b. 1 February 1966, Boulogne sur Seine, near Paris, France. Influential European DJ figurehead Garnier enjoyed a previous life as a restaurant manager, then footman at the French Embassy (where he claims to have served UK dignitaries like the Queen, Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher). Regarded as France’s finest techno DJ, Garnier, who started behind the decks at Manchester, England’s Haçienda in October 1987, insists that his musical spectrum is much wider. Although he has been a powerful advocate of all things Detroit for some time, he also had a hand in the establishment of the European hard trance movement. A typical evening sees him mixing standbys from Rhythim Is Rhythim (Derrick May) and Joe Smooth (“Promised Land”) against classic Salsoul and disco records (typically Donna Summer‘s “I Feel Love”), in addition to the hottest new underground sounds.

Garnier’s reputation was built up by a punishing schedule, performing five nights a week at up to four different countries within Europe. He also inaugurated a club in Paris called Wake Up, whose free-ranging music policy was reflected on the “Wake Up” remix of Moby‘s “Hymn”. The latter was just one such remixing project, which has brought him to the forefront of dance music. So too his label, FNAC, which, together with Eric Morand (his PR) pioneered French dance music. It has been superseded by a new imprint, F Communications. However, before they bowed out of their involvement with FNAC, they put together a compilation, La Collection, which was extraordinarily well-received by dance critics and pundits. Many of the acts featured followed Garnier and Morand to their new label.

Garnier has released several challenging long-players, while his singles output includes the club favourites “Acid Eiffel” and “Crispy Bacon”. Ironically, he is most associated with the novelty item “Flat Beat” by Mr Oizo. The single, a UK chart-topper in March 1999, gained cult status when it was used as a soundtrack to a series of Levi’s television advertisements. In the new millennium, Garnier began to experiment with a live show that eschewed samplers and sequencers in favour of real musicians and dancers.