Like fellow Frenchman Laurent Garnier, house DJ Joachim Garraud cut his teeth at Paris nightclub Boy, ground zero for the country's techno scene. Unlike most DJs, however, he came in with a fully rounded musical background, having spent seven years training at the French Academy of Music Percussion and Piano.
Recently his understandable music snobbishness led to a bit of fan-fueled controversy when, during an interview with Belgian webzine Ready2Move, Garraud casually noted that he was the arranging and engineering brains behind his early collaborations with David Guetta. To the extent that Guetta "didn't know how to use a computer" when the two first began collaborating, this was no-harm no-foul truth, really. But a little heated back-and-forth did go on in the cyber-knitting-circle of NightClubCity.com last month over the remarks.
Recently his understandable music snobbishness led to a bit of fan-fueled controversy when, during an interview with Belgian webzine Ready2Move, Garraud casually noted that he was the arranging and engineering brains behind his early collaborations with David Guetta. To the extent that Guetta "didn't know how to use a computer" when the two first began collaborating, this was no-harm no-foul truth, really. But a little heated back-and-forth did go on in the cyber-knitting-circle of NightClubCity.com last month over the remarks.
But all this doesn't amount to a hill of beans in this world, what with all the things both Guetta and Garraud have accomplished. And Guetta isn't the only big-name Garraud has worked with: He's remixed, composed for and/or produced such artists as Jean-Michel Jarre, Paul Johnson, Deep Dish, David Bowie, OMD, Kylie Minogue and many more. His ecstatic legion of fans show up in Space Invaders T-shirt, whether it be in Ibiza, Miami, or at the gigantic spectacle Garraud once put on at the Pyramids of Egypt, which was seen by more than a billion people.
Saturday, December 20, Mansion, 1235 Washington Ave., Miami Beach. Doors open at 11 p..m; admission is $20. Ages 21+ with ID. 305-531-5535; www.theopiumgroup.com.
-- Eric W. Saeger
