1993 – 2018, it's been 25 years now since Radio FG shares a common story with David Guetta.
To celebrate this occasion, an exclusive interview has been produced at the Palace,
which was the best club in Paris, and where David Guetta began his career.
With him, we will wind up the wire of his life
and discover the early beginnings of electronic music and his residency with Radio FG, 15 years ago.
An intimate David Guetta as we have rarely seen him.
We meet him right now on the hallway of the mythic Palace,
where the most beautiful parties of Paris took place.
Honestly, I have a lot of memories on this hallway, because it was always like…
we entered like this, we heard the music from far, and we were like "what is going to happen…"
I remember we were selling candies, gums, cigarettes, and all stuff like that.
Because at the time, we were allowed to smoke inside the nightclubs.
There was the main room, where I played,
or DJs like Didier Sinclair, like Claude Monet, Luke Skywalker, I think he was with me,
and I brought famous DJs, Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Dani Tenaglia,
and there is the Fumoir, and at the Fumoir, I had a friend, a client,
who was following me everywhere since a long time, his name was Pedro Winter
And he was always surrounded by amazing people, that was before EdBanger's creation.
And I told him "why don't you throw a party for me?
We can do something much more hype, I give you a little room." So, I gave him the Fumoir.
With a doorman downstairs.
And the DJs… We could maybe go up to see the Fumoir…
By the way, you need to understand, at that time, who was performing here?
Sometimes, the same night, there was Daft Punk, there was… Cassius.
There was Dimitri from Paris, there was DJ Gregory, sometimes all of them the same night,
performing for the 200 people who were there, an amazing audience.
That was where DJs were mixing, they were mixing here, and I remember very well they were there,
on the other side of the bar, and you could see the Daft Punk, mixing on a corner of the bar.
It's crazy to think of that.
So today, it can be kind of weird, because the Palace is…
it has become a theater again, so, where we were dancing is now the scenery.
Yeah, and there were about 1500/2000 people here...
It was huge, people everywhere, everywhere, totally crowded
And let me tell you, when we received the announcement of the Palace's shutdown,
it had been one of the saddest moment of my life,
and back then, it was one of the saddest moment in my career,
because it was so unfair, the place was running really well!
And there was all the staff, we gave everything to do something great and everyone got unemployed,
and all the crew who was working for us, it was really sad…
everyone felt a little like becoming orphan, as it was really like a family here.
When it shut down, it was like a huge blank…
One of the last parties we threw together was at the gay pride,
and there was, I remember the number of tickets which were sold because it shocked me,
I was like "how will we be able to get in so many people", these 3875 tickets…
And we were obliged to put DJs in the hallway
You exceeded a little bit the capacity of the club back then
And I remember we put DJs a bit everywhere on the hallways, behind and in front of the showcases,
to keep people busy as it was so over-crowed.
Robert Max was mixing there by the way.
The wildlife that frequented the club was amazing, it was..
Because clubbers from the 90's, they were incredible, because it was…
there were no boundaries, of age, origin, working classes, gender…
The thing is that, nightlife over then, was an extremely creative place.
And it was also the spot where, we must remind that there was no such thing as internet back at this time,
no social media, nothing like that, and finally, there a lot of trends who were created within the nightlife.
It was where you could see people dress in a certain way, before it could be seen on any catwalk.
Which means creators came to watch how the clubbers were dressed,
to then take inspiration from that. And in their fashion shows,
there were people from the movie industry, who came to find actors,
actors who were searching for stage directors,
there were models also, artists from any kind. And there were the clubbers who were here only for the music.
Because once again, the access to music wasn't easy like it is today.
So, if you wanted to hear this music, you had to go to nightclubs, we didn't have a choice.
There were few clubs, but in the same time,
they were places that were very big compared to some clubs from nowadays,
and more important they had good taste, you had a real story behind it,
they were full of history.
The Boy was the repetition room of the Olympia.
The Rex, who still exists, is under the Grand Rex,
and the Palace was still a world heritage theater.
1993, first party with Radio FG, the famous « Club House » that we threw with you.
It is the beginning of our collaboration, we never thought that 25 years later,
we still do things like this.
Did you remember the "Club House" parties that we did together?
I remember very well…
it will make you laugh because I remember that I was always upset with the « Club House » DJs,
because I am very maniac, and the DJ booth was always a monstrous mess,
the guys were smoking and there were ashes or Coke® on the mix table.
