Cedric Gervais: How a Grammy-Winning DJ Optimizes Health While Traveling the World | TUH #015

I'm just a kid from Marseille with a dream. I'm not even supposed to be here. I'm not comfortable in my head. I still haven't made it. That's why I keep going. And this is my mindset. All of a sudden I'm on private jets playing in Romania in front of 15,000 people. Obviously, winning the grandmo is crazy.

Talk about the transition into movies. You've done four movies.

It was amazing, amazing experience. I am more focused. I'm getting better sleep. It changed my life. I mean, one thing that I can say is I don't get sick any better. Energy. I'm 44 now and I feel like I'm 20 years old. W.

Ultimate Human hey, guys, welcome back to the Ultimate Human podcast. I'm your host, human biologist Gary Brea, where we go down the road of everything anti aging, longevity, bio optimization, and everything in between. Today is a really special day for me.

I know I say that a lot.

On my podcast, but it's a really, really special day for me because I have a guest on that I'm proud to call a personal friend. He's become a very close friend of mine over the last few years, as has his wife and his family. And he is a Grammy award winning artist. He's one of those artists that you go, I don't know if I've heard of that guy. And then as soon as you hear the song, you go, oh, yeah, I know that song. And I've listened to that song. I've danced to that song. But he's a Grammy award winning artist. He's worked with the greatest of the great, Lenny Kravitz, Lana Del Rey. He's been in a number of movies with actors that you all know, like Mark Wahlberg. We just talked about four movies that he was in right before we started the cameras rolling. He is an icon in his industry, a music legend. Trust me when I tell you, you know his music. If you don't know his name, we're going to get to know him today. So welcome to the podcast. Cedric Gervais. Great to have you on, my brother.

Thanks for having me, brother.

We, we've had an incredible personal journey ourselves over the last two years, which I want to get to, which is, you know, we always talk about, you know, the impact of optimal health on the podcast. And so I want to talk a little bit about, you know, the blood work that we've done, the gene work that we've done, the supplementation, your routine and things like that. But I really want the listeners to get a chance to, to know you because, you know, we were introduced by Dave Grutman.

Yes. About two years ago.

About two years ago. And so shout out to Dave Grubman. But since that time, you know, I've really actually gotten to know a lot about your career. You know, your French, which everybody will notice here in a few minutes. And you started your career at 19 in the music scene. So, you know, walk me through the start of your music career and kind of building all of its this momentum up to the point where you actually won a Grammy Award.

Yeah. So I'm, I'm from Marseille, south of France. Okay. So I started when I was 15 years old. I got into electronic music, that was my passion. And I started going to shows and seeing artists such as Daft Punk, Lauren Garnier, Carl Cox, all this. These guys that I was going to rave as a kid.

Raves, right?

Yeah. And, and I remember the moment I saw Daft Punk performing live. That's when I went home and I was like, that's what I want to do. I was 15 years old. So I went out and I bought some at the time techniques, you know.

Turntables, and they were really turned real, a mixer.

And I remember I set it up in a basement of my grandmother's house and I start DJ mixing for like six hours a day. After school I was like DJing. DJing. I would go out a record store buying the record because at the time we didn't have any Internet, no phones, cell phones, no Internet, no audience, no audience, nothing. So the only way to find, you know, you had to call from the home, mainline your friends, and let's meet at the record store and let's go find out what's the hottest music right now. So we'll go to record store, spend days in there and listening, asking the guy that was selling records, what is the hottest thing, and they would give us the record and then go back home and start mixing those records. So that was 15 years old. And so I arrived in Miami, I was 19 years old. A friend of mine.

So honey, you leave France?

So basically I was, I, I started in central pay at this club called the Papagayo. And my father would drive me every weekend I had a residency. I was so happy. I was like, stop playing there.

You're not even legal age yet.

No, it's not even a legal age. So I started DJing at this club. I get the residency, I'm very excited. And one night I remember they, they brought this mega club from Paris Called the Queen. Used to be a gay club in Paris, but it was the number one music scene club in France. Everybody will look up to this club, right? All the DJs, and they did the Queen nights. And I remember the guy that owned the club was there and heard me play. And it's like, this kid is very good. We got to bring him up to Paris. So I get the residency at the Queen in Paris. I get excited. I moved to Paris. I got this time. I'm 17 years old. When I get to Paris, I do my first show. Very excited. Just moved to Paris. And the government decided to shut down every club, every bars for drugs in Paris. In the whole city, for good.

No.

We don't know when they're going to reopen. I show up there, I just got an apartment. I'm excited there. One show, everything shuts down in Paris.

You're kidding me.

No. So a friend of mine at the time, Dimitri Franceley, that was living in Miami, goes, listen, just come to this place called Miami. I never traveled in my life. I don't know what the United States is. I don't speak a word.

You don't even know where it is on a map?

No.

You don't even speak English.

I don't even, I, I know how to say hello every time. So he goes, come to, come to Miami with me on vacation. And then when everything settled down in Paris, you go back to Paris, you start your residency again. I go to Miami. Clubs are still closed. I show up to the city. I remember I was, he was living at the grand in downtown. This, that was the only building at the time, the Double Tree Hotel.

Okay.

And the Miami Skyland. There was nothing, not no Miami Heat arena, no buildings, like maybe two or four buildings at the time. It was like very, it was very dangerous to be in downtown at the time. And I just remember I landed in the city and I was like this feeling, I was like, this is home for me. I'm going to stay here. Yeah, really. So I, I, I got here and he hooked me up with a party at the time with a friend of his called Daniel Hirsch, a Switzerland guy. He did a party at his house. And at the time, the club that was popping was called the Living Room with the Milan brothers.

I remember the Living Room. Yeah, the Eric, Eric Milan.

