‘Music and football go hand in hand’

Back in India to headline the Sunburn festival in Goa this year, DJ David Guetta talks about evolution of EDM, his India tour and more

He was once a part of France’s underground dance music but now he is one of the world’s top paid DJs. Just hours away from his anticipated performance at Sunburn in the crown jewel of the music capital Goa, David Guetta is all set to storm up a musical feast. So, what’s he doing to gear up “Sitting quietly,” he says. “I close my eyes and try to stay calm and super bored before going on stage, so that then when I get on stage, it’s like ‘boom’! I’m completely hyper.”

Ask him what makes him keep coming back to India and what are the things that he loves about the country, and the Paris-born international sensation shares, “The incredible love of my Indian fans pulls me back here time and again. My relationship with the country and its people is not fugacious. I’d like to think that I share a rare and incredible spiritual connection with the land. The country is very receptive to dance electronic music and music fest like Sunburn Goa has done wonders for the Indian diaspora when it comes to promoting dance music as a genre.”

Adding a message for his Indian fans, Guetta says, “Folks, it’s time to reunite — get ready for some Guetta madness!”

If you’ve turned on the radio or been to a club, you would definitely have heard one of his hits — it might have been his ubiquitous collaboration with Sia, Titanium; the emotional club anthem with Usher, Without You; or Turn Me On with Nicki Minaj — David has done it all, however, the journey wasn’t easy. “When I started, all dance music was underground,” he says of the time he started playing, almost 30 years back. About people’s attitude that has gradually changed towards Djs, he recalls, “If you were going to play ‘house’, you had to be underground because it wasn’t the type of music that was crossing over.” He adds, “My evolution also came with the evolution of the scene in general. It’s more commercial now and there’s a lot of global attention on the genre. DJing is a different job now. When we do a show, it’s a concert and we’re selling ourselves as artists and not DJs.”

Guetta was a DJ even before the evolution of house music. He elaborates, “I got into producing to create the songs that were missing from my sets. That’s the opposite career path that many of the young talents in the EDM scene take today. You become a DJ because you’re a good producer. Some of those people are learning how to DJ in front of 10,000 people. And a lot of the new generation wouldn’t even understand this because they started off as producers. They like to only perform their own music. But because I come from a DJing background, and have invested so many years, for me, it’s also about promoting a type of music and it’s a way of life. But then again, I’m not saying that this is the absolute truth. I’m just saying that this is where I’m coming from. These are my roots. I am not here to make hits. I have always considered myself a DJ first and then a producer.”

The 48-year-old DJ is currently enjoying the coveted status of being appointed for creating the theme track for the UEFA European Championship. He reveals that he will be needing one million backing singers for it. “It is incredibly exciting ... to be a part of this huge football tournament in my home country. Music and football go hand in hand and music like sports brings people together. I want to make sure that everyone gets to enjoy as well as participate. I’m so excited to be working towards uniting fans. I want to put them at the heart of everything especially the theme song and add their voices to this anthem.”

After seeing artists come and go for the past 20 years and presumably having his pick of the litter when it comes to collaborations, does Guetta have anyone he’d like to team up with whom he hasn’t worked with already “I am actually a huge Adele fan,” he says of the British singer-songwriter. “I think she is phenomenal and churns out some of the best songs. She’s really amazing.”

But we Indians are music lovers too, and have our fair share of music obsessions, so has David ever got the chance to listen to Indian music He quips, “No, not really. But I’ve heard of Priyanka Chopra,” he laughs and adds, “I think she is great and talented.” Will he, if given a chance, compose a sound track for a Bollywood movie “Well, yes, for sure,” exclaims David adding, “Bollywood is big in India and there can be a new genre with the fusion of Bollywood and EDM.” Also, as any Indian tour is incomplete without food tasting, what all and where all is he planning to try dining “I love world cuisines. But I find Indian food too spicy. I’ve tried butter chicken in the past and I am looking forward to trying it out again.”

Lastly, about his next musical agenda, David shares, “There are lots of experimentation, touring and collaborations in 2016. I have a responsibility towards my fans and I feel the urge to surprise them each time I come up on the stage. I want to discover new talent and launch them. I’m trying to combine urban rhythms with electronic music. EDM was super-exciting because it was so new and different but now I feel that I need to change the formula again. I am making a lot of new music at the moment. DJing is my life. I have been doing this since I was a teenager. I love the nightlife and I love making music. As long as people love me, I will be there for them churning out something exciting. If, one day, they stop loving me, then I will stop being a DJ and just be a producer. And if they don’t like my music anymore, then I will just make music for myself.”