And I remember I was saying "I'm fed up, I'm really fed up".
That's true, and the worst of all is that you were always calling me the next day and saying
"Him, he's completely crazy! He played me underground, he's insane…"
I remember actually. And it was… I was into house with singing, back at the time,
and your parties were mostly techno, mostly techno-house, and I was very strictly rhythm.
At the same time, this was the reason why I called FG,
because I wanted something different to my culture.
And most of all, you had been smart because back at the time,
I remember, you got the biggest techno DJs for us. You brought us Carl Cox.
I remember a little detail, you told me " I had him for 5000 francs"!
Oh Yeah that's true. 5000 francs, how much is this in euros? How much is it in euros?
I think it's divided by 7.
750
That's it, 750 euros
Oh yeah, that was back in the days…
It was cheaper, DJ's earned less money in general at that time.
The Palace, back in the days, was the Palace, the Fumoir which we've just seen, was a creative place.
We have another place where we are going to have the next episode of the interview,
it's Le Privilège, which was also named the KitKat back then, as it was some kind of den of vice.
So, the KitKat was the after hour.
You want to know what is striking me to see, those places, you see that?
I remember the moment when we painted it. It's crazy!
And I was mixing here.
David, now let's look back on your 25 years of career
and talk about "7", your latest album and all your releases,
we're talking to David & Jack of course...
Jack Back yes, I feel more like Jack back than David Guetta here,
when I used to play at after parties the atmosphere was more Jack Back
David is back, we're talking about Jack back,
also about 25 years of David's career,
which Radio FG has a parallel path to, with interstices in it...
... And we're glad about it.
That's why we really racked our brains to find a place that binds us...
It's awesome, the choice is great!
And that allows you to share with FG listeners, great memories and emotions.
I must mention that we're filming at the "Privilège" which was for a long time, THE after party in Paris
not only for the "Palace", but also the Paris smart set.
Which was a little of a den of vice
but specifically the after party where soulful house & garage was born in Paris.
Exactly, exactly,
but I remember playing here a mix of music,
from French Kiss to the first soulful house records but also Soul II Soul...
It was that kind of mix, but always very funky.
That was the spirit of my music and the place
One thing, this place, the "Palace," the "Queen" club,
these were places where there was a feeling of communion, where people shared values,
wanted to share something, and had the impression to be actor & creators of something.
Do you believe that this was the kick-start of your career?
To host events, create music or mix ?
I believe that actually...
what is maybe hard to understand as it's another epoch...
but nightclubs where real creative back then, creative in the audience,
for example here I did an event for the 20 years of Thierry Mugler's career,
who was the biggest fashion designer with Jean Paul Gaultier back then.
It would be impossible today,
that one of the biggest figure in Fashion would host an event in a nightclub, it wouldn't be conceivable
Because...
The night was the research laboratory for fashion, for music, for trends, for all that was arty,
and all the people that we might say "rejected the establishment",
or that had to be part of it during daytime,
for example the gay community that wasn't recognised like it is today.
So you had gay people pretending to be straight at work all day,
and the only place where they could be themselves, where they were free was in nightclubs really.
It was a communion of people that gathered that wanted a different society.
It was a real creative place and the people that managed the clubs were also very creative.
For music it was the same, we couldn't discover music on the net
or on the radio, so the places to discover music, where nightclubs.
People that were curious musically to discover new sounds went out to clubs.
Today if you want to discover new music you can go on Spotify, Beatport,
you don't have to listen to the radio or go out to clubs.
Obviously back then radio existed, but there was only Radio FG, nothing else, and Radio FG wasn't...
It was only in Paris
...What it has become. We were a small group of people, a little crazy, passionate about a music genre...
...And it was kind of a struggle.
Today people.... it's funny because I saw this video of me, which is really funny...
I believe the interview was also filmed here on that video...
there is this video of me being interviewed, where I'm saying that I'm a bedroom DJ,
that I'm not in the business, that I'm only doing this because I'm passionate about it
and I don't want the commercial side of music,
it made me laugh because people cannot imagine me being like this,
but back then, be it Radio FG or me, the approach was more one of a crusade to defend our music...
Because it was in danger
We must remind that this music was demonized,
that clubs were threatened of being shut down at any time
and the public opinion was that it was music for druggies, we were even told it's not music
Yes, "it's not music"...