So I got hired by this guy, I played this party, and that night everybody stayed at the house. Nobody went to the Living Room. So the owner freaked out. It's like, what's going on? And the promoter's like, well, we're at Daniel's party, everybody's there. And this DJ was so good. Everybody stayed until the end. So the owner Francis goes, go get me this kid. Wire him now. So I became the resident of the Living room right away from Monday to Sunday. So then at that time, I was like, there's no need for me to go back to Paris. I think I want to be here. I'm going to stay in Miami. So they made my visa, everything. At the age of 19, I started having a residency in Miami. That's how I started.

Wow, that's. That is a ballsy move. Yeah, because you don't speak English. You'd never been to Miami. It wasn't like you said, it wasn't particularly safe town at the time.

No, it was not safe at the time.

And.

And then, you know, I think the scene has kind of shifted, you know, downtown. But. But you. You're on Miami Beach. That's where the.

That's where the music scene Miami beach was. The scene was in Miami beach at the time when I got there.

So you start. So you start DJing at this. Start DJing at this club, you get this residency. And when do you start really producing music that people are going to know about? Because at that time, you weren't really recording music.

It was a process. It's basically. I was DJing at that time. I was DJing. I was trying to, you know, establish a life in Miami. Right? You're like making money, getting an apartment.

And this is other people's music you're playing?

Yeah, I'm playing other people music. I'm not even producing yet. I'm just like DJing. Like the art of DJing, right? Making people dance. At the time, it's like, if you didn't make people dance, the owner will fire you from the club.

Right, right.

There's no. People were not showing up to see me. People that were not. I wasn't. You know what I mean? Like, I was just a dj making sure people are dancing, and if it not, I will get fired.

Okay?

So what everything started for me is when I start moving to Crowbar, right? This mega club open in Miami called Crowbar. And that's when they start bringing international DJs, right? So I became the resident of that club. That's when I started getting interested in producing music. So I was saving my money buying gears, computers, keyboards, everything, and learning how to produce the auto producing, right? So at that time, I bought everything. I started making my first song. I make a first song called Burning at the time. And the Anna of Ultra Record, David Waxman. Shout out to David Waxman, came to play. He was one of the DJ coming to play at Crowbar. I remember I came in, I made this song, Burning. I gave it to him as a CD at the time. And I went home and my number was on it.

So you burned your own cd?

Burned my own cd. The song is on it. First song ever produced. I give him the cd, I go home. The next day, he calls me, he goes, hey, man, this song is amazing. I'm signing you to Ultra Record for an album deal.

Yeah.

What?

Yeah, that was, what, your first song.

That you ever produced. Ever produced. He signed me up. I got signed up with one of the biggest. David Waxman, Patrick Moxie, the owner of Ultra Record. And. And this is it. So now I have to produce an album.

And how old are you now? So you're 20, because you move here when you're.

It was like 20. Yeah, I was 20. 22, maybe 23. I don't. I don't remember exactly. It was such a long time ago.

Yeah.

So I make this first single. First single comes out. Then. This is when I first starting to produce music. Then I started getting into making albums and everything. But my career really took off when I made the move to Space. I became the resident of Space on the Terrace.

Okay. And.

And that was for me, working with Louis Puig, you know, the owner of Space was, first of all, made me a better dj because I had to play for long hours. I would play inside of space from midnight to 5, and then I had to go on the terrace. Yeah. To six to, like, close. Maybe three or four in the afternoon. Long sets like this. Hold on.

Midnight to 5am Then you shift to another terrace. And then you're correct. Playing until 3 o'. Clock.

So it was like. Yeah, And. And the same thing, Louis. If you're not on point, you get fired. Right, Right. And I'm still like, you know what I mean? No, but, like, people will show up to the club because of Space. They ended up showing up for the DJs, you know. But then I got to be around amazing DJs, right at the time. Like, everybody will play there. Like Deep Dish, Sand, Kleinenberg, Danny Tanglia, Eric Moreo, Shout out to Morelo, you know, rest in peace. And I remember I played with Deep Dish Sham and Ali Dubfire, and Sham was like, this kid is pretty good. I think we need to sign him on on our label.

So. But you're on a label now because You.

Well, I'm on the label. They wanted to sign me with the agency. Ah, called Bullet Booking at the time. So what they did is assigned me and all of a sudden it's like I'm this kid playing in Miami on the plane, opening for Deep Dish, which at the time was the biggest band in the world, right?

Wow.

The biggest band. So I'm opening for them worldwide. So I'm. All of a sudden I'm on private jets with them, right? Flying the world, playing in Romania in front of 15, 000 people, playing in Dublin at the Oxygen Festival.

Wow.

It's crazy. So, and. And they signed me on the agency. But one thing show I'm always told me is like, listen, we opening you up to the world right now, but now it's up to you to put the work in, make music. Because when you're going to go on your own now you need to connect with people and have your own career.

Right.

Because it's easy to go with this massive artist. Yeah.

Somebody puts the people in the room.

There's a lot of people in the room. This don't know you. Are you playing good music? Great. Now you got to connect to these people. You got to make music, Right. So he always told me that's why I kept producing, kept making music and all of a sudden made my first record, Molly, which became. Yeah. Became a big sensation, appropriately named.

Yeah, yeah.

And that was the first record that, you know, the all controversy with Dead Mouse Madonna coming on stage shouting out the record for me because I worked with her in New York on her album. So she promoted. There was this big controversy. The record became big. And after that, on the back of that, it did Summertime Sadness. That changed my life, basically.

Summertime Sadness. So whatever happened to Burning? The very original one.

So go back to Burning. My first record came out. A lot of underground DJ such as Steve Lawler were pushing the record. I was, I was freaking out. The record was getting started, a lot of people were playing it. Then on the back of that, I did two albums with them. One song that I did that really connected was called Spirit in My Life on one of the album. So it was like a progression of me learning how to make music and trying to like, you know, figure it out, how to make this.

