David Guetta on Men Machine, Kraftwerk, and Music First

Transcript

David: What can we do to have fun, to get excited when we DJ?

Marten: We had this FaceTime chat, and we were talking about life. And then after that I was like, "Oh man, we should make more music again."

David: When we played it, the reaction was insane. This is music that we make for the culture, for the scene. This is really for the DJs. Everything has been so overproduced.

Marten: Our music is very stupid and dry, in a good way.

David: Yeah, we did everything that people don't do. When I started to work with Marten, for example, he kept talking about social media and what's cool and what's not cool. And I told him, "Listen, we are making music. It's about music, period."

Bobby: What's going on? Marten Hørger and David Guetta, how are we?

David: Fantastic.

Marten: Very excited to start a new project.

Bobby: Yeah, I'm excited to hear about it, honestly. I'm really excited. I got the email about it the other day, and I was like, whoa. It smacked me in the face. I was like, this is wild, this is awesome. Such an amazing combination between you guys.

David: So, this project is called Men Machine.

Bobby: Yeah.

David: And it's a reference to a classic band called Kraftwerk from the '70s, probably the first electronic music act, really.

Marten: Really influential to the both of us.

Bobby: Yeah, they're German, right?

David: German on top of everything, because he's German and I'm French.

Bobby: Mhm.

David: They had an album called Mensch Maschine, which is the German word for Man Machine.

Bobby: Really?

David: Yeah, so that's our reference. That's why the album is called Men Machine, because it was really super electronic, not funky at all.

Bobby: Uh-huh.

How It Started

David: We were laughing before, because we were like, "When we started, we started a year ago."

Marten: Yeah.

David: So, first it was based on just friendship. I always loved his sound as a producer, and we started to speak about music.

Marten: Yeah.

David: And we realized we had the same taste.

Marten: Mhm.

David: And we realized we were both missing something. When we started to say, how would you define what we want to do, it's like, you see Afro house? Well, if you go the opposite way, that's what we want to do.

Marten: I'll remember that very, very well, because, imagine, we started a year ago, and it was insane. It's like you go to the bakery to buy a croissant, they're playing Afro house. You go to the restaurant, they're playing Afro house. You go to the festival, they're playing Afro house. You go to the club, they're playing Afro house. '80s music, Afro house remix, 2000s remix, Afro, we're like, okay.

David: What's the furthest we can go?

Marten: We like Afro house, but this cannot go on forever. We're not on it, no shade, but...

David: And Black Coffee is my good friend, and I love what he's doing. It was just like, okay, we feel like the world needs something different, and we feel like everyone is playing the same.

Marten: Uh-huh.

David: And all the DJs that are underground, so to me underground means a little bit alternative, a little different.

Marten: Sure.

David: But actually they're all playing the same music. So, whether it's tech house or minimal house, whatever you want to call it, or Afro house or melodic techno, there was no other option. So, we're like, what can we do to have fun? To get excited when we DJ?

Marten: Mhm. Yes, and it didn't start with a master plan or anything. I remember very well, we had this FaceTime chat, and we were talking about life for an hour. There was no music involved, we were just talking about life. I love talking about life with you. And then after, I was like, "Oh man, we should make more music again," because we'd done that song "The Freaks," and it did very well for both of us. I learned so much from him about life and music. We started talking so much, and I was in Chicago at the time, sitting in the hotel room, and we were just, yeah, like I said, talking about life. At the end of it, it was like, okay, let's make music. And then it was like, okay, if we make music, it's got to be all about fun, and it's got to be music first. What's the one thing that nobody's expecting? What can we do that's going to make both of us really happy? And that's how it started.

Marten: So, we went into that 2005 type of vibe.

David: Yeah. And it was a very interesting moment, because, imagine, I'm French, so it was the peak of French touch.

Marten: Mhm.

David: Super disco filtered, all of that 2000, 2001-ish. And I made my first record, "Just a Little More Love," and I was like, okay, I'm French, but I don't want to make French touch, because it was the same, everyone was making French.

Marten: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

David: And I was looking at what the Germans were doing.

Bobby: Really?

David: Yeah, because they had electro clash.

