French DJ back in Vegas and ready to go

A few songs can really change a guy's life. Martin Solveig spent a decade earning respect as a French DJ and studio producer. And then, boom, his 2011 hits "Hello" and "Ready to Go" made him an American headliner and Madonna's next producer.

"I've had a crazy year," Solveig says. "A year ago, I was really like an absolutely unknown artist" in America.

He says he can't talk about the Madonna collaboration ("I'm sorry about that"), except to say his favorite Madonna song is "Love Profusion," and his favorite albums of hers are "Music" and "American Life."

He returns to Vegas as a DJ on Labor Day Monday to spin daytime at Tao Beach and nighttime at Marquee.

He was just here in June as a headliner at the massive Electric Daisy Carnival, which he describes as "one of the moments of my life."

"I think the American crowd is the future" of electronic music, he says in perfect English with a French accent.

"There is this excitement of the discovery of a new genre" here, Solveig says.

And Vegas is the perfect electronic-music capital at the moment.

"Vegas is very different than anything else. I always have this impression in Vegas you're allowed to do whatever you want," he says. "This kind of philosophy is what I apply to myself when I DJ there."

As an example of that "do whatever" attitude, when he played a club here months ago, he opened his set by mixing together songs of the indie band Phoenix, rather than beginning his set with his own tunes or with other DJs' hit remixes.

When Solveig creates albums, he's less of a DJ than a producer. Like Paul Oakenfold and other popular DJ producers, Solveig, 34, writes and records songs as a rock or pop band would -- except he always brings in guest singers.

Sometimes, Solveig (who grew up on Prince, Stevie Wonder and Serge Gainsbourg) conjures new tunes with a singer in mind, then asks the vocalist to record his original melodies and rhythms.

That's how he made "Hello," with guest singer Martina Sorbara from the Canadian band Dragonette. (The song, coincidentally, is so upbeat and mainstream, it's in a Trident gum commercial.)

Other times, Solveig writes bits of songs, then brainstorms afterward to think of guest singers who might mesh.

That's how he ended up asking Kele Okereke to sing lead vocals on "Ready to Go."

Solveig is a more epic visual artist than typical DJs. The music videos for "Hello" and "Ready to Go" were mammoth projects.

In the "Hello" video, Solveig plays a tennis match on the red clay of Roland-Garros in front of a full, French Open-esque crowd.

Setting up the tennis shoot wasn't so complicated, because the tennis federation was "very friendly," and Solveig was aided by Gael Monfils and other tennis pros he knows.

The elaborate video for "Ready to Go" was tougher to pull off. In it, Solveig runs onto the middle of a soccer field in France and sings and dances while thousands of fans hold up cards that spell out "Ready to Go."

Soccer executives were assured he could pull this off only after they saw the tennis video for "Hello."

"The most important aspect of this video was the crowd. The fact they would agree to all participate -- 65,000 people holding cards spelling the name of your (song) -- that's a crazy thing! I'm really proud of that."

If you go see him DJ, expect to hear not just his songs, of course, but his favorite pop, rock, dubstep, techno and house music.

"I try to make it as entertaining as possible, and as fun and enjoyable for the crowd," he says.

"I really try to put my position of the guy who ... just wants to party, and he doesn't want a musical lesson."

Doug Elfman's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Contact him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.