Let's look back on the nineties, yesterday when we came to visit before the shoot ,
or when we talk together about it,
I tell myself that back then we all had subconsciously the consciousness,
which I know is an oxymoron but that's what it was like,
to be the founders, the creators, the actors of something incredible that was happening then
I can't' believe that your saying this, I swear to you that was my saying....
Really?
I used to always say to Cathy: "I swear to you Cathy, something is happening "
"I swear something is happening and it's going to be huge", "I can feel it, I can Feel it, I can feel it".
She used to mock me saying, "What's up now, something is happening?"
I can't believe your saying that now
It's exactly that because we felt the same thing at the same time
I'm talking to you here,
and there is one thing that's struck me during the last interviews and in the past week,
it's that I've always know you to be impressed by what was happening to you...
Stressed by what may happen, and here I discover you, neither one nor the other, but fully appeased...
... in your work as an artist, as a character and the artist you are.
I'm really under the impression that "7" the album that's released, is the synthesis of all this
Yes, exactly, and it's also about moments in life, so obviously it ends up in my music,
but that's also how I feel in my life, I'm quite appeased, very happy, and I want to share that with people
It's like you aren't scared to disappoint anymore, as if you wanted with this album and it's two sides,
to please everyone
Yes, that's it, and also to do the Jack Back album was to say, I want to treat myself,
and finally I refuse the responsibility to always produce hits,
I want to make music... I really like doing pop songs,
because I like songs that go through time... but I also like just to make grooves to make people dance,
and I couldn't do that anymore because I was given
the burden of being the guy that always releases chart toppers.
What I'm saying is that I'm tired of always having this duty,
I don't mind carrying on doing it because I like it,
but I also like making music for people to dance to, without any pressure,
and that why I started this project "Jack Back"
to get back to the spirit I had when I used to play here for a crowd of 500
You know it's funny, because before you played here, there was also a first period,
the one of the hip-hop DJ,
the one of the DJ, that wasn't such a cool job because he was usually hidden.
And you saw that transition from the "DJ in the shadow" to the "DJ in the spotlight",
it was at the same time nightclubs became the place to be...
I should tell you that the first job I had here at the end of the eighties, was to play in the main room,
but I played from the cellar, I just had a little grid in front of me where I could see people's feet
It's nuts, because the DJ was the lowest ranking employee in the business.
To the point where people wouldn't see me, and I wouldn't even see them.
It's crazy it was contemptuous of us
And you started with hip-hop...
I started, even before hip-hop, when I was a teenager I used to play funk. And when I started playing,
well my first job here, there was a trend in the eighties that was called "Black is beautiful",
it was around Grace Jones and all the African influences that there was, and I played at this event,
I think the promoter was Serge, they were beautiful parties, that were really hype, I played Funk,
these were the very first days of hip-hop. Later I played hip-hop, and even later I played house.
How where you initiated to house, where and when?
This story is quite nuts because like often in my life it's a bit of fate. I was...
you're going to be surprised because I don't think even you know that story
even though we know each other well...
I had a childhood friend that used to take care of the hammam of Paris's mosque
And I used to go there on sunday afternoons with lots of friends originally from Tunisia, North Africa...
and there I knew Hamid, who was the doorman at the "Broad",
the gay club that was the trendiest in Paris back then, that was in "Les Halles"
Right behind Radio FG's studios, it was Rue de la Ferronnerie
That became the "Banana Café"
No, right next to the Banana Café but it was...
The Banana was called the "Broadside"
Exactly
That's it
I'm 17 back then, I want to become a DJ, I do parties with my friends and all,
but I want to be in a club, and I get the opportunity, even though I'm not gay,
but I get the opportunity to work in that club. I was, the "little straight guy" as they used to call me.
But I was 17, and I play at that club, but back then I'm playing funk and disco.
But since it's a gay club they tell me "here you have to play new wave".
And that's how I discovered Depeche Mode, all these bands that started using drum machines,
synthesisers, all the new wave, New Order and all them.
And as I used to work in this gay club,
I was always looking towards America to see what was happening there,
I asked myself: "What it the music being played in gay clubs in the U.S.?"
And I heard about the Paradise Garage, that's how I discovered Jackmaster Funk,
Steve "Silk" Hurley, all these producers back then, Tracks records, all this.
And I told the club owner, there is this music being played in gay clubs in the U.S., we're in 1987...
We're at the time when house music was born in New York...
