If you've been to an exercise class, a department store or a Bar Mitzvah in the past 18 months—let alone turned on the radio— then you've heard a song by David Guetta.
Mr. Guetta is a lanky, 43-year-old French music producer and DJ. Since his fourth studio album "One Love" was released in August 2009, he has played a major role in bridging a gap between urban and dance music via the creation of such singles as "When Love Takes Over" with Kelly Rowland, "Sexy Bitch" with Akon, "I Gotta Feeling" with the Black Eyed Peas, "Club Can't Handle Me" with rapper Flo Rida and, most recently "Who's That Chick?" with Rihanna. Now, when his songs are released, his name is featured just next to the artist's.
'I make music and I make it sound phat,' said music producer and DJ David Guetta. When his songs are released, his name is next to the artist's.
Amy Sussman for The Wall Street Journal
"I know for America, that's kind of strange," Mr. Guetta said, over chicken paillard in the lobby of the Standard Hotel on Friday. He was in town for a late-night set at Pacha, a monster nightclub in Midtown. "But now people can put a face on dance music. I'm coming from the DJ culture where the clubbers follow the DJ the way their parents go to rock concerts. They dance in my direction, they look at me. It's the same relationship you have in a concert."
The turning point for Mr. Guetta was, likely, the release of the Akon single. "Akon never made any of that style of music," Mr. Guetta recalled, adding that their collaboration was "kind of by accident." "He told me he wanted to work with me. I said, 'Let's rent a studio right now.' We did the song in one night. Everyone on his team said, 'This record is really good, but this cannot work in America.'" In hindsight, "everything looks really obvious," Mr. Guetta explained. "But it wasn't at the time."
Mr. Guetta brought Rihanna "Who's That Chick?" because he felt, after her last, more serious album, the singer needed to return to the clubbier sound of "Please Don't Stop the Music." He played her a demo before she did a concert and she liked it, Mr. Guetta recalled. "And after the concert she said, 'That song is still stuck in my brain.' That's exactly what you want."
Amy Sussman for The Wall Street Journal
There were paparazzi and camera crews waiting for Mr. Guetta at Pacha this weekend.
Amy Sussman for The Wall Street Journal
'Are you ready to party?' he asked the crowd of sweaty kids wearing fluorescent sunglasses and holding camera phones.
"There are very few artists that make everything themselves. Prince is probably the only example," Mr. Guetta continued. "Because it's almost impossible! Nobody has every talent in the world. Some people are good to make music, some people are good to make it sound phat, some people are good to write lyrics, some people are good to sing, some people are amazing performers. It takes a lot to have success."
What Mr. Guetta does best: "I make music and I make it sound phat," he said.
Mr. Guetta does most of his work on a laptop and fine-tunes, so to speak, "until I see the perfect reaction when I read the crowd." For instance, he added, "You can see the bridge is too long when people are bored."
"I felt that 'When Love Takes Over' was a hit," Mr. Guetta went on. "But at the beginning, it wasn't working. So I made 15 different versions until people went crazy and would jump up and down. And I was like, 'That's it, I've got it.' You know how radio stations do call-outs to see if a song is working? They call 500 people and see if they like it. I play every night for between 5000 to 30,000 people, so it's like the biggest call-out ever."
"You're coming tonight, right? You'll see." And then Mr. Guetta was off for a nap.
A reporter returned to the Standard Hotel shortly after midnight. "For the DJ this is just the beginning of the day," Mr. Guetta's manager Jean-Charles Carré said, as a small entourage built in the lobby. Mr. Guetta arrived around 1 wearing a cozy ski sweater, and everyone, including an agent and one of Rihanna's A&R guys, piled into a town car, a taxi and an Escalade. "Fireworks" by Katy Perry was playing softly on the radio.
There was some talk about the next day's trip to Miami where Mr. Guetta's wife was importing a crew from Ibiza for a performance. Mr. Guetta was asked if he gets nervous before a set. "Since you're a journalist, I should say 'Yes.'"
There were paparazzi and camera crews waiting for him at Pacha, and he and his entourage made their way to the DJ booth. "What's up New York? Are you ready to party?" he asked the crowd of sweaty kids wearing fluorescent sunglasses and holding camera phones. He pulled a loud horn and went straight into "Gettin' Over You" which he made with Fergie, LMFAO and Chris Willis.
Swigging Energy-flavored VitaminWater, Mr. Guetta, who seemed to be having the time of his life, alternated between his own music, his peers'—including Duck Sauce's "Barbra Streisand"—and the loud truck horn. At about 2 a.m. the entrance of a strange flying robot shooting laser beams and fog seemed like the cue for a reporter, who had already felt at 12:30 that he was getting too old for this, to leave. But Mr. Guetta asked him to wait for the New York debut of "Who's That Chick?" which he did. Then, Mr. Guetta continued playing until 6 and the sun came up.
Interview was done by Wall Street Journal, click below to see full interview.
Amy Sussman for The Wall Street Journal
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