International DJ Fatboy Slim does the impossible to stay sober. This has been revealed to the English outlet The Sun in his latest statements, in which he claims to carry out a most surprising ritual before his shows with one goal in mind: to be able to play without having to resort to substances.
Several energy drinks, a signature piece of clothing and a slap are part of the ritual that Fatboy Slim, 59, began more than a decade ago when he began to get serious about his sobriety. After entering rehab in 2009, the DJ wanted to find a formula to go on stage without worries, and luckily he seems to have found it.
Fatboy Slim, whose real name is Norman Cook, has unveiled his trick for getting on stage to DJ in a good mood: "That transformation involves three Red Bulls, putting on a Hawaiian shirt, kicking off my shoes and getting slapped really hard on the face from my manager, Al," the DJ told The Sun.
His manager agrees to this unorthodox request to make sure the DJ is on his toes and ready to give the best possible performance, which is why they've been doing it for fourteen years. As the English medium reveals, the slap takes the place of any alcoholic drink: "The slap replaces fresh vodka with orange or whatever else used to make me fight on stage."
Although many may disagree with this unusual practice, Fatboy Slim is fully confident in it: "It just means that all my adrenaline is there and I'm in a fighting mood to cheer myself up," says the British DJ and producer. Likewise, he claims that the first time he played sober, he felt like a middle-aged man playing "loud noises for a group of drunks."
Speaking to the Changes podcast, Fatboy Slim claimed to have felt panic onstage: “The first time I played sober, I was so petrified… all those things they say about your knees turning to jelly, it really felt like that.” , adding “I was paralyzed with fear. All the stage fright that he hadn't had in 30 years came at once."
The English DJ entered rehabilitation in 2009 after the deterioration of his family relations. Luckily, Woody Cook, his son with the presenter Zoe Ball, affirms that his parents are "normal people". In an interview to MailOnline, the 22-year-old said: "I think a lot of people have this idea of this different life that you live, (...) for me growing up, the only thing I knew that was different was that my parents would be working hard".