It's the birth of house in the States, not even in France...
That's what I was going to say, we tend to forget that house and techno were born in the United States.
Techno in Detroit, house in Chicago & New-York
Exactly, and the DJ of the Paradise Garage was Frankie Knuckles.
So I discover this music, I go to London and I discover in 1988 this club called "Shoom",
and there I see, that while I'm playing in my cellar with my little grid to see people,
the DJ is on stage and everyone is dancing looking at the DJ.
I tell myself this is amazing,
and with an amazing music, something I'd never heard before.
I managed to get a few records from the States,
but I only had two or three. I go to Black Market records, I give them all my money
and I tell them: "Give me all your acid house releases". And I start, in 1988,
the first weekly house music event in Paris.
And back then, I believe, there was only Laurent Garnier that played every now and then
at the "Palace" at an event called "Pyramid", that was an English event,
because he used to live in Manchester, so he was already familiar with this music.
I think he did the Rex Club from time to time, and I did this weekly event at the "Broad"
on Monday nights that was called "Acid"
Its funny because, when we look back, there is always a crossroad between
David the artist and David the promoter, it starts with the event "Acid",
quickly, "Jean Pierre et Samantha" at the "Folies Pigalle"
With Kien back then, and then the "Bataclan"
Exactly, exactly,
Kien was the cashier at the "Broad"
He was really trendy,
we always talked about music,
we talked together about house music, about what was happening in England and in America,
and we decided to do these events together.
Because back then, what you must understand is that...
people have forgotten, but electronic music was born in gay clubs
Of course
Even in Paris,
if you wanted to listen to house or techno it was in gay clubs,
there were no straight events that played that music.
It was at the beginning, as I was saying, at the "Broad", then there was the "Boy"...
Where, we must advise, Laurent Garnier quickly became a resident DJ
Absolutely, absolutely.
And that's how... What you must also understand, is why I created this event on a Monday,
it's because no nightclub owner would let me play that music.
I had to create my own events, so I wouldn't have a boss and I could play the music I wanted to.
And really, the only advice I can give to one who wants to become an artist,
is that if there is no one to hire you, hire yourself.
And that's what I did, that's why I became a promoter back then, simply because
if I played for a normal nightclub, I was told "you have to play...
... a little bit of funk, some rock, a few slow dances."
I didn't want to do that. I wanted to play house music, so I became a promoter,
and later, with Kien that I met at the "Broad", we opened the "Folies Pigalle"
It's funny because your entire career is dotted with events that you organise,
DJ sets you play at your events,
and the people that come to these events.
Like at the beginning of the Queen club where all the stars came after the Fashion Weeks,
I remember the events we used to do together,
at 4am during the Fashion Week the Queen was where all the supermodels, the stars, everyone would come
International stars...
There was Madonna, Prince, George Michael... everyone was coming to the Queen back then.
Do you think, you that has easily managed to have astonishing featurings on your albums,
that your early days, that ease to get in touch with artists, sometimes to remix them,
get them involved in your projects, it started there, in the clubs?
For sure, I learned...
to do this job, and in all artistic work I think, there is talent, there is work
and there is this kind of "social skill intelligence". To be able to talk to famous artists,
if you're not used to it, it's complicated. But I'd already done that while being a promoter
And I learned to be at ease with artists that were really famous,
I learned to be my own driving force, because I had to promote my events as a DJ,
I learned to sell myself as a brand because back then it wasn't only David Guetta,
it could be events like I did at the "Folies Pigalle" or at the "Palace",
I learned to fight to defend a brand and to communicate around it.
And that helped me a lot later in my career as an artist,
because
it's not enough to go to the studio and to make records, there is also one work,
which is also creative, communication.
And work also, when you want featurings, on contacting artists.
Another point we cannot miss out on, we must talk about it... Ibiza.
We're at the "Palace" in Paris, but quickly your career becomes very seasonal.
You're in Paris from september to june.
And from july on,
something happens,
you relocate with Cathy, in 1995-1996,
at the very start of Ibiza, which is still a little beatnik...
A little hippy
What happened in Ibiza, how did you get this idea with Cathy that something was going to happen there?
We went there invited by a friend...
life is made of chances in the end, and life is made of opportunities.
What people call luck is:
"are you capable of transforming the opportunities you get in chances"
Everyone gets opportunities but sometimes you let them go by thinking it's not for you.
