I played with him a lot. He wasn’t a friend either, but he was a very touching person. Over the years, you meet everyone in this industry. I did a lot of shows with Daft Punk too.
How do you perceive the evolution of DJs since the 1990s?
It became really huge, with electro dance music (EDM), worldwide, with the Internet. Before no one listened to this kind of music, you had to have a friend take you to a club to discover it. There was none on the radio. At the time we said to ourselves, wow, but what is this music? Now children at 5 years old go on YouTube. It became huge, and commercial. Today, there is no longer any need to spend two years to understand how it works, to build a vinyl collection, and there was this feeling between DJs, that we were all brothers. We all helped each other, we lent each other helmets if we had forgotten them. And the money and the glory arrived. We didn’t do it for the money or the fame, we did it for the music and the party. I stopped playing electro dance music festivals. It’s too commercial, that’s not what I like. Today things are stabilizing, we meet in airports, and I reconsider all DJs as my brothers.
And the evolution of the public?
You always feel how it’s going to go. After the presence of drugs changes a lot of things. When you play in front of a crowd that is on ecstasy, it becomes religious. I think it plays more on the way I enjoy being with the public. I can understand that people want to keep a memory of the moment, and I’m not sure that filming makes you less in the thing. I have an anecdote on this subject, three, four years ago we projected “leave your phone and enjoy the moment” on the giant screens, and I saw lots of photos of this phrase on social networks. In fact, people were taking pictures of him and filming the moment.
A lot of things from the 1990s are coming back into fashion, how do you see this comeback?
I always played the music I loved. Sometimes people say to me: “Oh you did a set from the 1990s! » But not at all, this sound just came out last week! But these are the sounds I love, with the energy I love. I’m glad I lasted long enough to become fashionable again. For me it’s house music, dance music, no matter the era, the rhythm remains the same. It’s not a huge revolution in terms of rhythm, it’s still boom boom boom.
What advice would you give to a young person who wants faire a career as a DJ?
Love music first, and then money and fame. And always communicates with the crowd, always looks at them. Because it’s so easy to learn how to make mixes, but it’s not just about hitting lots of buttons quickly. You have to engage in a conversation with the crowd, and to do that you have to look at them. You have to love music first. Even if you don’t know music, you can do a really good and long set, but to be a real DJ you also have to be able to play at a wedding, you can do music for a movie, you can perform in a place where no one dances and you have to read the place. The most important thing is knowing how to adapt, and I love that!
Are you planning to release an album?
Hmmm. No. I don’t really love recording anymore, I did it for so long, for thirty-five years! On the other hand, I still experience the same joy in being a DJ, discovering new cities, without knowing if it will work, making friends, having fun. Rediscover that the French are capable of partying like that! Lockdown during the pandemic made me realize how much I loved it, and how lucky I was to do this! I cherish this!
I think you like football, are youYOU ever come to see a match in Marseille?
No, but I saw them play at Brighton in the Europa League last year. I’m a huge Brighton fan, I was their sponsor for nine years. So I was like crazy when we qualified for a European Cup for the first time. I even found gigs for the matches in Athens and Rome. So I would go to the game and then I would do a concert. The match against Marseille was the first, we were notified late and I already had a concert in America so I couldn’t come. But I would have loved to come and see a match in Marseille. And what’s more, Marseille has recovered our coach, Roberto De Zerbi, I wish him good luck, he deserves it.
