Guetta presents his vision of the future of DJing in performance of original and remixed material...
Newly-crowned World’s No.1 DJ, David Guetta tonight performed a victory set at AMF Presents Top 100 DJs, a virtual awards show shot in locations around Amsterdam. During the set, the French superstar, who has reconnected with his DJ roots of late, lays out his vision of the "future of DJing". Every track used in the performance is either produced or remixed by Guetta and he has embraced both old and new technology to showcase his future rave sound in what he believes is his most creative DJ set to date.
Using an elaborate setup featuring the brand new Pioneer CDJ 3000s, the Pioneer DJS sampler and the classic Roland TB303 synth — that was so pivotal to the first ever acid house tracks — Guetta is keen to push his creativity to the limit by merging DJ and live performance tools.
“I was trying to think of how to make it ultra special,” David tells DJ Mag after recording the set in Amsterdam. “So I brought the new CDJs from Pioneer and that was really exciting. Sometimes I was hesitating a little bit because they’re brand new and I’m not used to them. They have some incredible features, mainly the key adapt. I used to spend time working in Ableton to change the key. I could make the set the way I wanted and still mix in key. Now you can do this just by pressing a button. That’s amazing.”
It was 12 months ago, on stage at AMF, that Guetta first debuted the future rave sound, which he has created alongside Morten.
To mark this anniversary, while also celebrating his status as the new No. 1 is extra special. “One year ago at AMF,” David recalls passionately. “I started to change my music. I started to play future rave. I think this was one of the most watched set because people were like, ‘What is this’. People are going nuts. So many DJs are into it. We started this a year ago, so we could see the reactions. Like everyone else, I’m praying that we’ll be able to play again and not only virtual. I need the feedback of a real crowd.”
By taking control of every element of the performance, Guetta transforms classic tracks to fit the future rave mould. To say it has been a labour of love would be an understatement: “To put the set together, I went to bed at 6am in morning. It’s been like five days that I’m trying to find the order!” He acknowledges. The set features some of David’s favourite house a capellas, with replayed chords and remade drums. In other moments he has given some classic underground tracks the future rave treatment. You can watch it live on djmag.tv and learn more about how the set was constructed in our behind the scenes video interview, coming soon.