We have a friend, Jean Francois, who rented a house, but he couldn't go there,
the house was free, and he tells us:
"If you want, go there, you'll love Ibiza, it's definitely your thing".
We don't know Ibiza, so we go there on holidays in '95.
And then we think our life is clubbing and that in Paris and Saint-Tropez we're the best in the world.
And we discover there something completely mad, on another scale.
Productions like we've never seen before.
Shows, mad music, all DJs worldwide that come and play the best music.
Clubs with capacities of ten thousand people, which for us is unthinkable back then,
especially to listen to this music, and a music without compromise.
We're blown away, we tell ourselves wow!
The same year, right after we went on holidays, the boss of the "Space", Pepe,
comes to the "Bataclan" because he's heard about our event. He's blown away too, he loves it.
I'm behind the decks, he comes to see me, and he offers me to do the event
in Ibiza, to do it with Cathy at the "Space". We do that in '96, that's how it started.
But back then we have no more than 500 people at the event, it's the real beginning.
One really interesting thing obviously is that, back then there is the "Palace", "Les bains",
many other Parisian venues, the Pink and all them. And then came a time, that I really saw,
I think we can tell a secret to the FG listeners, it's that back then your studio, was the floor above my office,
so it happens, we have a common destiny, horoscope.
It's incredible, but it's so. We're in '97-98', maybe even 1999-2000,
you're at the "Bains",
I come and see you there and I see you behind the decks
and the more it went on the more you looked bored at the "Bains"
Yes
There wasn't the David that was digging it anymore, but I used to see that, on the floor above my office,
as I used to come and say hi to Jean-Charles Carré who is your associate
Joachim
Joachim Garraud. I used to come say hi... And the bubbling David was on the floor above mine.
Was it then that you wanted to move on?
Completely, what happened is that...
it's funny because we've gone back on the history of when I worked here.
I became a promoter, only because I wanted
to give myself the opportunity to play the music I liked.
Then, I carried on being a promoter because when I opened the "Queen" club, for the first time
I invited international DJ's, which didn't exist in France, it sounds amazing but it's true.
I invited the first, the creators of house music, Frankie Knuckles, David Morales,
Danny Tenaglia, DJ Pierre and all.
That's what motivated me.
Then I was sucked in by the commercial success that I had in my nightclubs,
because I'd always managed this kind of magic mix, with my wife that was very talented with connexions,
who brought in V.I.P.'s. There was this magic mix,
and up until then everything was ok for me.
There is this mix of clubbers, the creative side of music, and V.I.P.'s, top.
That's when we were at the "Palace", the "Bataclan", that period,
then there was les "Bains" where at the beginning it was like this, but then, more and more,
it becomes too V.I.P for me
Yes, the system, or rather the history of les "Bains" catches back on top
And at that time, I'm sucked
in a success
that doesn't make me happy. Which seems mad because back then
everyone is like Wow, the Guetta's, the Guetta's, the Guetta's...
but I'm not there for the right reason anymore.
I mean I'm not there for the music, I find myself to have become a nightclub owner,
overseeing problems such as clogged toilets, the cashier that stole from the cash register,
the barman that's too high to serve anyone.
And I ask myself what am I doing here, what am I doing here. I'm here for the music,
and then I go visit a friend, Joachim Garraud,
who I know from the "Boy" where I used to play, and he used to play too.
For the FG listeners we must precise that the "Boy" was also a legendary club,
closed now, located under the Olympia, that's become the Edouard VII car park. It's important to say.
It's totally disappeared but that was very important,
because the "Palace" and the "Queen" gave birth to house, but the "Boy" gave birth to techno
Truly, truly, back then you had two schools of thought.
There was me at the "Folies Pigalle" playing house,
and at the "Boy" Laurent Garnier was playing techno
and there were other DJ's playing New Beat, and DJ's like Joachim Garraud.
Back then there was a little conflict,
which is quite funny because at the very start, the scene is so little that we all play a bit of everything,
house, techno, tech-house, not knowing it's tech-house because it wasn't called like that back then.
Later it split between the people that were inspired by Detroit and those inspired by Chicago or New York.
But especially with the European sound that developed with England and Belgium.
I've always been more into music that was more soulful, which was house.
Techno became harder,
back in the days we were kind of enemies.
So on the more "influenced by Belgium" side there was Joachim Garraud,
and I was more into the U.S. influence.
