The Parisian DJ talks about his new album and twenty years in the dance music industry.

"French music was always horrible," says DJ and producer Christophe Le Friant, aka Bob Sinclar. "I was ashamed once to have French tracks in my record case. We had variété – easy-listening pop. That was about it."

Until 1984, a raft of pirate radio stations across the French capital threw Le Friant, and a whole generation at last had a musical lifeline. Retro soul, rare groove, funk and disco were the basis of Le Friant’s early education, but it was hip-hop’s explosion in France in ’89 which filled Bob Sinclar with the will to spin.

Cutting his teeth with his own hip-hop nights, he made his first recordings in acid jazz and trip-hop outfits The Mighty Bop and Reminiscence Quartet in the mid-‘90s. Then, in ‘98, while other innovators like Daft Punk, Air, and Dimitri from Paris were establishing an unprecedented, world-class pedigree for new French music, Le Friant unleashed a shiny new incarnation – part superspy, part high-class gigolo, part ’70s catalogue model and 100% fast-living ladies’ man, Bob Sinclar also became that day a gentleman pimp of breathless, feel-good disco house sounds to Paris’s party people.

The Jane Fonda Workout-based Gymtonic, and I Feel For You were early landmarks in a career which swiftly went global, and which has seen Sinclar’s ambition and scope soar with each album, distilling warm nostalgic influences into glittering, sensuous, precision grooves guaranteed to pass his own patented ‘chair de poule’ test - that’s goosebumps to you and me.

Parallel projects have included a retro-fabulous hommage to his heroes, collaborators and countrymen, ‘70s electro-disco pioneers Cerrone with 2001’s Cerrone By Bob Sinclar, and the award-winning Africanism series, which brings together contemporary luminaries such as Martin Solveig, DJ Gregory and Julien Jarbe on bass-heavy, percussive afro, Caribbean and Latin-inflected collections which draw inspiration, and showcase talent, from the scene created by Paris’s unique black cultural heritage.

With all this, plus international espionage, high-paying liaisons and poolside fashion shoots, it’s small wonder Sinclar hasn’t recorded a mix CD until now. Invited to join the In The House series’ prestigious roster of featured producers, it’s an omission he was more than ready to correct with a line-up which reflects both the series’ broad-ranging influences from classic to rare to cutting-edge, and his own multi-faceted passion for music.

"I had so many things to say in this compilation. I worked hard to find the great exclusives. I included a remix I did for Martin Solveig’s forthcoming single Jealousy, some very rare tracks from George Duke and Cerrone and a brand new track from Julien Jarbe – I’m really proud and excited to play good new producers from France. Plus, there are my classics here too."

Sinclar’s own Love Generation, which closes disc 1, charts new ground and sprang from a chance collaboration with a reggae legend.

"I was in New York six months ago, working on this instrumental. I sang some backing vocals, whistled a melody, but it wasn’t right. Then I bumped into Gary Pine of the Wailers, who were in the same studio. In an hour he came up with a vocal, which took it in a completely new direction, less of a club structure, more of a lyrical melody from the heart, and which he sang beautifully. It was one of those things which sometimes happen when you are in a studio. I was blessed."

"My goal is to mix styles to create something new and exciting. As a DJ, you must show who you are through your music, tell your story, show your roots," Sinclar purrs in his insanely charming Gallic burr. "And you must make dance ze people."

Bob Sinclar In The House is out now. Click here for full track listings.

Read our exclusive interview with Gary Pine.