Play any David Guetta song at your next party, and you're guaranteed a good time. With smash hits like 'Sexy Bitch' with Akon, 'When Love Takes Over' with Kelly Rowland and the Black Eyed Peas' anthem 'I Gotta Feeling', it's clear David is on dancefloor fire. We caught up with the incredibly humble French DJ and music producer to talk about his brand-new album, Nothing But The Beat and what it was like working with Usher, Sia and Nicki Minaj.
You have almost 25 million Facebook fans, over a million Twitter followers and half a billion views on YouTube. You’re literally one of the most watched people in the world.
Ooooh... [Laughs]
How does that make you feel?
It’s great! For many years, my music wasn’t supported by the media so we always had to keep a very tight connection with the fans. And when the internet came, it came very naturally to us because we could connect with our fans. Before when I was playing at raves, we would just give out flyers or call people to say, ‘We’ll meet you at this place...’ so it’s a little bit of the same process - that’s probably why from the start of Myspace and Facebook, we were very active on it.
What’s your craziest fan experience?
Honestly, it wasn’t crazy – it was more beautiful – and it was yesterday. I have a documentary called Nothing But The Beat, and we showed it yesterday [in Sydney] and everybody was really emotional because of the movie. I was there to answer questions and I was speaking to this girl and she was crying, like crying and crying, and it really touched my heart because my music had made such an impact on her life. I was, wow, I was really touched. Really touched.
Do you have a favourite festival or show that you’ve played?
Well, actually one of my favourite festivals in the world is Creamfields and I’m really happy that I’m coming to Australia to headline Creamfields at the end of April. I’m really excited because it’s still kind of new here, but it’s a really amazing DJ festival – it’s all about dance music.
Do you like playing in Australia?
Yeah. Yes. It’s a really good crowd and it’s funny because all the DJs, we all love to come here. It’s always a good time.
Do you have a favourite song to play? What really gets a crowd going?
Well, all my songs. [Laughs] When I started to DJ, I would play a lot of other people’s music but now I play almost 80 per cent of my own music, between the big hits and the more underground stuff that I produce too. I’m almost sure that the big one here would be ‘Titanium’ because Sia is Australian!
What’s it like to look out from the stage and see thousands of people dancing and partying to your music?
That’s my fuel. That’s what makes me want to go on, that’s my inspiration. I see myself as a DJ, even before I started being a producer, I love love love love this feeling. And for me, probably the difference between what I do and what a rock band or a pop act does, is that I come to have a party with the people. I don’t sit as though I’m giving them a show and they’re just looking at me, I come to have a party with everyone. So when there are 10,000-20,000 people – sometimes more – and you feel like one, that’s an incredible feeling.
You’re famous for some of the biggest collaborations in the music industry – do artists approach you, or do you single out people you’d like to work with?
Most of the time, they come to me. At the beginning, I would never call someone... but now, because my name is bigger, if I really want to work with someone I can also call them, but most of the time, they come to me.
Who has been your favourite artist to work with so far?
Ahh, it’s difficult to say, very difficult to say. I mean, everybody I work with is really amazing and I’m very lucky. The casting on this album [Nothing But The Beat] is unreal - I don’t think it’s ever happened before to have so many huge stars on the same album, it’s just really crazy! I’m especially excited about this song [Without You] with Usher, I have to say.
Who would you love to work with?
I would love to work with Michael Jackson, but I think it’s too late. I want to work more with Sia, she’s so amazing.
It’s been said that you’re responsible for making house and dance music mainstream. Is it strange to hear yourself being played in clubs and on the radio?
No, I always wanted this! For many years, radios would not play our music, TV would not play our songs and I always felt frustrated about it, so of course I’m very happy that it’s happening right now on such a huge level.
You’ve also been quoted as saying that when you listen to the radio in the US, every song sounds like ‘Sexy Bitch’. Do you take that as a compliment –
[Laughs] Of course!
– or as a challenge to keep reinventing yourself?
Both... Exactly. What you say is exactly how I feel. I felt like this about a year ago and the challenge for this album was to be able to come up with something a bit different. That’s why I love ‘Titanium’ so much, I think it’s a new sound again and it’s really different from all the big hits before. ‘Where Them Girls At’ was kind of the end of the story – I came back with ‘Where Them Girls At’ to make a kind of connection between my previous album and this album. I think the rest is very different and that was my challenge – that’s also why I made a double album. I wanted to have an electronic album to surprise people, to go back to my roots, to take the opportunity and help some people who only know me from the radio discover a different side to me.
So what can we expect from Nothing But The Beat? I read that you were influenced by rock bands like Kings of Leon and Coldplay...
Oh, no no no. People were asking me about what kind of music I was listening to and I said that sometimes I also listen to this kind of music because I love the chord progressions, but it’s not the kind of music I want to make. It’s always interesting though to listen to styles that are very different.
I also put a call out on the Cosmo Facebook and Twitter for questions for you – and I actually got received quite a few marriage proposals for you...
What? [Laughs]
Did you realise you were a bit of a sex symbol as well?
Oh wow... no! [Laughs] Are you kidding me?! Wow! That’s crazy. That’s funny. Okay! I’m flattered.
Has becoming a father had an impact on your career? Do your children like your music?
Yes, of course they like my music! No, being a father hasn’t had an impact on my career – it might happen as they get older because they’re very young now so they don’t suffer from me being on tour – but it could happen in the future. We’ll see.
Looking back on your career – what are your most memorable moments?
There was a DJ that was an example to me when I was younger, Eric Morrillo, and the first time I heard him play ‘Just A Little More Love’, that was my first single – he was playing it at Space, which was the best after-hours club in Ibiza. I was no-one, nobody knew my name, and when he saw me on the dancefloor, he called me into the DJ booth and played the record, but I didn’t know that it was the biggest record of the summer in Ibiza – and I didn’t even know about it! So he called me into the DJ booth and turned down the music when the chorus came in. Everybody was singing along and I was so so happy I almost cried. That was a big moment.
And my worst moment – my first ever gig in the UK, it was an empty club. There was not one customer. Just me, the bartenders and the security. I was so depressed, it was terrible.
David Guetta's fifth album Nothing But The Beat is now available. Watch his latest track, Without You (featuring Usher) here.
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