Yeah.

So it did well, but not as a very commercial level. Right. It put my name out there. Like the cool DJs were playing my music. Some people were conducting some songs, but there was no very. Not a lot of very commercial success yet.

Yeah. So what Brought you together with. Because you won the Grammy for the Lana Del Rey record with Summertime Sadness. Just great song, by the way. Actually played it right before the podcast to get in the mood. But what led you to Lana and how did that working relationship come together? And is there ever a time when you're producing when you say this is it like there's.

To be honest with you, you never know. No, no, you never know. So the way it came in is like, basically I was doing all this music before on my own. No management, just an agency for touring. Because Deep Dis signed me to this agency, so I had no management. I was doing everything on my own. So at one point, I get a manager, Luke Allen, my manager, a red light management. They sign me in and we start working and we start. So when we get the. When we get Molly, I'm already with management. So they see Molly is. We're getting a buzz. So at the time, my manager was friend with the manager of Lana Del Rey. So they had this idea of, you know, doing this record, Summertime Sadness. So Luke came in, he's like, listen, I have this amazing vocal. You need to remix the song right now. And it was like. It's funny because I'm a huge fan of the song. Yeah. I was actually thinking about doing a bootleg of this song for myself to play my set. Really? Yeah. So I did the song, finished it on the way to Orlando, EDC Orlando. And the first time I played it was I, EDC Orlando. And I remember the reaction of the crowd was insane. Everybody was singing the song. And the next day on social media, it was going crazy. Really. That's when my management's like, we have a big one. Yeah, but not to the level that it went. We have a big one. People are going to connect, teachers are going to play it. So the song went from playing in the festival to get release on Beatport, which is a. A DJ website where you go get all your music for the DJs being number one for multiple, multiple weeks on. On Beatboard. So we're happy. Like now I'm happy. I'm like, wow, all my DJ friends are playing. DJs are playing it. That's amazing. I made it.

You're seeing it at number one.

It's.

It's probably the first big real hit.

Yeah. So then couple of radio stopped playing it. Local radios, you know, DJ Mix radio. I'm like, wow, it's playing on the radio. That's amazing. Yeah, like local radio, not tough 40 radio yet.

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We at the time she was signed to Interscope Music and they didn't want to really. We saw that there was a momentum in the song and my manager will go to Interscope and be. You have to release the song like worldwide, because this is the momentum we're having. No, we already released our album. We don't care about this song. So what I do is at the time, John Amen was the. The A at Interscope record. So what I do is I was playing in D.C. or EDC, Vegas main stage at that time.

Okay.

So I flew him in from LA to EDC and I played a song in front of him and at the moment of the chorus, I shut the music off and there was like 90,000 people singing the song.

So he could see that.

Can see that. So he saw it, he went back to la, he called my manager and he goes, next week this song will be top 40 radio worldwide. No. Yeah. So following week, top 40 radio song in the United States.

Dude, I'm getting goosebumps right now.

It's going crazy. So now I have a top 40 radio, which so people understand is when you have a top 40 radio record is when you break into the masses, right? Yeah, because you have like DJ mix radio, which is you know, BPM, SiriusXM, all these things. And then you have top 40 radio, which is the masses now you have with a Taylor Swift, right. Katy Perry, you know what I mean? And then they're playing your song, right? Which you break into the masses. So that's massive. So then over the back of that, we sold 8.5 million single.

Wow. Eight and a half million singles.

Yes.

Kind of me. I mean, you're still really chugging along in your music career. I mean, you. You've accomplished a lot. But I mean, this is. This is like a parabolic. This is the tipping point.

Yeah. It's crazy. And. And I remember it was so crazy because we were number one on. On iTunes. And. And I remember my boy Stevieoki, one time, he comes to live and he goes, man, I can't get rid of you. I keep looking at the shot and you number one of this thing. Yeah. I keep like, this is crazy. I'm like, so that was all nuts for me because I never expected that. Like, when I made this song. Seriously, when I made this song, I made it. And I was thinking about my DJ friends playing the song, and I was happy with it. I was like, oh, my friends are playing it. You know, DJs are playing it. When I work in the club. They just played that. That was it. I was not thinking about, it's gonna be a. Like a commercial hit. It's gonna be on the radio. I'm gonna win a Grammy. It's like, I was not thinking like that. Yeah. At all. And then after, on the back of that, the nomination for the Grammy and obviously winning the Grammy was crazy.

That must have been, like. Talk about that moment for a minute, you know, accepting a Grammy Award, like, you're sitting there. How many other songs were nominated?

It was Alesso with One Direction, Bob Marley, Bruno Mars. And I forgot something else.

Massive names. Yeah.

Yeah, massive names.

Massive names. And so. Because I always wondered what it would be like, you know, I always watch the Grammys, what it would be like sitting in that audience. And, you know, they read your names with the nominations, and then when they tear that envelope open and they're like. And you don't face summertime sadness and you're like, holy shit, my life is going to change. I know.

I remember when they called my name, I just walked to that stage. I had no idea what I was going to say. I was. In my head, I was like, what am I going to tell those people?

What did you say?

I got to go back.

We need to find that.

And Play it as the speeches out there. This is amazing. I never thought doing this remix, I'm going to be standing here today. So all I wanted my DJ friend to play the record and I was cool with that. Thank you very much. I'm just a kid from Marseille with a dream. I'm not even supposed to be here. So thank you. I'm just like. I had no idea what to say and I just walk in there. But the thing is with the Grammys is you don't know until the last second you're there. You know, some of those award show you already know you're going to win. Yeah. Your PR telling you and this and that. So, you know, I mean, the Grammys, you don't know. You have no idea. To the last second, you have no idea that they open this envelope. You have no idea.

