In a new interview with the Guardian's Rob LeDonne (that took place on Saturday, March 30 before his iHeartMusic Awards performance), we are all reminded of one thing: the music world at large is addicted to David Guetta. Besides announcing that he is working on a track with alternative Irish singer/songwriter Hozier of “Take Me to Church” fame, Guetta offered plenty of info that help shape perspective on his “mainstream breakout” and his life in general.
“I Gotta Feeling (with the Black Eyed Peas) really changed the game and opened the doors for dance music in America,” he says. “They started to play it for the first time on the radio, so not only did I cross over, but my entire scene crossed over. It was pretty exciting.”
The rise of Guetta's success seems sudden and explosive, but it may just seem that way because so many fans were exposed to dance music during his rise to success. Noted in the article, David Guetta made his first single in 1991 – when Afrojack (who just worked on the single “Hey Mama” with Guetta) was just three years old. By the way, even though he still has the scruffy look of Owen Wilson in Wedding Crashers, Guetta will turn 48 on November 7th.
Guetta recalls the days before…well, David Guetta.
“When I started, all dance music was underground,” he explains. “If you were going to play house, you had to be underground because it wasn’t the type of music that was crossing over. My evolution also came with the evolution of the scene in general.”
Among other notes, David mentioned that his new album will be more “emotional” than his past work. He claims a very zen-like disposition before his shows. In the interview, he explained his deliberate approach to relaxing backstage.
“I close my eyes and try to stay super calm and super bored before going on stage, so then when I get on stage, it’s like ‘boom’. I’m completely hyper.”
His pre-show rituals are certainly of interest after his daze-like appearance at Tommorowland 2014.
Guetta also discussed his hit single “Hey Mama” and where he found the inspiration from listening to samples from 40's folk songs (one in particular from Alan Lomax). Esther Dean showed him the sample and he decided to make something out of it.
“When Esther played me that sample, I was like: ‘Oh my God, I love this so much… I fell so in love that I became obsessed with it and wanted it to be the chorus.”
Although recent debate (and the Black Eyed Peas legal troubles) ensues, being a dance music DJ requires an artist to transplant and edit from the best he can find – and Guetta is a master at finding things that work well together.
The release of his Hozier collab is still uncertain, but you can follow him on Facebook or Twitter for updates.
Check out this featured video that shows a young David Guetta and his French roots. For more on this story and this media, check out the original post by The Guardian.