And we played together, me not that often, but every now and then at the "Boy".
At that time I'm in my V.I.P. clubs and all is going well, but all I want to do is have fun with music,
I go back and see Joachim who has since stopped DJing and is into making radio imaging, TV ads.
And I tell him let's make music together and he tells me he is fed up with producing adverts,
let's do music just to have fun, and we start seeing each other every Monday.
Then I'm above your office and facing Radio FG.
So in a tiny studio, because they were still using their offices to make ads,
there is this even tinier room, so I'm like let's use it for ourselves.
This tiny room becomes our studio and we produce "Just a little more love"
in two days, which is completely crazy.
It was a hobby, for him and for me, the aim was 't to launch careers,
it was to have fun because
we concluded that all was good, we were making money, but there was no...
passion anymore.
And as soon as we started it took off really well.
Which track was for you the turning point in your career?
Was it "Love don't let me go", when suddenly you go from
being aired only on Radio FG, to being aired in the U.K., in France and six months later in the States
So "Love don't let me go"....
when I do "Just a little more love"
it's Radio FG, it's Erick Morillo that plays it in Ibiza, it's the track of the summer, it's the "cool" thing.
But it's not a popular success;
we're still in the context of the house scene, something elitist, for the "people who know".
For the following track, "Love don't let me go", there is a huge difference, suddenly,
Radio FG plays it as usual but NRJ plays it too, and as we know radio changes many things
It changes all
Back then Radio FG is only in Paris, so to reach the whole of France, it's not enough.
And the fact that NRJ plays a track like this one changed a lot of things in France, but also,
the record kicks off in England,
and back then in dance music, house music, it was England that was setting the tone worldwide.
Because in the U.S. it was non-existent,
it was only in underground clubs, not on the radio.
And in Europe
there was only in England where this music was played on the radio and where a few DJ's were a little famous.
Thanks to Radio One, thanks to B.C.C.
It was thanks to Radio One, to Pete Tong.
The only radio station that was fighting in France was Radio FG, no one else.
It was a time where all at once,
it was played on Radio FG and NRJ in France and it was also played in England,
it was the first step for me to get recognition
worldwide, except in the U.S.
And then this track gets a second life, thanks to a bootleg with The Egg
That's when it got played in the U.K.
And 6 to 8 months later, the track arrives in the U.S.
I remember something unbelievable, we're invited to the United Nations,
to go with a Secretary of States that was to make a statement
and I was following here as journalist with the radio. I get into a cab and I hear "Love don't let me go"
On the radio?
On an FM station in New York
Wow !
And I tell myself,
Amazing!
something is happening, because even in the states where house was born but stayed underground,
it was starting to open up
A little bit. What was happening back then is that there were only a few stations
playing it, in New York and in Miami, that's it.
The U.S being such a big market, two cities are not enough to launch a movement.
And why New York and Miami? Well,
these two cities are international, Europeans have an influence there because
they don't represent deep America yet.
The next step will be "Love is gone" which goes even better,
we're played worldwide and it stays number one on the Billboard club chart
for something like 8 months, amazing, it's a track that's played in all the clubs,
and right after that, at the same time, I'm still in France and I've got "When love takes over"
that's a huge success everywhere,
Will I Am comes and see me, he loves "Love is gone" and asks me to make a track
with a similar sound and I make "I Gotta feeling",
and "Sexy bitch" which is a sonic revolution,
with for the first time an urban singer, with an urban melody on an electro track.
It's with these three records
that it kicks off in the U.S. and it becomes a worldwide success all countries together.
In the end, three key tracks "Love don't let me go", "Love is gone" and "I Gotta Feeling",
and I was going to say back then, the first featurings: Kelly Rowland, The Black Eyed Peas, Akon.
All these featurings happening, and we find again, David the producer,
that knows how to remix and exalt RnB artists, and at the same time apply this to his productions
And once again back then,
I'm under fire for working with urban music artists,
you must understand that back then there is a conflict between the house & techno movement and hip-hop,
that are real enemies, so I'm like the traitor, selling my soul to pop music.
But we've seen since, and it's still the case today, it's become the standard in electronic music.
But then, as always when you change something, there is always a negative reaction that is really strong
And did you suffer at the beginning,
because the criticism from the underground was really violent, in particular from the Parisian movement.