Bobby: So, the Germans influenced your music?

David: Absolutely.

Marten: And I grew up in Germany, and I didn't want to do German music. I was obsessed with French music right from the start. That was always my thing. I was like, man, this German stuff sucks. And later on I learned about it, yeah.

Chasing Something Different

David: So, we just realized we had references that were very similar, and this is how we started working together. We also made "The Past, The Present, The Future," and we made "Engage." By the way, we're very honored, because we worked a classic from that time, from Vitalic, and he's part of the record. Not only did he give us the green light, he jumped on it with us too, which I think is very, very cool. And when we played it, the reaction was insane.

Marten: Yeah.

David: And really, it wasn't that obvious, because when you do something that's completely different, it's not necessarily easy at the beginning.

Marten: Mhm.

David: And I think this is music that we make for the culture, for the scene. We're not trying to be number one in the top fifty or on the radio. This is really for the DJs. We've been working a year on this, crafting the sound, the style.

Bobby: Where do you guys see the sound living? On main stages, not so much the underground, right?

David: It's definitely main stage type of music, but I can see it working in small clubs too.

Marten: Yes, absolutely.

Bobby: Okay.

David: It could definitely work in a techno club, for sure.

Marten: Yeah.

Marten: And quickly, going back to what you said earlier about Vitalic, you guys have no idea how amazing it is as a producer to work with David, because we just sat down and had this idea that was loosely based around this Vitalic song, and I was like, I know what to do with this, because Vitalic is such a legend. And I asked how he knew him, and he was like, "Oh, I'm just going to text him."

David: And same with Tiësto.

Marten: Yeah, and Tiësto as well, I was like...

David: He's also a legend.

Marten: And we should work with Tiësto. He's like, "Oh, I'm going to text him." And they're all answering, and five minutes later you've got Tiësto on the record and you're working with Vitalic. It's so cool.

David: We came from the same generation with them, and we all had success at the same time.

Marten: Yeah.

David: So we share that adventure again, and I think it was nice for us, let's say, to honor them.

Marten: Mhm.

David: Because we're coming with something that's very fresh today that no one is doing. Even though we feel some influences in a lot of what underground DJs are playing, they don't go full on. We go full on.

Bobby: Nice.

David: I think a lot of underground DJs can feel that electro is about to be very big.

Marten: Yep.

David: But they're a little bit too scared to go a hundred percent.

Bobby: What makes you think that's the next thing?

Marten: You hear it everywhere. No matter where you go, if I go to Space and hear the really hip DJs play, there's a lot of electro, especially '80s influence right now. That's exactly where we're going. If you go into the house scene, all the tech house people are referencing that second electro wave, the one that happened with Steve Aoki, that era. Everybody's using those samples again. And if you go into techno, everybody's going into that '80s wave. The sound design across all genres goes into very basic, saw-wave design. It's all looking at that era.

The Sound of the Second Wave

David: And about what he's saying, he's giving a bit of a subliminal message for the producers, talking about saws, which is a waveform.

Marten: Sorry for being nerdy here.

David: For the people who aren't producers, that's basically the most basic sound that exists in a synth. My feeling, especially with melodic techno, is that everything has been so overproduced, so based on tricks, using three different LFOs, and we were like, no, let's do raw sound.

Bobby: Let's go.

David: Like the way it was done in the '80s, the way it was done in the 2000s, when it was done with analog hardware and we didn't have the possibility to do all those chains and automations. There was a charm to that. There was something about those sounds, they were so raw and simple and direct in your face.

Marten: Mhm.

David: And also, there's been a reverb abuse lately.

Marten: Yes, our music is very stupid and dry, in a good way.

David: Yeah, basically we did everything that people don't do.

Marten: And that was one of the reasons why we worked on this for a year, because we wanted to bring back that feeling we both remember and love, but we had to translate it in a way that still holds up with the music that's played out there right now. We were literally testing for a year, making a song, testing it out, changing it, testing it out, changing it, testing it out, for a whole year.

David: Because that's the challenge.

Marten: Yes.

David: He's very right about this, because, okay, what's cool right now in the underground is house music, for example.

Marten: Mhm.

