Fatboy Slim readies Governors Island takeover
Don't worry if the Statue of Liberty looks a little funky this weekend. It's probably just Fatboy Slim.
“I'm not sure if the FAA is going to allow us to project the lasers onto the Statue of Liberty, but we're gonna give it a bash,” says Fatboy Slim, calling from his home in Brighton, England. “We want to project, 'Go Home Brits!' on the Statue of Liberty.”
Of course, as far as surprises go for Fatboy Slim, that would be a pretty low-level one. After all, he's just headlined on the Great Wall of China and last year, he collaborated with David Byrne on a musical about the rise and fall of former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos.
If his status as superstar DJ isn't cemented by his annual appearance at the Glastonbury Festival or his headlining gigs at the World Cup last year, his ability to draw 100,000 people in downtown Detroit this spring should do it.
Fatboy Slim says he enjoys being part of big celebrations, which is why he's playing around America on Fourth of July weekend and in Canada on Canada Day.
“I go to Brazil and Australia in the winter,” he says. “As a DJ, you can follow the sun and follow the big parties.”
He arrives in New York to headline The Dance.Here.Now Festival on Saturday – an event that also includes headliners Paul Van Dyk (Friday), Benny Benassi and Laidback Luke (Sunday) and Victor Calderone (Monday) – on Governors Island.
What do you have planned for Governors Island?
We're bringing the big, full show, which is quite a visual show. Obviously as a DJ, I can only do so much, so we use big LED screens and we're actually using Serato, so I'm a VJ as well as a DJ. All the visuals are synched to the track.
And musically what do you have planned?
I'll try and fit in some nods to the occasion – the Fourth of July weekend and the heart of the American Experience in New York. I'll try not to be too hackneyed. Like at the Great Wall, I dropped the a capella of “Wonderwall” by Oasis, which went down well. I'll try to think of something like that... I don't play “Rockafeller Skank” in its original form, but there will also be nods to my recording history... And I like to name drop the city into the set.
What was it like playing to 100,000 people in Detroit?
It's such a great feeling watching everyone in the place go wild... Being a white suburban English kid, to go to play the birthplace of soul and blues as well as techno was quite a thrill. I wasn't quite sure because my music is kind of a bastardized version of techno but everyone was very warm and receptive. It's one of those feelings where you think, “This is so right. It feels so good.”
Fatboy Slim plays at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Dance.Here.Now Festival on Governors Island. Tickets are $36-$100 through clubtickets.com.