And so you're. You're up there, dude, you take that stage. I mean, that moment has got to be. I remember my first public speaking moment. It was only a few hundred people in the crowd and I. I almost, you know, you. I froze and I almost felt like I was going to.

Yeah.

Piss myself, you know?

Yeah, I know.

And. And your voice starts cracking, but you get up there, they hand you this award and what. Do you. You remember what you said?

Do you.

Do you remember that?

Yeah. I mean, I thank everybody that was part of the project. You know what I mean? I work with other people. I work with my boy Carlos Sid on the record, which it's an artist that I started with and now is doing very well. I'm very proud of him. I thank my manager, my agent, everybody. And then at the end, I remember there was this speech from LeBron James that stood to my head right when we won the championship in Miami. He just say, I'm just a boy. I'm just a kid. I'm just a kid from Akron. I'm not even supposed to be here, right?

Yeah.

And I remember sitting on the floor looking at him saying that, and it stood in my mind. So I said, I'm just a kid from Marseille with a dream. I'm not even supposed to be here. Yeah, that's what I said. Because I remember LeBron James, dude, I get goosebumps, man. That was. That was surreal. That was a crazy moment.

You know, I'm. I'm. I'm so enthralled by the human experience, you know, Meaning. Like you said, you said something to me before the podcast. You said, anyone can have a moment, but not everyone can have a career.

Correct.

And I think that, you know, you hit this pinnacle, this parabolic rise. You accept the Grammy and, you know, you accept the Grammy Award, and now how do you keep your career from just going downhill after that? It's like how I'm always fascinated by the athletes that don't just win one championship by the UFC fighter that holds a belt for. For several years, by. By a Tom Brady that dominates the league and goes to the super bowl so many times, even though he's already, you know, won that prize. So tell me about how you find inspiration in your career after winning.

Well, actually. Actually, what I did is I got lost for a year. Because you're trying to replicate the same thing, and you try now. Now when I was telling you that I was doing this without thinking about it, and I did it with the passion and the love. Right.

Right.

Now you're doing it thinking about it, and you want to replicate exactly the same thing. And that's when you get lost. That's what you do. You make music that you don't want to make.

Right. Because you're trying to.

Because now you sign to big labels, now you have big record deals, and now you have to please them and try to do exactly what Summertime Sander said.

Right?

And that's what I got lost.

And the pressure's on.

And the pressure is on. So that's why I couldn't do anything. I was making records that I didn't like to, trying to please them, and nothing was working. And then you. It takes you a year or two. It took me two years.

And then you go back inside your head a little.

Yeah, it's inside your head. And then you go back and you say, you know what my manager told me? Go back to making music for your friends and. And. And record that you want to play in your sets. And that's what I did. And that's when I did a record called Do It Tonight. I redid this SOS band Do It Tonight, and. And the song did amazing, Blew up, got it was the. The song of Monday Night Football, Touchdown. It was on Charlie's Angel Movie. We got picked up with so many things, and. And everyone in the world were playing the song and charted. So this is what I'm saying. I did this song again for me, for myself, to play it for my friends. So I got lost for, like, two years. Wow.

Yeah. And I think that happens a lot. You know, I saw an interview with Dana White the other day, and he's a close friend of mine as well, and he talked about what happens to a lot of these, you know, fighters at the top of their game and they spent their entire lives in the grind. The fight business is a tough business. I mean the music business is a tough business and they get to the top of their game, they get that big paycheck. Now there's a fork in the road. Right. Because now you've got access, now you're comfortable, you're somebody, you're comfortable.

Yeah.

And I think that's what I want to drill into a little bit. Because while people listening to this podcast might not be an aspiring dj, they are aspiring to something in their business, in their life, in their career, in their families. And maybe they've reached that place of comfort and how you got, how you made yourself uncomfortable again so you could go back to actually your music roots.

And yes, you have to make yourself uncomfortable if you want to be back. You can be comfortable. And I'm never comfortable. And, and, and, and maybe I think one of my biggest inspiration is to see my, my, my best friend, David Guetta, the tribe that he has and, and how many hits this man has.

Oh my God, he's a monster. And.

Like he has nothing.

Yeah, he's a sweetheart of a human being too.

He's the best human being.

Yeah.

But I never seen somebody work. Like sometime I look at him and I feel bad about myself because I think I don't, I don't work, you know, Cuz I'm like, this guy could retire right now with so many hits and he's still working like he's a little kid. But this is what I'm talking about. He's always putting himself in a situation that like, like he doesn't think about what he has and he keeps going.

Yeah, it's amazing. You know, so many, so many athletes, celebrities, you know, a listers, entrepreneurs, they, they dominate their game for a short period of time and then they lose it. It's, I think it's really interesting to hear that you actually had a two year kind of hiatus where you were wandering around and you finally just said, you know what, I'm going to go back to my roots, I'm going to make music for my friends and then bang, it happens to you again.

Yeah.

So I think for the people that know you, they know about your music career. I certainly know about your music career and I love your songs, love your music. I've danced to them for years. Not very well. I'm a terrible dancer. But talk about the transition into, into movies. You've done four movies You've been on four movies with Mark Wahlberg, so obviously a really interesting actor.

How.

How did. How did that transition occur?

Well, to be honest with you, my friend David Grutman helped me a lot in my career and introduced me to. Right.

By the way, he's. Yes, he's been a massive force in my career, too.

So he's amazing. He's the best.

Dave Grutman.

Shout out to Dave Gran. He's the best in the. In the business with that. And he's a friend, and he's looking out for me.

Every time he's on your side, he's on your.

He's always introducing me to the right people. He introduced me to Michael Bay, introduced me to Peter Berg and became friend.