David: But the reality, this is where I'm coming from, I started as a house DJ.

Marten: Yeah.

David: And all those records they're playing, I basically feel like I'm hearing myself in '92.

Marten: No way.

David: I promise you.

Marten: For real?

David: When I go to those parties, literally I feel like it's me in '92.

Bobby: You think we're going back in time with sound right now with house music?

David: Oh, definitely.

Marten: Oh, for sure.

David: For sure. But it sounds the same, but the sound is bigger, because at the time we didn't know how to produce it that well. But the music, the type of instruments, it's all the same.

Marten: Yeah.

David: The type of melodies, the type of chords, the synths, everything, but it's produced in a heavier way. So we did kind of the same thing. We took something that has this raw, retro feeling from the electro clash time, but we made it sound fat enough that it can compete with any music of today.

Marten: Right?

David: That's exactly what we did.

Bobby: Wow. That is the core of the Men Machine thing.

Marten: You're good at marketing.

David: You're good at this.

Bobby: Look at him, he's a pro, man. He's a pro.

On the Road Together

Bobby: Wait, so are you guys, obviously touring all the time, sending music back and forth on the road, or have you actually been able to get in the studio and get after it?

David: We've been doing a back and forth constantly for a year.

Marten: Yes, constantly.

David: Just back and forth, not in a physical studio.

Marten: And also playing it, recording with my phone, sending it: "Check this out, it's crazy." Sunday mornings are a great time for me, because I always wake up to a selfie video of David Guetta going, "Hello guys, this is amazing," and it's very motivating.

David: But also, because he's playing more electronic, but with my shows, it's a lot of my hits.

Marten: Yeah.

David: So, playing this type of music, and telling you, it really needs to be really good...

Marten: Yeah.

David: ...to be able to compete with "Titanium" and "Memories"...

Marten: Sure.

David: ...and "Sexy Bitch"...

Marten: Mhm.

David: ...and play something they've never heard before.

Marten: Mhm.

David: And when I see people going absolutely nuts, or when I posted it on Sunday and five, six of the best DJs in the world are like, "Can I have this record? What is this?" I'm like, okay, we're onto something good.

Bobby: You're onto something. No doubt.

Marten: So cool.

Bobby: Which of these tracks do you guys think bangs the hardest?

David: They all bang hard in their own way, and they're all made for different things. That's why we're releasing an EP. We're starting off with EPs, because we want to paint a broad picture of the things we love. Eventually I feel like we'll narrow it down to singles at some point, depending on how we feel. But right now we want to bring something fresh, a broad picture of the stuff we love.

Marten: There's different references in this music. There's a rave culture that's a very big part of it, and the record we have with Vitalic, "Engage," this is as rave as it can get, really, that raging sound.

David: Yeah.

Marten: And then we have '80s references.

David: Yes.

Marten: One of the records has that '80s pop kind of song, it's so pop that it's cool.

David: Mhm.

Marten: I don't know how to describe it, but you know what I mean.

David: Yeah, we worked with our friends Goodboys.

Bobby: Yeah, oh, nice.

David: They're some of the best out there, and they made something incredibly fresh, and we owe it to them too. That was the thing we set out to do, something new, and they did that too.

Marten: That sounds nothing like them.

David: Yes.

Bobby: Really?

David: And the same way, what we do sounds nothing like what we've done in the past.

Marten: And that's why it's so cool.

David: And that's why we had to give it its own project. We also have Tiga, who was a big part of electro clash at the time. What else is there? So we have one that's a little bit '80s pop.

Marten: Yes.

David: We have a crazy rave one. We have "The Past, The Present, The Future," that we played a lot.

Marten: Yes, that's our favorite DJ record for every scenario.

David: And that's one record that could be played at a festival, but also in a club. What else? Oh, we teamed up with Congorock.

Marten: Oh, yeah.

David: You know.

Marten: Nice, because there's this...

David: That record...

Marten: So good.

David: It's crazy.

Marten: So good.

David: And the thing is, electro came back a few times. The original electro was '80s...

Marten: That's the second wave.