I remember, it was tough
At that time, I suffered from it a lot because,
first I thought it wasn't justified, because I was doing something I liked, and I was really sincere in my process.
People were trying to pass me off as an opportunist, which wasn't the case at all.
And in fact, it wasn't that I was trying to sell my music to the highest bidder,
I was trying to create something new.
And I was quite shocked by the fact that,
people that were trying to create a musical genre to be nonconformist became so conservative.
They'd created their own system, so intolerant. I found that weird.
I was criticised because I didn't correspond to the format anymore,
but when we started house music it was because we didn't want to correspond to the format.
It was crazy to see people, that were so called rebels, refused a change of format.
It's funny because we were talking about featurings earlier on,
these well-known artists that you got involved in your productions,
some of which you got Grammy awards with, we can talk about Madonna for the remix, "When love take over".
And besides that, there are these talents that you spot,
as if you had the same intuition to spot upcoming talents you can work with and build really quickly.
Very different artists, from Nicki Minaj to Sia
whose careers are linked with collaborations they've had with you.
Are you under the impression when you work in the studio with these artists early on in their careers
that something special is happening in the studio?
These two cases are different, Nicki Minaj
caught on that something was happening, and she wanted to be a part of it,
because she thought it was going to be big. It was big already thanks to "I Gotta Feeling".
"I Gotta feeling" really left a mark in the urban music world in the U.S. back then,
and "Sexy bitch" too, tremendously.
"I Gotta feeling" was still really pop, but "Sexy Bitch" was played in all the hip-hop clubs,
and at the same time in the white clubs, and at the same time on the pop radio stations,
rhythmic radio stations which are usually more rap, which is a unique case. Nicki Minaj understood this,
and she wanted this.
And I also told Nicki back then, you're the best rapper, no doubt about it, but let's make a track where you sing,
and then you'll have the potential to become one of the greatest pop stars in the world.
It was really abstract back then, now it seems obvious.
She was up for it, she had the vision. Sia on the other hand was the complete opposite;
we worked together, me as a producer, her as a songwriter,
but she didn't see the potential of this music.
She was here, she thought the music I was doing was good, that it was interesting,
but she wasn't here to make pop music.
She was indie, and anyway she wanted to put an end to her career as an artist then.
It's a bit of luck what happened, I begged her to stay on "Titanium"
and we got such an astonishing result that it changed both of our lives.
But it's true that Nicki Minaj had already seen where this music could go.
What's funny is, that after all this... Between all this and today, 10 million albums have been sold,
you've reached a planetary success. Was there a time when, going from the underground to critical success,
but as you were saying earlier on from critical success
to hit maker, to the one that must make hits each and every time,
was there a time when you thought that your career, your image,
your artistic work didn't belong to you anymore ?
Completely, that's exactly it,
I was describing earlier the time when I got sucked in my success as a nightclub promoter,
now I had the impression that I was getting sucked in my success as a producer and as an artist.
I mean that I was losing my freedom, due to my responsibility of always having to make hit records.
It might seem strange to say so, but it's true.
It's hard to live for all artists, for all artists that reach the top,
it's hard to live because you're under constant pressure of getting results and it's counter creative.
That's why on "7" I decided that I would continue to produce hits,
because I like it and I'm good at it, and because
I like having created songs in my career that I can still play today, and people sing along.
But I also want to make music as I was doing in my early beginnings, just to make people dance,
without any pressure, and that's why I created the project Jack Back.
And that's where the link is, Jack Back is in some way the legacy,
the link between what you live and what you want to pass on.
Completely, and more so, in the project Jack Back I'm going back to the roots of records I used to play
at the "Palace", here, at the "Queen" club, at the "Bataclan". I'm taking samples from that period,
of the music that was produced by Murk in Miami,
tracks that were remixed by Danny Tenaglia.
All these tracks I loved that brought a dark beat but also a soulful music,
which in the end is still my approach today.
I decided to take the main elements from this music and to create a new music from that.
That's why Jack Back is good, because it's a return to my roots
and it works, when I play its tracks in my sets today, it works.
There is a notion that it starting to emerge in your interviews, in your album,
your double album we should say, and even in your productions.
There is this concept of transmission, to pass on these 25 years of career
to the younger audience that maybe wasn't even born when you started your career,
also to hand over the values of house music. Because with its success,
these values slowly disappeared, there is no memory.
