Editing Fatboy Slim (section)

=== 1995–1997: Fatboy Slim and ''Better Living Through Chemistry'' ===
Cook adopted the stage name Fatboy Slim in 1995. He said of the name: "It doesn't mean anything. I've told so many different lies over the years about it I can't actually remember the truth. It's just an oxymoron – a word that can't exist. It kind of suits me – it's kind of goofy and ironic."<ref>{{cite web |title=NPR's Weekend All Things Considered: Fatboy Slim |url=https://www.npr.org/programs/watc/features/2001/fatboyslim/010908.fatboyslim.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201081243/https://www.npr.org/programs/watc/features/2001/fatboyslim/010908.fatboyslim.html |archive-date=1 December 2017 |access-date=4 April 2018 |website=www.npr.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=16 July 1963 |title=Fatboy Slim &#124; Music Videos, Songs, News, Photos, and Lyrics |url=http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/fatboy_slim/artist.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060206085309/http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/fatboy_slim/artist.jhtml |archive-date=6 February 2006 |access-date=12 September 2011 |website=[[MTV]] |publisher=}}</ref> Around this period, the house music label [[Loaded Records]] created a new [[Imprint (trade name)|imprint]] in Brighton, [[Skint Records]]. Its first record was the Fatboy Slim track "Santa Cruz" in 1995.<ref name="Shoup-2024" /> It sold only 800 copies, but attracted attention in the underground dance music scene in the UK.<ref name="Shoup-2024" /> Cook was surprised to hear "Santa Cruz" played at an event in London by the [[The Chemical Brothers|Chemical Brothers]], then known as the Dust Brothers, and said it was "like meeting the rest of my long-lost family".<ref name="Shoup-2024" />

Cook co-founded a popular club night in Brighton, the Big Beat Boutique, where he played music from genres including [[northern soul]], [[acid house]], [[hip-hop]] and reggae, combined with [[Breakbeat|breakbeats]]. The scene became the foundation of [[big beat music]].<ref name="Shoup-2024" /> Cook described it as a "very productive time", when acts such as Chemical Brothers, [[Death in Vegas]], [[Monkey Mafia]], [[Bentley Rhythm Ace]] and [[FC Kahuna]] were "breaking rules and feeding off each other".<ref name="Nichols-2011" />

Cook's friends encouraged him to make music similar to the style he was playing in his DJ sets.<ref name="Doyle-2017" /> He released the first Fatboy Slim album, ''[[Better Living Through Chemistry (album)|Better Living Through Chemistry]],'' in 1996 on Skint.<ref name="Shoup-2024" /> According to ''[[The Independent]]'', by 1997, Cook had become "part of an elite coterie of superstar DJs", who earned large fees to perform at international venues and were "guaranteed to fill dance floors from Manchester to Madrid".<ref name="The Independent" />