DJ Joachim Garraud bringing keytar to Marquee

Joachim Garraud does one thing radically different from other famous DJ-producers. When he performs in nightclubs, he holds up and plays an old instrument called a keytar.

A keytar is a combination keyboard-guitar. It's weird. And it's very late-1980s. But it emits music tones other synthesizers don't make.

And the keytar makes Garraud, 43, stand out. That's exactly why he started using it while interacting with club crowds years ago - to become a showman.

"To be honest with you, when I started to be a DJ, we never reached the stage - we were in the basement. Nobody saw me," says Garraud, who DJs tonight at Marquee in The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

"The guy at the door was more well-paid than me. Nobody wanted to be a DJ at this time. You were in the dark, and all the girls were just going to the guys behind the bar."

So to get attention from clubbers and girls, Garraud started doing things to impress crowds.

But Garraud's keytar isn't just for looks. This French DJ - whose latest album, "Hillside West," hit No. 1 on iTunes - gets a kick out the keytar's retro sound.

"They built this synthesizer in the end of the '80s. And they stopped producing this keytar in '92," he says.

"It means every time I have this instrument onstage with me, it comes from the past. I think it's funny to play music of the future with this keytar from the past."

Garraud is also cornering the market on keytars. Because he never knows when one might die, he needs backups, so he buys old keytars when he can.

"I just bought seven pieces of (one keytar) on eBay because you can't find any of these keytars in the store. They stopped producing it in the '90s," he says.

"The only way to get this stuff is to look at eBay and to pay the right price."

If you are interested in buying a used keytar, you might have a good shot at finding one in North America. But Garraud says he has snatched up a big portion of used keytars overseas.

"In Europe, you can't find any, anymore - I have all of them! Ha ha," he says. "I am No. 1 in Europe, to have this kind of synthesizer. But they're still some in U.S.A."

Garraud will be bringing a keytar to Marquee, where he starts a year residency.

"It's a beautiful club with a lot of people who love eloquent music. So I'm really excited to start my residency at Marquee," he says.

Garraud doesn't need girls in particular to pay attention to him anymore. He's got a family.

Here's some news: In September, he informs me, he's moving his family from Paris to Los Angeles, partly because L.A. is a good base for entertainers, partly to be "not so far away from Vegas."

"I think it's going to be much easier for us to come to Vegas and enjoy it together," he says.

"It's exciting. But at the same time, we're scared because there are so many things to do to move a family," he says.

I advise him to beware the shallow liars of L.A.

He laughs: "I'm going to try to be careful about that."

However, I'm not sure this keytar-playing Parisian DJ is taking me seriously about L.A.'s shallow liars. So if you are a friend of his, try giving him a clearer warning than I did.

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