The 57-year-old DJ will play on November 25 at the Polaris festival in Switzerland, December 9 at Koko in London and December 17 at Sucre in Lyon.
«I had cancer, it didn’t get me, so I announce my return»: the French Laurent Garnier, sacred DJ monster, returns, anxious to “do less and stay qualitative», reflection already matured before the illness. At the question “How are you ?”, the answer is supported. “It is going much better. I stopped for six months, I had cancer, in my throat, there’s nothing to hide, I fought all summer, he didn’t get me, so I announce my return», enlightens the reference DJ for AFP, whose smile can be heard on the phone.
The “DJ that DJs listen to”, as techno monument Jeff Mills says in the documentary Laurent Garnier, Off the Record dedicated to the Frenchman, indicated on April 14 on his social networks that “health reasons” forced him to cancel all his dates “until the end of summer“. And the atmosphere turned to twilight with the release on May 26 of the album 33 laps and then they gowith a final piece “…And then goes away!”
«What irony! When we were finishing the album, I didn’t yet know that I was going to stop and, later, it made me and my team laugh a lot, even if the news wasn’t very “fun” then.», rewinds the former resident of the Haçienda in Manchester or Rex Club in Paris. This album above all reflects his questions: “At 57, being a DJ is weird, surrounded by younger DJs, in front of a younger audience. I was like “am I still legit?”»
Read alsoLaurent Garnier, return to the journey of a gifted DJ
Do less, but do well
Before the illness arrives, Garnier decides to “continue differently». «I’m not going to do 15 weekends in a row anymore. The idea is to do less and stay qualitative, spend at least two days there, take the train rather than the plane.». «I’ve been refusing a lot of things for years now, I’m not taking dates because they’re well paid but because they’re places where I want to play, where I feel like family.».
On November 25, he will be at the Polaris festival in Switzerland, December 9 at Koko in London for a disco set and December 17 at Sucre in Lyon. Garnier today feels the “need to return” has his “roots»: «be a DJ, share by playing other people’s music, to make people dance“. With this desire to come face to face with his audience, “more than present during my absence: my album was successful even though I wasn’t even there to defend it».
Before his return behind the decks in Switzerland, Garnier will turn up the sound on November 9 on Fip, at the helm of Like on the radiopour «4 hours live, 4 hours of conversation with music, to travel through the life of an artist», as presented by French radio.
Pioneer
If his composer’s hat remains on the coat rack for the time being, Garnier continues to supervise record releases on the label Cod3 QR, co-managed with Scan X, another DJ-producer. With its new online radio, [Deep]Searchthis music bulimic is always “pioneer» in the middle of all these “platforms managed by an algorithm that cannot do everything».
During his recovery, artificial intelligence made waves in the music industry. “I remain deeply human, machines can do lots of things but I doubt they can be as funky as James Brown».
In recent news, Garnier rejoiced at the 25th anniversary of the Techno Parade in Paris, he the ambassador of electronic music that has long been demonized. He was not contacted for the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics, while Daft Punk declined. “I think I’m not popular enough», he concludes, still keeping a low profile after 35 years of career.