David: And Congorock was part of the second wave of electro, especially in America. That was one of the biggest records, the Congorock record, in that era, and we had to take that and make it our own. It's a really big record too, DJ-wise.

Bobby: Wow. So good.

Spotting Talent

Bobby: I got a little snippet of a few songs earlier from your team, and it's sounding really good. I like the sound. I want to talk about your history for a second. David, how did you discover Marten?

David: I'm always listening to new producers, always.

Marten: Mhm.

David: And I really don't care about the hype.

Marten: Yeah.

David: I think this is probably what differentiates me from the rest of the scene. It doesn't matter if we're talking songwriting, when we did "Titanium" with Sia, she was not famous.

Marten: Mhm, yeah.

David: When I worked with RAYE, she was not famous. I never cared, but I told RAYE, you're going to be the biggest superstar. And still today she's like, how did you know, this is crazy. It's the same for producers. I signed Afrojack when he was very young. Some people just have talent.

Marten: Mhm.

David: And when I heard his music, I was like, oh my god, the sound is so massive. So I got curious about him, and we got in touch. Sometimes I can do that and there's no vibe. But in our case, we recognized each other a little bit, because we're both simple people, smiley, happy, enjoying the journey. We're not snobbish. We know music, we are music people. I think it's important, because a lot of our scene is dominated by lifestyle more than music.

Marten: Yeah.

David: And we're about music, and we know it. We're not pretending.

Marten: Yeah.

David: So, when we said we're going to do something with that 2000s vibe, we went deep into the type of synths that were used at the time, the type of reverbs, the type of compressors, everything in detail, the drums. It's not like, okay, we're going to buy a pack, go on Splice, and do something, or look at who's the hottest DJ right now that's trending and try to do the same. We actually did the exact opposite.

Marten: Yeah.

David: Of trying to do something that doesn't sound like anyone else. So we're not messing around with music.

Bobby: Let's go.

David: We're serious about it, but we don't take ourselves too seriously, because we're doing this for fun.

Marten: And that, going back to what you asked, yes. Have I ever told you the story of when you first wrote me on Instagram?

David: I don't even remember, by the way.

Marten: No way, what?

Bobby: So... let's go.

Marten: Okay, so it was like six years ago, and I had my first ever big headline show in LA. It was a very, very emotional day for me, I was nervous, and it was sold out. I was already in tears walking into the venue, like, this is my biggest moment so far. And then my phone goes ping, ping, and I'm looking, and there's a DM from David Guetta saying your music is amazing. And I'm like, that's not him, no, that's not him. And I totally brushed it off. Then later, after the show, I was like, maybe it is him, and I looked at my phone again, and it was actually you. It was such a crazy, emotional day for me.

David: Oh, amazing.

Bobby: Wow.

Marten: And then we started chatting, and this whole thing you touched on, that it's always music first, there's so much impressive stuff about you that I learned from you. But the most impressive thing, the one thing that's changed me too, is seeing how it's always music first. When I started to become like this, things started to go so much better. Thanks, man.

David: Oh, amazing, amazing.

Marten: You know?

Not Caring About the Backlash

Bobby: That's great stuff.

David: But it's true. I remember when I started to work with Marten, for example.

Marten: Mhm.

David: He was also a friend, and he kept talking about social media, what's cool and what's not cool, how to appear and disappear, and he'd ask me, what do you think, what should I do? Because before making music together, we were friends. And I told him, "Listen, we are making music."

Marten: Mhm.

David: It's about music, period. Stop talking about anything else.

Marten: Yep.

David: Stop thinking about anything else. Just be obsessed, make music day and night, every day of your life, and it's going to happen. Because now it's so lifestyle, and everyone is so worried about what other people think.

Marten: Mhm.

David: I never, ever cared about the reaction of other DJs. When I did "Sexy Bitch," I received hundreds of insulting messages.

Bobby: Really?

David: That I was selling out our music to the urban community.

Bobby: People were reaching out to you saying that?

David: Yes, racist messages from ignorant people, because house music comes from Black culture, obviously, even techno.

Marten: Yep.

David: But they didn't even know that, of course, because they were too ignorant. When I started doing collaborations with rappers, really a pop, urban artist, I was considered the devil in the house music scene. And then for fifteen years everyone did the same.

