Fatboy Slim: Fabric axe is very sad but underground clubs will live on

The DJ is confident that the underground scene will survive the closure
Superstar DJ: Fatboy Slim performing in Brazil
Lucas Uebel/Getty Images
Alistair Foster9 September 2016
The Weekender

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Fatboy Slim today predicted that new dance venues will emerge following the closure of Fabric.

The London superclub had its licence revoked this week by Islington council, which claimed that it had a “culture of drug use” that staff were “incapable of controlling”. Fabric has said it will appeal the decision.

Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, who was part of the first generation of superstar DJs, said: “As long as there is a demand for the underground, the underground will always find new places to go.

“It’s very, very sad to be losing Fabric but I daresay other places will crop up. They have to.

“Underground clubs are the lifeblood of what we do and your Calvin Harrises wouldn’t exist in huge, big festivals if the heart of clubland wasn’t still pumping blood around the system. That’s the good side of the underground side of what we do. The underground can sustain itself without loads of people and without tons of money.”

Cook, 53, was speaking as he announced a show at The Social on Tuesday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his debut album as Fatboy Slim, Better Living Through Chemistry.

He will play the record in its entirety at the venue, which helped launch his career as a DJ in the Nineties.

The former Housemartins bassist — who has two children with his wife Zoe Ball — warned the current generation of DJs, including Harris and Tiesto, who both earn millions a year, that the “bubble could burst”.

He joked: “I’m assuming that once you get past your first ten million you don’t really give a toss!”

Although he has a single in the works, he admitted that another Fatboy Slim album was unlikely.

“I haven’t got the passion to put out records out like I used to, hence my output has gone down dramatically over the years,” he said. “I don’t feel like I have to put one out, so I won’t unless I have fire in my belly and it doesn’t happen as often as it used to and I don’t force it.”

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