France’s Joachim Garraud has seen the future and it has its roots in the past.
The highly successful French producer/performer/DJ’s career has long been intertwined with chart-topping global superstar David Guetta. The two worked closely together for the better part of a decade as Guetta rose to fame in Paris, but recently Garraud has stepped out on his own in a big way. His signature futuristic sound and electrifying live performances have won him hundreds of thousands accolades and fans from London to Los Angeles. “People are connecting with me,” says Garraud.
Not only are fans connecting with the DJ, they are starting to connect the dots of a career that spans 20 + years and has been growing globally thanks to viral smash hits like Garraud’s “We Are The Future.” The track is influenced by high energy 1990s Eurodance and has become a retro-futuristic anthem for young clubbers worldwide.
“I’m not doing a DJ set using CD players,” he says of his live show. Instead, the performances feature Garraud playing a keytar at points and actively engaging the crowd instead of hiding behind a computer. “I’m playing live video, I’m playing a keytar live and it makes me different than the usual DJ,” he says. When Garraud is on stage, he comes off more as a rock star than DJ. “When people say to me ‘you are a showman’ that is a nice word for me,” he says.
“Getting people to dance and enjoy themselves…that is the #1 goal for me,” the Frenchman says, but Garraud is no egomaniac seeking adulation. In fact, he prefers people associate his stage presence with his logo—a space invader—rather than himself. “I chose to use the Space Invaders logo as my logo years ago,” he says. “Very easy, very basic and very graphic and it’s linked to the music I play on stage which is techno and electro music.”