Marten: Yep.

David: And then it became normal. But imagine if I'd cared at that time, everything that happened would never have happened. And that's why I care for our scene.

Marten: Yeah.

David: And this is why we're doing this, because this is a project that's for the scene, for the DJs. But I don't care to be part of a family, or to be accepted in this community or that community, because to do that you need to be a copycat of some other DJ.

Marten: Mhm.

David: And we're not trying to be copycats of anyone. We're trying to do our own thing.

Marten: Yeah, and this exact mindset, when you gave me that pep talk, unlocked so much creativity. I've never felt so creative in my life before. I was like, we can be free of all of this, we can just sit down and make it all about the music. And whatever I do, whatever we do together, there's no thought of trying to fit in. It's all about...

David: Exactly...

Marten: ...what do we have to do to make this song as amazing as it can be.

David: Exactly. And that's what happens to me all the time. Even last week I was in the studio with some other DJ friends, and we made a record that I think is great, but my friend was telling me, "I'm confused, it doesn't sound like anything else, who's going to play this?" And I'm like, but that's the point, that's what I want to do. I want to do something that's interesting, because if you're going to do the tenth copy of a Max Styler production, okay, what's the point, everyone's already doing this.

Marten: Yeah, and it's amazing, I love...

David: He's leading the trend with that.

Marten: I love what he's doing, but he's already there, he doesn't need us to do the same thing. So we came with a project that sounds like nobody else, that's still relevant and DJ friendly, because every DJ will murder the dance floor if they play it.

David: Mhm.

Marten: That's culturally relevant, and it's in the air, it's where the music is going. It's not maybe what it is right now, but we can feel it's going in this direction.

David: Mhm.

Marten: And to all the producer kids out there, if you guys feel like you want to do different stuff, something that's crazy, you're welcome to join the crew here. Send us your music.

David: Wow, exactly.

Marten: Feel free to become part of the movement, because that's one of the goals, we want to make this a movement, and whoever wants to join the gang, we're all here for it.

Bobby: Wow.

David: Yeah, absolutely. I agree, I agree. We're very open.

First David Guetta Song

Bobby: Marten, what was the first David Guetta song you ever heard?

Marten: That was definitely... I'm not getting the timeline straight here, but there's "Love Is Gone."

David: Yep.

Marten: There's "Titanium."

David: That was so electric.

Marten: Yes, I know, that was so electric. There was "Sexy Bitch," all of those. Those were the dark ages for me. I stopped drinking and partying a long time ago...

Bobby: Yeah, yeah.

Marten: ...but in that era I definitely did enough partying to last me the rest of my life. I have a very blurry vision of fist pumping to all of your songs, but I don't know when or where. I just know about the fist pumping. I probably wasn't wearing a shirt either.

David: You shouldn't have been wearing a shirt doing that. But it's funny, because you mentioning "Love Is Gone" and...

Marten: "When Love Takes Over." "When Love Takes Over," yeah, I think that was the first one I heard.

David: That was the first one I... that was before.

Marten: What's before? Okay.

David: And "Love Is Gone," "Love Is Gone" feels like today.

Marten: It does.

David: Right?

Marten: Yes, it does, yeah, so many of them feel like today.

David: Like a cool beat right now.

Marten: Yeah.

David: And it's funny, because Meduza sent me a remix of "Love Is Gone" today.

Marten: No way.

David: Yeah, and it's really good.

Marten: I love that. I love those guys too, the Italians. I love the Italians.

Who Finishes the Track

Bobby: So out of you two, who finishes a track faster?

Marten: No, he's the beast.

David: He's the beast. Production-wise, honestly, I can produce, yeah, I can produce well, I can finish a track and play it in the evening, I do this often. But I'm not what I'd call a finisher. He will take the record to the finish line.

Marten: Mhm.

David: And me, I'm lacking patience for that.

Marten: Yeah.

David: I can design a sound on Serum, and I can produce, I understand every single moment from the composition to the mastering. But what I'm good at is concept, songwriting, chords, melodies, basically the foundation of the song. There are many producers who are better than me at making it sound insanely fat.

