DJ Fatboy Slim has revealed that he almost quit music to become a fireman, during a very difficult time in his career.
The music star said he almost joined the service as he was “skint”.
Having rose to fame following the release of Better Living Through Chemistry in 1996, and becoming a regular feature on the music and club festival circuits, Fatboy Slim suffered quietier years as his popularity declined.
Fatboy Slim, whose real name is Norman Cook said he remains a “wannabe fireman”, but was told that he was too old to join the service.
Fatboy Slim was told to “get a proper job”
“I have been in the music business pretty much all my life but there have been ups and downs and there was one particular down where everyone around was like, ‘You are going to have to actually get a proper job now because you are skint”, he said at a charity event hosted by the Fire Fighters Charity.
He also revealed that he had “thought about what job I would like to do and for some reason fireman just… I don’t know. I just had this vision that I wanted to be a fireman”.
Muscian v fireman
Fatboy Slim even jokingly compared being a musician to working as a fireman.
“You sit around for ages with your mates making up nicknames for each other, then you suddenly have to go and do something really, really important”, the Right Here Right Now star said.
“Obviously, what I do is a bit more frivolous. And it is a great uniform and chicks dig uniform. No, I am being flippant”, he added.
“But I did (take it) seriously and I got as far as finding out what the medical involved and was I too old and I checked how many inches my chest expansion was”.
Norman Cook also spoke about how a cheque arriving from the Performing Right Society “kept the wolf from the door“.
“But then luckily I got a PRS (Performing Right Society) cheque which kept the wolf from the door and then I had another hit”.
“I am figuring now at my age it is too late to be a fireman but I have always had the greatest respect for the fire service, I think it is very underrated of all the blue lights”.
During the pandemic, Fatboy Slim also kept himself busy working in his family run café, which he revealed has helped his “mental health” having faced months of inactivity on the music front.
More on that here.
Fatboy Slim also used his café to announce a return to touring in November 2021.
