Known for his infamous F*** Me I’m Famous parties, Parisian house maestro David Guetta has taken his career to the next level with his star-studded One Love, featuring Akon, will.i.am, Kelly Rowland, Estelle, and long-time collaborator Chris Willis. Big Shot’s readers asked Guetta about the album, and he even shared how Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter helped his career early on.

Image: Bill Douthart

1. Guetta Blaster is one of my favorite releases. How do you look back on it?
Rico
Fresno, CA

David Guetta: At the time I made Guetta Blaster, I thought it was the best thing I’d done and could do. Looking back, it was a starting point. My debut album was huge in France and it was the first to be released internationally. One of my favorite songs, “The World Is Mine,” is from this album, and I still play it in nearly every set.

2. What is your relationship like with your older tunes?
Tomas
Milan, Italy

I’m proud of lots of my early productions—they are part of my journey. “Just A Little More Love” was the first record I made with Chris Willis and is very close to my heart. The message is about being one and sharing love is all you need. It’s become an anthem at my gigs, but I tend to mix the acapella these days. “Love Is Gone” is also a staple in my sets. The reaction from the first note still makes the hairs on my arms stand up. The most satisfying moment for me as a DJ is connecting to the people on the dance floor and sharing the moment with them.

3. How did you get the high-profile guests on your new album?
DJ Dax
via the Internet

The way I make music is to produce a track and then think about what kind of voice would complement it. I really wanted to experiment with this record and bring together urban/hip-hop/R&B with electronic music culture. What happened next was very natural. I met Kelly Rowland in Cannes. She came to my F*** Me I’m Famous party there and danced for hours. At the end of the set, she came over with tears in her eyes asking what the last track I played was—she said it moved her so much. It was the instrumental of “When Love Takes Over.” I gave it to her and she took it away to write the song with two amazing writers, Nervo. From there, she brought NeYo to my studio in Paris where we created Choose together.
I’d met will.i.am in Ibiza the year before when he came to my gig at Pacha. He called me and asked me to produce some tracks for the Black Eyed Peas album, so I asked him to appear on my record. He agreed, and I made the music for “I Gotta Feeling” for him, and he guests on two tracks on One Love, “On The Dancefloor” and “I Wanna Go Crazy.” He’s a genius! I had a cameo role in their video with Kid Cudi. I played him a track there and the next day we went into the studio in LA and recorded “Memories.” Akon is a similar story. I bumped into him at a festival in the UK and within hours we were in the studio. The result, “Sexy Bitch,” is the next single. Estelle was a hook-up by a friend in Miami, so my dream of having the best voices has been more than realized! The title track is with her and it sums up the feeling of all the artists: One Love for music.

4. What’s your studio setup like these days?
Theresa Brewer
Lansing, MI

I produce music on my laptop wherever I am—trains, planes, even in bed! I do work in traditional studios to record vocals, but I’m happiest in my Paris studio where I can look out of the window and take inspiration from the people on the street below.

“FMIF was a joke and meant to be provocative. Me and [wife] Cathy were running parties in Paris and wanted to do something in Ibiza. At that time, the island was run by British promoters and no one took French DJs seriously. We needed something to get people talking, which it still does!”

5. There’s a lot of debate about who brought house music to France. What’s your view?
Guy
Montreal, CN

Laurent Garnier was probably the first DJ to play house in Paris; we started our obsession and careers around the same time. He was the DJ at the Hacienda in Manchester during the acid house explosion. I was spinning at a gay club and I’d heard that house was the new sound in American gay clubs, so I went to London to check it out. I went to Shoom where Danny Rampling was DJing on the stage, and the place was going crazy. I’d never seen anything like it. DJs were hidden away and not respected in Paris. I freaked, spent every penny I had on vinyl at Black Market and returned home to start my own parties. This was in the late ‘80s when I was a teenager. The famous French Touch movement, with Daft
Punk, Cassius, etc. happened in the mid-‘90s.

6. How did come up with the name FMIF?
Carlos Sanchez
San Juan, PR

FMIF was a joke and meant to be provocative. Me and [wife] Cathy were running parties in Paris and wanted to do something in Ibiza. At that time, the island was run by British promoters and no one took French DJs seriously. We needed something to get people talking, which it still does! We did everything ourselves and booked our friends to play. It happened that they were Daft Punk, and the parties exploded from there.

7. Who are some French dance artists to look out for?
Bill Nevins
Santa Fe, NM

Arno Cost and Norman Doray.

8. Ever meet Daft Punk?
Cathy
Via the Internet

Thomas Bangalter was a huge inspiration and also a massive help in the early days. He actually took my first single to Virgin Records, played it to the A&R, and I was signed the next day!

9. Cash or credit card?
Bill Sasso
Oakland, CA

I don’t really carry cash, and when I do, it’s often the wrong currency because I get up and go to sleep in a different country nearly every day!

10. I really love your work with Chris Willis. How did you meet an R&B singer from Atlanta?
Dex
Miami, FL

I met Chris Willis by chance too. I was in a restaurant in Paris and he was there on vacation. Making music was my hobby then, something I did for fun and to relax. I needed a voice; he wanted to hear my music and within hours we had created “Just A Little More Love.” I love Chris’ voice, and he is such a great person. We’ve worked together since the start, and I’m so happy that we are now here together. He has recorded another killer, “Gettin’ Over,”  on the album and another two classic Willis songs.

11. What’s in your tour rider?
Chris Adler
Roanoke, VA

My rider is simple: water and a can of Coke! I’m a clean-living guy. My drug is the music.

12. Who’s the biggest jerk you’ve ever met?
Willy
Via the Internet

Paris Hilton and her boyfriend in Miami at WMC. He punched Steve Angello as he was DJing because Paris wanted hip-hop and the SHM are house DJs! I was standing right by the booth; I saw exactly what happened.

13. You’ve been a DJ for many years. Has your relationship with DJing changed at all?
Frank D.
San Jose, CA

DJing isn’t what I do–it’s what I am. Since I was a kid—and there was no such thing as a superstar DJ then—it’s all I’ve wanted to do. It’s my passion and my life; I can’t imagine ever not playing. These days I play stadiums, but I started in my parents’ basement. Rock ‘n’ roll is a generation ahead; I wonder if it will be the same for me as the Rolling Stones when I get old?

14 . Where were you when you heard Michael Jackson had died?
Robin
Manchester, UK

I was in Ibiza. I learned to mix using two copies of “Billie Jean,” and like so many artists, he was a massive inspiration. He leaves behind an incredible legacy and made such a contribution to the world or music. Yes, he was a little crazy, but aren’t all geniuses?

as featured in Issue 28