Laurent Garnier (FR)

Laurent Garnier has been making the planet dance for 25 years. And, for all this time, his huge energy has seen him grooving behind record decks, bouncing up and down behind studio equipment and leaping around radio studios. He is a multi-faceted artist whose impact on the music scene is far-reaching. But above all he is a DJ, a true DJ: transformed by music, passionate about the crowd. Bodies move in a trance on the dance floor, minds elsewhere. Yet he is also a discoverer of old and new sounds, and has an amazingly rich musical culture. He spends most of his spare time sifting through old vinyl in record shops, following the most obscure leads on the Internet and listening to every single piece of music he is sent. Music, the pulse of our planet, is his Holy Grail. One of the pioneering DJs of the dance music scene, Laurent Garnier experienced first-hand the euphoria of the Acid House movement in Manchester. He then went on to Wake Up and shake up Paris nightlife, from La Luna to the Palace, not forgetting the Rex Club. As one of the leading lights in French dance music at the end of the 1980’s, he then spread his message across the planet, from raves to warehouse parties, clubs to festivals. The Excess Luggage 5-CD collection sums up the somewhat hectic life of this globetrotting DJ whose antennae are permanently ‘tuned-in’ to sounds from around the globe, current trends, and the music of the next generation. At the beginning of 2011 Laurent Garnier was the only Frenchman, amongst 35 international DJ’s, to be shortlisted for “best DJ of all time” by the English magazine Mixmag. The latest in a string of accolades for this ‘turntable connoisseur’ whose incredible sets use both Techno from Detroit and beyond, and mixes in hints of Jazz, sweltering Disco, heart-warming House, African grooves, and Jungle and Dubstep basslines.