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What inspired you to do 'The Man With The Red Face'?
LG: Nothing…and everything. I did it because I was supposed to do a live show
at the Montreux Jazz Festival. And the Montreux Jazz Festival must be the most
prestigious jazz festival in the world. So they asked me to come and do a live
show there and I thought there's no way I'm going to go and do a show there
without having a proper jazzy track in my set. That's why I did it.
You were working at the French Embassy in London when you got into electronic
music, is that right?
LG: That was before electronic music. I got into electronic music in '87. I
was working at the French embassy in '85.
So tell us about your diplomatic background.
LG: Well it's not a diplomatic background, really. I did
two years of catering school and if you want to be successful, you've got to be
able to speak English. So I got a job at the French Embassy to be the waiter to
the ambassador. So I was catering to the ambassador from his breakfast down to
his dinner. I was living in his house and I was basically his waiter.
It was fun for a year and a half but I got bored of it because I could not
get a better job there. I didn't want to be somewhere where I could not progress
so I left. Which was a good move, because I moved up north to Manchester and
then I got my job in (the) Hacienda.
How did the job at the Hacienda come about?
LG: I was 19, so I was giving (mix) tapes to everybody, so not being too
stupid I passed a few tapes to a guy who was working there, because we became
kind of friends at the time. And then one day this guy passed the tape onto one
of the promoters 'cos he was looking for new DJs for a new night. So my tape got
into the right hands at the right time. So I got my chance.
I guess if I could not open that door at that time, I would have opened another
one six months later. I should think so; I don't know, but I think nothing
happens by chance. I think when something is supposed to happen it will happen.
The global dance scene seems to have gone into a slump at the moment. How has
that affected you?
LG: It's nothing to do with our music. Dance music is not dead. There will
always be dance music, it's just going to recreate itself. Quite frankly, I like
the way it's struggling right now, its coming back to the underground and I'm
still doing amazing clubs so there is still an essence there. So I'm not too
scared about all this.
It hasn't affected me at all. It's affected the label of course because of
the sales, but that's not just the global dance scene, it's just that the whole
music business is pretty fucked at the moment because sales are declining.
You've often said that you want to establish yourself not so much as a DJ
but more of an artist and producer. Do you think you've succeeded in doing that?
LG: Yes, definitely. My DJing will always be in front because it's what I
promote more and that is where my heart is. But now, compared to 5-6 years ago,
people understand that I'm a bit more than just playing records. I've had radio
shows for 15 years in France, I've set up my own Internet radio station, I've
just recently released a book in France - which I worked on for a year and a
half - telling the story about this music, I run F-Com, I do live shows. Yeah I
think now people take me as a multi-talented person and truly devoted to the
music.
-Words: Matt / Images: Matt, Jun Kit
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