With, say, this guy's a dj, but he'd be a good actor.

No, I. I started. What I did is I started making music. So in Pain and Gain, I got two songs in the movie, and then Michael threw me in the movie, you know, doing something that was a small part. And then one time, Peter Berg was doing this movie, Deep Water Horizon, and me and Grutman went up and got in the movie with Mark, and we had a. Each one of us had a scene in the movie. It was. It was amazing. Amazing experience working with Kurt Russell, Mark Ward and Kate Utson, too, which is a good friend now. And so we did that. And then after that, I mean, obviously Dave doesn't care about these things, you know, so after that, Peter. Peter did another movie, mile 22, went to Colombia for a week with him. I became very close to Peter. Peter Berg. I love him. He's a genius. Love what he does. And he actually did this movie on Painkillers, which is on Netflix right now.

Oh, that's the one on.

That's Peter Berg.

Oh, really? Talk about the opioid crisis.

Correct. Correct.

Yeah.

Which is incredible. If nobody seen it yet, you have to watch it. It's incredible. So I went there, shot that Mark Walbert again, and then we did Patriot Day. Yeah, we did that. So it's a thing that I'm doing because I'm friend with them. It's fun to act, but it's not really my career. It's just like, you know, I do those things on the side, but it's.

It's amazing. You know, my father, he's a salty old Navy captain, and he used to say it was the best definition of life I'd ever heard. And he said, you know, life is what happens to you when you're on your Way to doing something else.

Yeah.

Right. So your biggest song happened when you were kind of on your way to doing something else. You know, there you are, you're making music for your friends, and then you're like, holy. Yeah, I got a top 40 song. I got a Grammy in my hand. I mean, this is crazy. I'm acting next to, you know, Mark Wahlberg. And I think, you know, a lot of times we. We put a level of expectation on ourself, just like you, you said, and we create this expectation. We set oursel up for failure because we. We don't let our passion drive us.

We.

We set this unrealistic expectation, and then by not achieving it, we. We start to have less and less confidence in ourselves. So I think it's a great point to say, get back to what you love to do. Relax.

Yeah.

And. And enjoy and let life be something that happens to you when you're on your way to doing something else.

Exactly.

You know, I want to talk about our journey for a minute because, you know, being a dj, world renowned dj, and traveling in the nightclub business isn't particularly known for the place of optimal health. Yeah, right. Drugs, alcohol, late nights, you know, especially for dj, the travel, the time zone changes. Just the hours that you've got to be on set and the fact that you have to be present enough to put the right energy into the crowd. I mean, you need to show up. You don't have a choice. So we started our journey about two years ago. I remember when we first met, you were saying, look, my goal is I want to be as optimal as possible.

Exactly.

I want to be a superhuman. And I mean, you don't drink, you don't do drugs, so you don't have. You don't have the bad habits anyway. But you were like, I really want to dial the diet in, the hydration, the supplementation. We pulled 74 biomarkers in your blood. We pulled another five genetic markers, and you started on the protocol for supplementation, what have you. So talk a little bit about how that's impacted your life and, like, what are some of the rules that you have for travel, for. For staying in a hotel, for trying to keep up with your sleep, your diet, what have you.

Well, when. When I started, I was not worried about any of that. So I was going, you know, when you're young, you don't really worry about anything. So I was traveling. I was not sleeping very well. I was sleeping two hours.

A day.

I was eating very bad, and I was getting sick a lot. Right. So when I seen that, you know, my career was, you know, doing better, I, I start thinking I have to change something if I want to, you know, keep going this. So the first thing that I changed, I mean that, that we changed when we start working. I mean, I start making changes by my schedule, the way I fly. Right. I wanted to make sure to get my, my sleep.

Because you fly a lot.

Yeah, I fly a lot. So I wanted to make sure like that I could sleep at least eight hours every time, you know, so no early flights, no two hours of sleep anymore. So I, I, I changed that my.

So you started scheduling your scheduling my.

Travels around my sleep. Yeah. To have better sleep. Right. So that's very important for me. Sleep is the most important thing. And I think you talk about this sleep is to work out, to make sure that when I get to the city I get my workout in. Because I became very big in working out every day, which I was not working out at the time.

So you're planning like the hotel that you might stay in to make sure the gym. The gym.

Correct. As the gym get my workout in that I, that I continue from the week that I started on Monday I keep my workout and everywhere that I go before I was not working out at all. I was not sleeping and I was eating bad. I changed my diet. I start intermittent fasting.

Right. Which I remember when we started this.

So we started intermittent fasting which very changed my life at the beginning was very hard and then I could not live without it. If you tell me right now have breakfast at 9 in the morning, there's no way I can do this right. It will ruin my day.

Yeah. And I remember you, you weren't like that. And I know everybody is not a candidate for intermittent fasting. We looked at your blood work and you had, there's a marker in the blood work called Hemoglobin A1C. It's a three month average of the blood sugar. This was elevated. The, the insulin was, was, was elevated. And, and we talked about it and I remember you said there's some ways that I can get this down. And I said, well, you could do intermittent fasting. And we started talking about a fasting program. And I remember it was difficult for you in the beginning. So now talk about what's your eating schedule like now?

So my eating schedule is my first meal is at 3 in the afternoon, last meal, sometime even more, 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Last meal, 8pm that's my, that's 8pm 9pm Sometime. Depends where I'm at the food that I eat when I'm in town, in my house, everything is organic, non GMO organic. Like you told me to do. Fruits, very important. Like you talk about that. It's that it's very important because all the pesticides that's on it. And, and I remember you told me that when you wash the fruit you can actually reuse the water and pesticide again, all the fruits with it.

Yes.

This is how bad it is.

Yeah. In, in non organic.

Non organic food. Yes.