Absolutely
And I've got this feeling that these notions, you want to remind them,
to pass them on. And it's interesting because when you pass on,
you take a step back, you fade, but you also elevate, it's interesting.
I totally agree with you.
When house music was born, when there was the summer of love in the U.K. It was a social revolution.
It's a revolution for the acceptation of the gay world,
a revolution to say that we were all the same
and that there wasn't going to be nightclubs for the rich and nightclubs for the poor, we were one.
It was a revolution in the acceptation of others and the end of racism,
these were the values that came with house music.
And it's true that later, with the popular success of this music, we lost track of its values.
I believe that the younger stars of this music aren't conscious of this heritage, of where they come from.
But I think that the underground, which is going very strong today, still has these same values,
and still has this fighting spirit, that's what I like.
There is a date that is important for us at Radio FG, in a weeks' time ; it will be 10 years
since Didier Sinclair, that was the first Artistic Director at Radio FG, passed away.
What memories do you keep of him?
We were really close with Didier,
once again you have to go back and remember it was a very small community,
so people that liked this music used to see each other a lot, we swapped records,
did you hear this? did you hear that?...
There were also the "Scream" events where Didier Sinclair used to play, Freddy too.
Didier played at the Radio FG event we started together. We shared a history, we were good friends,
and as I was saying, there was this solidarity, even though we didn't have the same approach,
there was a solidarity amongst DJ's because all we wanted was for our music to survive, to be recognised.
Therefore, we weren't going to criticise each other, on the contrary,
the more we were, the stronger we were for the media.
And that's why back then, we used to bluff a little,
we were trying to pass ourselves on as bigger than we really were.
It was a small group of passionate people that played a music that was different to others.
And step after step we got there,
and Didier is amongst the people that played a key role in the success of this music.
There is an aspect David, on which you are really discreet, it's you family, your private life,
and we at Radio FG respect that a lot,
but nonetheless I ask myself one question, now that you have your kids growing up,
that have their own social networks accounts, Tim Elvis has his followers,
do you wish for them to have an artistic career?
I only wish for my kids to live their dreams.
For me it's not important,
it would be cool for them to be in the music business because I could give them more advice.
It's funny because my son Elvis came back from school this week and told me:
"You know, in music class we worked on Garage Band and we got homework,
and the teacher told me that I couldn't ask my dad for help."
But I thought that was great. That in school,
we're there, the computer has become accepted by schools as a musical instrument.
I must remind you that for us it was the recorder.
Yes, exactly for us it was the recorder.
Obviously, it's more fun to make music on Garage Band than to play the recorder.
I try to push my kids to play music because I believe it's something that brings a lot of joy in life,
but in the end, I only want them to be happy, so if their passionate about archaeology, so be it.
I think that's what is important, we spend so much time at work, if we're bored at work, it's sad.
And as a father, were you vigilant to hand down your commitment, your values,
at the end of the day, what you fought for and what you contributed to create beside us all back then.
What's funny, and I wasn't expecting it at all.
The surprise in becoming a father is that kids are conservative.
It's funny because I had a chat with them about it yesterday,
and I'm trying to tell them to be more open minded, not to judge people.
All the choices that pushed me to be in the nightlife, to be a DJ, to have a different life, to be an artist.
To be more tolerant, open to culture, young people have that automatically,
there are always new cultures, be it in video games, YouTubers,
Instagram, it's a new culture, we can't deny it. As we had a new culture back in the days,
DJing was a new culture. They have that, and what I'm trying to transmit is to be open minded,
to be tolerant, because I noticed kids like it when we're all the same.
It's strange because one would think old people aren't cool and young people are.
But often younger children need to be like the others, they don't want to be different.
And I'm trying to explain to them that it's not an issue to be different, that what I'm trying to pass on.
From the "Palace" to the forecourt of the Elysée, from the underground to worldwide releases,
from a Grammy award to collaborations with Rihanna and Madonna,
which memory has stuck with you the most in your career?
There are many, it's hard to choose just one. But if I had to choose one it would be "I Gotta Feeling".
It's a lasting memory,
me in the studio with Will I Am, me in the studio with Fred Rister, doing DIY
trying to get the sound dirty, looking for ways to make details stand out,
I remember each details of the production of this track.
It is maybe one of the best memories of my life and the one I'm most proud of, because
I was in a way writing my name in the big book of the history of music.
Because it's a track that changed the history of dance music and pop music too.
I believe it's the most important memory of my career.
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