This episode includes discussion of sensitive topics, including addiction, that some listeners may find distressing. Please take care while listening, and feel free to pause or step away if you need to.
DJ Fat Tony has spent a lifetime turning chaos into charisma. Long before he became one of the most recognisable figures in British nightlife, he was a kid from Battersea learning, far too young, how to protect himself, how to perform, and how to survive. His childhood wasn’t without love or colour - he speaks warmly about his glamorous, indulgent mother, his complex but protective father, and the freedom and style that shaped him - but it was also marked by abuse, secrecy and the sense that he had to grow up far too quickly.
In this episode of Full Disclosure, James O’Brien sits down with DJ Fat Tony to trace the path from those early years to the centre of London’s club culture. Tony reflects on sneaking into nightlife as a teenager, finding his people on the King’s Road, and building a reputation not through technical brilliance but through instinct, energy and an unerring ear for what moved people.
He speaks candidly about trauma, addiction, identity and the masks he wore to stay in control, as well as the extraordinary highs of a life lived at full volume - from the golden age of clubbing to the friendships, fame and excess that came with it. Tony opens up about recovery, honesty and the hard work of building a life that no longer depends on performance or escape.
It’s a funny, moving and often startling conversation about survival, reinvention and what it means to finally feel at home in yourself.
Find out more about Recover Me by DJ Fat Tony here
Additional support:
If you've been affected by anything you've heard in this episode, please take a moment to read the resources listed: We Are With You, Change Grow Live, Turning Point
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