David Guetta just can’t wait to be here again. And this time he is looking forward to interact with his fans and experience India’s vibrant culture. He tells Karan Bhardwaj about his latest “organic” album, India as the next big EDM destination and his collaboration with “talented and not so famous” musicians
What are you bringing to India this timeIJ
It feels amazing to be back to perform at Enchanted Valley Carnival, for an audience who shows so much love and passion for music. I just launched my sixth album listen. This album is more organic. It is one of my most personal and challenging albums till date. I really liked the concept at EVC and the festival has a good vibe so I thought it would be a good opportunity to play my new music here first. Honestly, I was a little bit scared. It’s completely different from anything I’ve ever done before. But it is a number one on iTunes in 47 countries this week, so I think I can relax a bit now. It’s totally song-based, with artists who are new to me — like Nico & Vinz, Emili Sande, John legend, Sam Martin and other amazing new talents. Our single Dangerous is smashing it. I’ll be playing it for sure and I look forward to see the reaction. Of course, I won’t disappoint by not playing my previous hits, too.
What was the takeaway from your last visit to IndiaIJ
It’s been hard with my recording schedule to find time to come here but now that the album has released, I’m so happy to be able to come again to this magical country. The warmth that I received from the Indian audience was incredible and that’s one of the reasons I’m coming back. I didn’t know what to expect my first time; it’s hard for me to get to India often. I was pleasantly surprised by the passion for music and knowledge of the crowd. It’s incredible that my music — and all electronic music touches and unites people all over the planet. I don’t really know as much about the Indian market as I do other places where I have toured for decades but if my last experience was anything to go by, India is the next big EDM destination. The dance music scene has escalated to a different extent after my debut visit and I’m excited to see it. The Indian audience is extremely warm and they receive people very well. That’s something every artist of any stature yearns for.
How much of your composition and production work is done in a studioIJ
I’m travelling most of the time. But this year, I have spent chunks of time in lA or Ibiza, where I could focus on writing and producing listen. I did it very differently this time. Nothing But The Beat was created mainly on the road. My studio was my laptop. I’d create beats and test them in clubs, then work with an artist or writer to make the song. This time, I used more traditional methods. Focussing on the songs and then producing them with an electronic feel, as I’m a DJ first. The result, I hope, is a collection of songs that can be interpreted by anyone — from a rock band to an orchestra. It’s my most personal album yet and that’s why this time, I called it listen because that’s what I want people to do. Dance, too of course, but listen to the words. We make computer music, we’re the laptop generation. I have my studios at different parts of the world but I wouldn’t call them crazy studios. They’re only a room with some good monitors and acoustics and what I generally do is plug my laptop, my MIDI controller and my UAD card into the studio when I’m there. A lot of DJs and producers are doing the same thing now. It’s a more modern and smart approach to producing music and I love doing it this way.
How much time do you spend on learning new music technologyIJ
I don’t do anything else other than touring or making music. A lot of people might think that is pathetic but it makes me very happy. I don’t watch TV. I don’t read books. What I do is I wake up in my hotel room and I start to produce. Then in the evening I get on a plane and I keep on producing. And then I arrive at a hotel, I have dinner and then I go perform. So sometimes when I get back from the show, I produce again or sometimes my ears are tired from the show and I want to get my head somewhere else, so then I go to blogs and YouTube and websites for nerds and I try to find out new technology and new plug-ins from brands that I love. There’s always something new.
How do you prepare yourself as a modern day dance icon with a huge following in the subcontinentIJ
I never stop touring, so, for me, the concept of a large tour doesn’t mean anything. And to be honest, when I do take a break, it doesn’t make me feel good. When I go back on stage after two or three weeks, I am nervous. I feel like I don’t know how to do it anymore. It’s amazing to practice it all the time. And let’s say I play in a city where I have lots of friends, it makes me a little more nervous, too. For me it’s not about how many people are in the room. I’ve played to millions of people in Brazil and I play very often to 30,000 or 40,000, my average being around 15,000 people you know, which I do like 150 times a year. But I am much more nervous playing smaller shows for only 3,000 people than for a bigger crowd. Also when I go to a city for the first time, I can become nervous.
You have the ability to bring out amazing vocal performances while collaborating with artistes. Tell us about your bonding with other artistes.
I’ve worked with so many amazing artists. To me it’s about talent not fame. People like Rihanna, Will.i.am and Usher. Sia, for example, was not so famous when we started to work together. But the song Titanium showed her world class voice and writing skills to a wider audience and now she is one of the biggest (and coolest) artistes on the planet. On this new album, she and Nicki Minaj are the only artistes I’ve collaborated with before. There are some undiscovered talents like Sam Martin, who is on Dangerous and lovers On The Sun to Emili Sande, John legend, Nico & Vinz and so many more. I have a commitment to my fans and that responsibility wants to make me surprise them at every stage. like I was huge in Europe but to crossover into the US, I collaborated with top pop artists like Akon, Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears et al. At the moment what’s really exciting for me is to find really talented people who are not necessarily famous. Sam Martin features in two songs; he might not be famous yet but he is insanely talented so I have kept him on our first two singles. It’s kind of a statement, too — a risk. I’m happy to work with really big stars — it’s a huge honour for me. I would have loved to collaborate with Michael Jackson but it’s too late now. The vibe is very important in the studio because most of the people I work with, they already know what they’re doing but what will make the difference, what will make our song better, is something that you cannot define. I think the best way is to take people out of their comfort zone and that’s what I’m trying to do with artistes — trying to bring them into my world where they don’t feel so confident, so they have to be a little more experimental and this is usually when you can get something special from them.