Marten: Mhm.

David: And I love the collab, because we spent a lot of time talking about the concept, but he really took the execution to the next level.

Marten: Yeah.

David: And in this case it's very important. Sometimes when I make a pop song, I'm always telling collaborators, you're overthinking it, it doesn't matter, I could use my demo and it'd be as much of a hit. I'm just doing it because I want to be professional and add the extra thing. But when it comes to purely DJ music, which is what we're doing, it matters.

David: And also, we have a Dropbox with all the sessions that we exchange. Sometimes, out of curiosity, I was like, how did he design the sound? There's also something I really love, because I'm the same, is that it's always quite simple.

Marten: Yes.

David: If you watch tutorials sometimes, you see all those guys talking about stuff like, you're using five different reverbs and six different compressors, why? Let's just do one thing that does the job and do it right, and use your ears. The more time I spend producing, the fewer plugins I use.

Marten: Exactly, you do the exact same thing.

David: Me?

Marten: Yes, yes, yes, yes.

David: And the other day I saw a video, it was so funny, it made me laugh so much, I sent it to all my producer friends. There's a guy saying, "The vocals aren't loud enough, so let me do multi-band compression, saturation, then let me use a limiter, then let me create some reverb and a track spacer." And then you have the same guy, same situation, and he's like, "The vocals aren't loud enough, let me push the fader two decibels louder."

Marten: Yeah, just make it louder, because if it's not loud enough...

David: But that mindset you're describing is how the sound turned out the way it is now. We try to make it as stupid and simple as it can be, but with taste.

Marten: And I never told you this either, since you were just touching on the Dropbox we have, but you guys have no idea how insane it is to share a Dropbox with this guy, because his work ethic is just through the roof. My Dropbox is always on, and when I try to chill and watch a movie, I get constant notifications: "David Guetta updated this file, David Guetta updated that file, David Guetta did this, David Guetta did that." He gives me no chill. Literally twenty-four hours a day I see him working on stuff.

David: But it's true, it's interesting what we're saying, when you do something simple, people say, "Oh yeah, but it's simple." But simple is more complicated than complicated.

Marten: Oh yeah, it's harder.

David: Because if you don't have many elements, let me tell you, basically in music, if you're a producer and you want something that sounds insanely fat, you put six elements and nothing else, and there's going to be so much space. If you do a kick and a bass, and the bass never plays at the same time as the kick, it's going to sound huge, because you have all the space for the kick and all the space for the bass. Being able to find a way that each element has its own space, and each element is so good that even if it's very simple, it's going to feel huge, that's, I think, the key to making huge club music.

Marten: Oh, totally. Keep it simple, and if you only have six elements, they can all shine, and you have to make them really fat so they fill the space. That's what our music is, it's super simple, but maximum fatness. Everything's turned to eleven.

Bobby: So, where can people go to see you guys play?

David: That I don't know. Actually, I do know, there's going to be a little surprise.

Marten: Yes.

Bobby: We can't talk about it yet?

David: Why not? So, the first time we're going to perform together is at my Coachella show. I'm going to invite him on stage, and we're going to play a lot of the EP.

Bobby: Yeah, let's go.

Marten: Oh, yeah.

David: Zero pressure for you.

Marten: We can talk about it. Also, I'm playing Ultra in New Zealand on Friday, and I get on the craziest flight to make it to Coachella on Saturday.

Bobby: Wait, which weekend, one or two?

David: Which weekend is that?

Marten: Weekend one.

Bobby: I'll be there. I'll be in the crowd, boys.

Marten: Yeah, so...

Bobby: I'll be there to witness it.

David: I think Coachella is probably the perfect place to present fresh music, because Coachella is a rock and roll festival, and there's something very rock and roll about this EP.

Marten: Yes, yes, I'm so excited.

Bobby: That's good stuff. It's going to be so good. I'm excited to see it in person, guys. I'll be there.

David: Let's go.

Bobby: Well, listen guys, I appreciate your time today. Much love, and Men Machine, let's go.

Marten: Let's go.

David: Let's go. Thank you.

Marten: Thank you, guys. Thank you very much.