Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2011

Courtesy of Gostimirović

If you’ve been DJing as long as Laurent Garnier, then spinning wax every weekend could get a bit samey. This probably explains why the Frenchman, who debuted back in ’87 at iconic “Madchester” temple The Haçienda, put together a live band for his recent Tales of a Kleptomaniac album tour. Carrying on from where that tour left off, he’s recently been rocking clubs with a group that fuses live and DJ elements.

It’s called L.B.S, which turns out to stand for a variety of things: “Live Booth Sessions,” “Laurent, Benjamin, Stephane” (the group members’ first names), and even, dubiously, “Loud Bass & Samples.” They are apparently all cool with Garnier (pictured center), who formed the trio because he missed performing in a club setting but enjoyed the live band experience.

“I’ve just toured fully live with a band for 18 months,” he says by email. “After that length of time, coming back to the ‘wheels of steel’ felt stupid, like I was regressing more than progressing. I didn’t DJ at all when I was touring live–maybe twice, which is nothing. I missed the club atmosphere and thought, ‘How can I bring to clubs what I’m doing live?’”

L.B.S functions with Garnier as a sort of DJ-cum-conductor, driving the ebb and flow of the music on the decks, but also operating electronic gadgetry alongside drum machinist Stephane Dri (who goes by the name Scan X), with Benjamin Rippert on synths. It’s essentially a jazzed-up DJ set, but it gives the producer’s seminal tracks a fresh overhaul for the ever-demanding techno fraternity. Garnier is clearly enjoying the dynamics of performing as a unit, albeit back in the cozy confines of the DJ booth.

“DJing has never been boring,” he insists. “I truly, madly love it… but I really feel, with all the experiments I’ve done—especially how far we took the live show—that I need to take [DJing] further.

“Playing live music, we grew up, we changed, each track got richer and stronger, more experimental, and we never compromised. We went crazy and we understood each other more. With DJing, you can touch [the music] once you play, but you cannot alter tracks live, which is what [L.B.S] is doing organically. I really wanted to bring this to my DJ sets, make them more special and unique. We do something each night that we cannot reproduce.”

Air
Laurent Garnier L.B.S. Tour. Techno: DJs Laurent Garnier, Gonno, etc. Live: L.B.S. and more. Feb 10, from 10pm, ¥4,000. Daikanyama. Tel: 03-5784-3386. www.air-tokyo.com