So you go organic on your fruits. You're eating in a window from, from 3 to 8pm so about a five hour window. And for people that have never intermittent fasting talk about the struggle. How much of a struggle is that now? It's just what you do.

This is just what I do. It's part of my life. It's very easy.

Yeah, very easy.

It's very easy. It's, it's, it's. The only thing that's difficult for me is when I travel to control what I eat. Right. So I try to, for example, when I get to a city, I make sure my tour manager goes to whole food and gets me the organic foods. The, my water, I only drink mountain valley water which is, you know, know in glass bottles, one of the best water to drink.

Very true.

I also changed that. I carry my, you know, non GMO sea salt, you know, with me so I can use that.

The guy is carrying his own sea salt, ladies and gentlemen.

So this is, this is what I do.

I carry some next level here.

I'm very big on not using any seed oil, sunflower oils and everything. And as you know, a lot of restaurants cooking with that. So one thing that I learned, if I eat at a restaurant, I'm going to ask the chef to cook with butter. Right. If I do a steak, I'm going to mention that I want the steak to be cooked in butter, which is much better for you than seed oils.

Right.

So there's a lot of tricks like this that I can do. So would I, I would love to be home all the time and follow my diet, but I cannot. So that's what I try to do on the road and stay healthy.

And what kind of impact has that had on the wear and tear that travel takes on?

It changed my life. I mean one thing that I can say is I don't get sick anymore.

Yeah.

I do not get sick since I've been on the program with you and I changed my diet and, and you know, the supplement that I'M taking. I'm sincerely. I'm never getting sick.

No, you look amazing. And, and you know, when, when you look at blood work, there's. There's something in there called the cbc, the complete blood count. You can look at how strong some parts of the immune system are. You know what your blood counts are of certain white. White blood cells that, that help you mount an immune defense. And that has improved dramatically in your case. But it's nice to take lab values like sugars going from high to low or insulin going from high to low, or the amount of blood fat triglyceride going from high to low, and relate that to how it's impacting your life. And so when you're, when you're on planes.

So you're.

You're fasting on airplanes.

I'm fasting on airplanes. That's why I try to travel in the morning. So I get to the city and then I can do my things. And yeah, I'm fasting. It's very easy on the plane. I drink a lot of water. Coffee.

Yeah. It's funny, I had. I had dinner at your restaurant.

Yeah.

Matamushi, in. In Aspen the other night with my wife's age and. And your wife, you were out of town. She goes, oh, man, Cedric's a pain in the ass. When he orders, like, I want my steak cooked in butter. I want like, he's. She told me the exact same thing.

That's what I do. She hates sitting with you.

Yeah, but it's, but it makes, it makes such a difference. And, and do they ever have a problem accommodating you?

No, never, never. You can always ask a restaurant. They will do it for you.

Yeah. And. And these are some of the little shifts that people can make to totally change the trajectory of their, of their life. And I talk about. I like, you know, talking about little shifts that you can make that make a major difference in your life because there's people listening to this that don't travel at all. So they, they work at 9 to 5, Monday to Friday. There's certainly nothing wrong with that. And they have. They. And they're not consistent at home about what they're eating. And yet with your travel schedule, which is different time zones, different cities, different countries, different food, you set up, like, some rules.

Yeah.

And you stick to those rules. And it's, it's helped you in your career, and it's helped you.

You know, I'm more focused. I'm getting better sleep, better energy at everything. You know, and I see it I see it. It changed. Two years ago, I was not like that.

So, so, so now we know you've made you. This is the next big shift you've made in your life. And I want to get back to that conversation about what makes somebody transition from having a moment to having a career. How are you staying interested in music right now? How are you staying interested and passionate about your career? What do you. What do you key into after having such a long career in. In music, winning a Grammy and acting like, what's next for Cedric Gervais?

In my head, I still haven't made it. That's why.

That's why I'm still hungry.

I'm still hungry. I haven't made it. I. I don't think I accomplished anything yet. That's why I keep going. And if, if I put my manager here, it would tell you that I'm a crazy man, because every time I call them, I call them like, I haven't done anything.

And really.

And. And I, I harass him like, we need to do something. We need to do this, we need to do that. We need, you know, and he's like, you need to chill out. You need to, like. And. And this is my mindset. Right, Right. I'm not comfortable. I'm not.

Where do you, where are you getting your creative inspiration from now? Like, earlier in your career? You got it from wanting to just make music for your friends.

Yeah. So where are you listening to other people, listening to, going out, listening to DJs, listening to the music out there and. And performing in photo crowds every weekend? That's very. You get energy from the, the beauty of being a DJ is, which I think a lot of producers don't have. Right. Is we can make music and try it in front of a crowd on the weekend.

Oh, in real time.

In real time. Yeah. Go back to the studio and change the thing that you want to change and go back to the following weekend and try the record again and perfect the record all the time.

I never thought about that.

See what I mean?

So there's a certain connection you have with that crowd, like a certain energy.

And you're like, you see, if a record works, it doesn't work as some producer. Like massive producers are going to make a record in the studio and then they're going to be like, okay, let's. Let's release that and see what happens. Yeah. See how it goes. Yeah, exactly.

Right. Which you can just. You can fail in small increments. Yeah.

You can see some record work, some record don't some. You have to tweak some. You know what I mean? And that's the beauty of. Of DJing.

Yeah.

And be on the road.

What do you think makes the difference between a good DJ and a great dj? I'll tell you what somebody told me one time, and I think. And it made a lot of sense. Roman Zago, who was a partner of mine in a nightclub years ago called Mint Lounge. I remember he, he. When he was trying to get DJs and talent, you know, he would say, the difference between a good DJ and a great DJ is the transition. And I was like, what do you mean, the transition? He's like, the transition between songs because the crowd should never feel an abrupt stop and an abrupt start again. Right. Like, if you break things up too much, um, then you sort of break the momentum and the energy of the crowd. Right. But what do you. What do you think makes the difference between a good.