According to critics electronic music is mechanical and has no feeling to it. What do you say about itIJ
What’s becoming the new big thing commercially now is deep house, which was the most underground thing three years ago. Right now, I think the hard EDM sound is going to burn out; at least that’s what I’m seeing. I see things shifting toward the melodic, towards people like Avicii who is creating instrumental and lyrical dance music. And of course deep house is exploding. The super hard stuff was exciting and new but too much of it isn’t sustainable. The way that I’m making my album is ultra-traditional. I’m composing with piano, guitar, acoustic instruments and then completely at the end when I had 100 songs, only then did I pick the best 15 or 18 and turn them into dance tracks. That’s a completely opposite process of what I used to do. It was a big but the right challenge. I don’t think it matters that some of the youngsters today, experiencing an epiphany with dance music, don’t appreciate its history. It’s just different now. To us it was underground, it was a subculture, it was a lifestyle. But these days, it’s not really working like this anymore. It took me 20 years to do what I did. Avicii, just a few years ago, no one knew who he was. Now he’s the biggest thing on the planet. It’s not better or worse, just totally different. I think my music is very melodic, it’s not three notes, a bassline and drums; I think it’s a little more sophisticated than that. Emotion is the most important aspect for me; conveying it in a way that you can listen to it at home and be moved.
I use elements of my DJ culture to make it more melodic. I try to come up with a song that can touch people even if they’re outside my community. I think we have witnessed this with hip-hop in the past. Sometimes a song is so powerful that it can touch you even if you are not from the community. Crazy gangster rap records have been extremely successful and not everyone buying them was from the ghetto. In the same way I think that if I manage to make music that is good enough on every level and not only the cool DJs are playing it but also the radio, that’s amazing.
When you’re doing a live concert, as opposed to a club set, do you have to pre-programme your setsIJ
A festival is more like a concert, whereas when I play in a club it’s a longer set. It’s like going back to my roots when I was a resident DJ. When I do this kind of festival show it’s a lot of my own music and if I play in a club I might try some stuff that is a little more experimental. When you play to 20,000 people or 50,000 people, obviously they want to hear your records. It’s more like a show, like a concert. That’s the idea. Kids come to see me in the same way and people go to see our shows in the way they would go to see a rock band. So we deliver a show that is well planned with effects and visuals. It needs to be really perfect because you play for an hour and a half or two hours and it has to be a nonstop peak almost, whereas when you DJ for a four-hour set, it’s more like taking people on a journey and I love doing this, too. It allows me to try out a lot of new sounds, which is very important for me in terms of inspiration, as a DJ and a producer. I love both. I love being in the club at Ibiza and on stage giving a concert. They’re both great but I’m a DJ first and I don’t want to go away from that. That’s why often I insist with the promoters that my shows are a little later than a regular concert and a little longer, too, because I want a balance. When it’s a concert, it’s more like a rock band or pop act and people want to hear the music of that artist only. You can’t compare this to a club where people only come to hear new music. That’s why it’s so important for me to keep on playing in clubs because this is where I get my inspiration and this is where I can try out my new tracks. That’s what I love so much about our culture, people that are going clubbing they want to hear the new sounds. I don’t prepare pre-recorded mixes or anything but deep down it’s always going to be kind of the same structure at a concert. Because what I will do is always kind of remix myself to create special versions of songs. Every time people come to see me, I want it to be a unique experience for them. So I will never play a record that is the radio version. I want the version to be unique. I really love doing tricks. When I play in the club, I have no idea what I’m going to play at all and it’s a total freedom.
Do you think there’s any difference between pop and dance musicIJ
The mix between urban and electronic is what I’m excited about. Dance music is the next thing for the next 10 years. There’s nothing you can do about it. I started as a hip-hop DJ, then discovered house music. But I never stopped listening to hip-hop at home. It just came back to me. It’s like destiny. EDM is no longer underground. It’s as mainstream as pop.
Since you have to travel frequently, how do you manage to stay connected with your workIJ
I never go to sleep before 6 am. Even if I want to, I can’t. The books that I read are manuals for plug-ins and software. I make music as I travel, too. Every day is a new beginning. Everybody I work with is the same. I don’t do this for money, I don’t do it for record sales and I don’t really care about that, I just want to make music. This time around, though, I still made sketches of music on the road and edited, but spent months in the studio, too experimenting, learning, listening and recording. My center is the music I am making.
What is that one thing that you have been planning to do in IndiaIJ
Sightsee a little as I’m intrigued by India’s vibrant culture. I love travelling to Goa as that’s where dance music originated from.