When I meet Woody Cook over Zoom his face is already familiar from his appearances with his mum, Zoe Ball, on Celebrity Gogglebox – although I have to say, the C4 cameras fail to pick up how good looking he is. I also think they don’t quite capture his friendly, easy energy, which makes him a complete delight to chat with. I’m talking to him to find out more about Lakefest in August, where he will be headlining The Cheshire Cat Club on the Friday night of this four-day extravaganza.
Which gigs do you prefer? Festivals or clubs?
Festivals. I remember when I first came back from Reading Festival, I was 16, and my dad [Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim] was laughing at me, like, ‘Oh, did you think everything was going to change? Did you feel the revolution had begun and you've come back and everything's the exact same? Get ready, because for the rest of your life every time you go to a really good festival, you're going to have decompression sickness when everything goes back to normal’.
That made me laugh but you know, it wouldn't be special if you lived them every day. I sure do love festivals.
What makes it different behind the decks?
Both in front of and behind the decks, festivals are a place where you turn off your phone and you're not going home, you're locked in. You're all in a field, there's no phone signal, everyone's decided to dress up weirdly and put some effort in. So it's like a grander scale than normal life.
Do you camp at festivals?
I do actually, yeah. So I'll be in a fancy glamping tent if I'm staying one night but for festivals like Boomtown or Glastonbury, I’ll lug a tent around. I've got one of them trolleys, a nice one, because the cheap ones break every time you use them. I really love camping, – I think there's a magic to it.
Have you been to Lakefest before?
Last year, and I think the year before. It’s just a load of fun; like, a really nice site, and a lovely vibe.
What makes it unique?
Well, there’s a castle. It's really gorgeous. It doesn't look like the sort of place where the council would let you do a festival. It almost feels like going into some sort of Hobbit-ville that has a festival on.
When you are in front of a huge crowd, to what extent does it become collaborative?
Oh, it's completely collaborative. Honestly, you see the way people are dancing. Sometimes you put on a tune, and you see a load of people start moving their hips, and you're like, oh, okay, you want that kind of music. So you go that way. And then other people, you'll see them get really psyched for a vocal: it's in their faces, people going like, ‘Oh, f**king sick’.
Sometimes people will write things on their phone, but I don't really take requests, because most of the time it's like, ‘can I have Bad Bunny?’ And I'm like, ‘Yeah, you know what? You plug your phone in, I'll go home. Have fun.’
Do you have one track you rely on to change the energy?
There’s a few. I’ve got this pretty heavy house version from Zya and whatever the energy is, you can just sneak that in other songs to keep it going. People hear that sound and then everyone sings it – that's proper bait.
I've got a really good version of Zombie Nation. Again, it just switches people up, pulls them out of the smoking area, to turn around, run back.
It must feel amazing to see that…
Yeah, I remember the first ever festival set I played, I purposely had some songs to bring people back. At one point I played Zorba the Greek and built it back into drum and bass. Everyone said to me, play at the beginning or the end [of the set], but you can't play that in the middle because the energy will die. So I waited until I was exactly in the middle of my set, and I played it. Certain people were really into it, certain people were losing interest. But it built up and then it dropped. It was just this funny moment where people who were going to leave came back and were confused. Music is music. You know? You can mess about. That was a great moment for me.
What was the first band or musician that you were really obsessed by?
As a kid I used to sing The Avalanches, That Boy Needs Therapy, and Galvanized, by the Chemical Brothers because they were just funny. When I was 15, 16, I watched Straight Outta Compton, and I got into West Coast rap for a while. From there I got really into hip hop and rap, and that’s when I started producing rap tracks before I was making dance music.
I wanted to make music, not necessarily be a DJ originally, [but] it was covid and I was DJing to people in my uni halls because all the clubs were shut. That actually taught me how much I wanted to be a DJ,
Apart from festivals, what else is coming up for you over the next few months?
So I've got some music coming out hopefully. I'm not exactly sure when but soon I’ll be on Spotify and streaming platforms, and that'll be sick. I'm really excited to show everyone what I've been working for the last few years. And yeah, that's what is next.
Woody Cook will be joining headliners including Bananarama, Madness, example and The Charlatans at Lakefest, 5-9 August 2026, Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire, HR8 1EN.
For the full line-up, and to book tickets, to go lakefest.co.uk