Well, I think being. Being an amazing DJ is like, there's two different. I mean, there's so many different DJs. Right? You have the. For me, it's like when you're a dj, you have to tell a story, right? You have to, like, take people on a journey. Like have. You know, I used to. I. I come from a different era of dj, which I have to start from the beginning of the night, warm up the room, get people walking in, have them dancing, take them somewhere to the end of the night. Right, right. For like five hours, six hours. A long journey.

Yeah.

Now you have this kid coming. They get success, they get put on and they play for one hour. You know what I mean?

Right.

So it's very, I think is there's an art in DJing. You know, it could be a hip hop, it could be open format, it could be any kind of music. There's always, like, telling a story and keeping, like, people dancing and having a great time.

Are you ever adjusting in real time? Like, you have to crowd, like, they're not feeling this. I'm gonna.

You have to adjust.

I had this plan, but I'm gonna shift.

You can't. I mean, you can tell when you walk to a place. I can tell when I walk to a place, I'm like, I'm gonna have to change my style. I'm gonna have to play different. Really. I'm gonna have to go in a different way. I'd be like, but this is when you have, like, this and you. Right, right. It's this. This is not. But then you have DJs. I have pre recorded set that goes everywhere and play the same thing. But those are producer that became DJs.

Right? Right.

It's a big difference that they had a big record and then they put on the road to being a DJ and they have no idea what they're doing. They're learning as they go. Right. So it's, it's, it's where you, you.

Really are in live format. You're and, and you're in that booth sometimes and you go, I was going this direction, but based on what I'm feeling from the crowd, I'm gonna go.

In a different direction.

Yeah.

I never know what record I'm gonna play. I'm gonna play the same record many times, but in not the same order. Ah, you never know when I show up what I'm gonna play. Yeah. You know, even here I live, when I play live my residency, I, I song in the same order. You're going to hear same songs. Right. But never in the same order because you have to create a vibe. And some people, sometime you don't know, they start drinking. You don't know at what level they are. You know, you look at them, you know, and sometime you show up. The energy is insane. And it starts right away. It's always different.

So you just start pounding on the crowd.

You have to feed yourself with the energy of the crowd. And then this is something that you have to learn how to do.

I imagine you can't really stand on a crowd too hard for too long. Like you got to kind of give them a little bit of break.

I mean, it depends the amount of hours you're playing, right? It could be. I remember this dj, Danny Taneglia, which was a legend from New York. He used to do like 10 hour sets, 12 hour sets of space. Yeah. God. And he would take you on journeys. Like, it would be like fast speed and downbeat this and that, and people would dance for like 12 hours, but then you would give them rest and then go back up. It was, it was just a crazy experience. Now all the, you know, everything is like very short, very like they want it now. Now everybody's near their phone watching, you know.

Right.

It's, it's a different era.

Yeah. I mean, and that's, that's got to be an interesting part of your career too. Because when you started, the cell phones were not in the nightclubs. I mean, it. And they went, they heard that music, they went home. But now, I mean, I've been in the DJ booth with you. I mean, it's like, thousands of phones just pointed at you. So all that's out all over social media, everywhere.

You play a song this, Shazam it, they know what it is right away.

Yeah, yeah. They should zam right away. And then they. And then they're recording you. So. So again, so now that you're at this point in your career, you focused on your health, which I'm. I'm a huge fan of, of yours, and I'm a huge fan of the discipline that you've shown, because you have been very, very disciplined. You know, some. Sometimes when I'm working with different people, you. You try things, they go off the wagon. You know, they go back on the wagon. You basically got on the wagon and never got off.

Yeah.

If anything, you've improved the wagon. You know, you. You've got travel hacks that you use. You've got sleep hacks that you use. You look great. You're. You're in fantastic shape. It's obviously affecting your career. So again, where do you see Cedric Gervais? I love the fact that you said, I don't feel like I've done anything, because I. I think that that mindset, that hungry young mindset that you're sort of tapping into back when you were in a small club in France at 19, is a different mindset than. Than the one that you tap into after you've won a Grammy and you're like, hey, I'm already here.

Yeah.

So I. I love that because people can actually reorient the way that they approach their career and they can try to find that hunger again for. For their. For their business, for their music, for their career, for their, you know, for their marriage or what have you. So what's next? Where's. Where's Cedric Gervais over the next five years? Where does he go?

I'm. I'm. I'm making a lot of music right now at the moment and also doing different business.

I mean, are there artists that you have a. I would love to work with this artist. So, like, you could work with one artist. Like, who would it be?

I think. I think would be the Weekend.

The Weekend?

Yeah. I love the weekend. Bruno Mars is one of my favorite artists. There's many artists.

He's one of those two. I mean, obviously I know some of some of his songs, but I was in Vegas with this Swedish house guys, and they're like, hey, we're going over to OR with Alesso. And he's like, hey, I'm going over to the. The weekend's concert and I was like, I'll go over there with you. And then I sat there and I was like, he does that song. He does that song. He does that song.

He's massive.

He does that. I couldn't believe it. It was like nine of ten songs.

Songs. I. The weekend is. Yeah.

So you'd love to do an album with him?

Not an album. Yeah, a song. I would love to do a song the week. I mean, the weekend. I don't know if you know, but the Weeknd started his career as giving his music for free. He was signed to nobody. And you would sign up to a website, which. I was signed up to the website. And when he would drop an album, you'll get it for free.

Wow.

Back in the days. Yeah. And I will get his album for free.

And he was producing that music.

He was producing everything, singing everything and giving it away to his fans for free. He was signed to no label, didn't want to be signed to anybody. And that's how he blew up and created his crown.

Wow.

And so would DJs, like, you take that music and.

And things like that. I was just listening to his music. I was a fan. But then he became massive after, you know, after that.

Who are some of the. In your career so far, who's some of the favorite artists that you've worked with? I mean, working with Lenny Kravitz must have been pretty cool.

Yeah, that was. That was very cool.

I mean, that's a. That's a living legend.

That was very cool. Lenny, Lenny. Lenny, by the way, is a very. When it comes to health, he's very. Oh, yeah, he's a friend now, and he's very strict with his health. He's the same, you know, he's an amazing, amazing guy. He.

And I've been down the rabbit hole in that before.

He's unbelievable. Him. Lana Del Rey. I worked with Miley Cyrus. Working with Madonna was pretty crazy, you know?

And when you collaborate with these artists, is it. Is it kind of their way or the highway? Or are they really coming in and kind of collaborating with you? What's it like to work?

It's always different.

Iconic legends.

It's. It's always different.

Okay.

You know, it's not. Lenny was very cool. I. I did the Stillness of Heart from his album, Worked with him.

So you took a song of his and then.

Yeah, and did. In my version. Then I went to his house, play it for him, and he actually. He was listening, and I was like. I didn't know what he was thinking. He was listening to it that the only goes. You blew my mind, man. This is incredible. No, I was a little kid, I was looking at any Kravitz like this, I was like, oh my God, did you just say that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you know, some artists, they just let you do it. Like I worked with 1S, which is an incredible legend from Colombia. We did a song together and he came in, we worked together and he was like, he didn't understand because he's a rock artist, right? He's like, how are we going to do this? So I just told him, I said, listen, just write a, you know, one of the song that you will write like a ballad and then just give me the vocals when you're done. And then I've done the song, brought it back to him. And he was like, oh my God, this is incredible. You know what I mean?

Because that's the cool thing about your style of music too, because you can take rock, house, hip hop, you know, pop, even like a funky blues tune and you can kind of, kind of put your, your spin to.

Yeah.

And really put it on a different stage.

Yeah.

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So, Lenny Kravitz, you know some of these other artists. Who did you say was an artist that you.

Miley Cyrus as well.

Miley Cyrus.

That was cool to work with her. Yeah.

What did you guys do together?

So we did the song Adore you. She wanted me to work on that song. And at the time, I think I was saying no to. To remix the song. And I remember one time.

Why is that?

She. It was at the time that she started, she was a little crazy and doing all these things and I was busy doing other things. And I remember I get a phone call. I'm like, yo, what's up? Why don't you want to work on my song? I'm like, who's this? She goes, it's Miley.

No way. She called you?

Yeah.

It kind of sounds like something.

And then. And then she came down to Miami with her mom. I went to hang out with her. I live. And then I did the song. I. I remixed the song Adore you, which is an incredible song. And she's super cool. But the fact that she called and asked and, and yeah, I think I love that.

Yeah.

When she was such a huge artist, I thought it was super co. Why would she call me? You know what I mean?

Right.

And I did it. She was such a great. And the song did amazing. So. Yeah, well, fantastic.

Well, you know, I mean, the health journey, the music journey, you're clearly almost in your mind at the beginning.

Yeah.

Again.

And I think that's a great point for people to leave with. Is there anything else that you want people to know about Cedric Gervais and. And your career? And what. What's one piece of advice you would give to a young DJ like yourself, starting out, 19 years old, wants to break into this career?

I think is the advice that we give somebody that start now at 19 years old is to really work on your craft. Right. Don't look at the. Because right now everybody sees is. Is this, this guy up there on stage putting his hand up in front of thousands of crowd and. And the kids are like, this is where I want to be. That's what I want to do. But I think they have to see the work that goes into that to get there, right. Because I. It was not handed to me, Right. I had to work for it. And some. Some gets handed, you know, to them and. And then they're here for like a quick minute and then they're gone. So really put the work and see how much work you have to put into this and what comes into it. And this it comes to, like when we're talking about athletes, right? There's so many, few athletes that are there and the best in the world. But why are they the best in the world, right? Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, LeBron James, Tom Brady. Why is the dedication to the work, right. The hours they put in day in, day out, right.

When they're not on the stage. Yeah.

And this is why they on top. And this is why they're the best in the world, right? Kobe Bryant, like all these people. And I think that's what a kid should look at and what comes in. And I mean, look at David Guetta. David comes from the same background that I come from, right? From nothing. DJing, learning, producing.

You know, was there ever a time that you really just wanted to throw in the towel and quit? Were there those low moments?

Yeah, of course. Many moments, Many moments. Because everybody, you have to understand this. Everybody loves you, and you are. You're as good as your last record. Yeah, that's it.

Yeah.

So when. When your last record is getting old, people are like, oh, whatever.

Yeah.

And you start feeling like. So you. You feel all this love, and all of a sudden you don't feel this love anymore and you start like, questioning yourself and you're like, oh, my God, what's going on here? Am I done? Yeah. Yeah.

There used to be this show. I used to love to watch it called One Hit Wonders. Yeah. And you would always know the song. And these people would spike and hit, you know, they would have this one hit wonder, and then you'd never hear about them again. And that's some of what I hope we tapped in into today.

Yeah.

Cedric, this has been amazing, man. I'm really appreciative that you took the time to come on the show today. I end all my podcasts the same way by asking every guest what it means to them to be an ultimate human. What does it mean to you to be an ultimate human.

To me, it means that I'm 44 now, and I feel like I'm 20 years old. Awesome. That's what it means to me.

Awesome. Yeah, well, we're going to end with that. And now, as always, guys, thank you, Cedric, for joining us today on the Ultimate Human podcast.

You're an absolute.

Thank you, my brother.

You're a good friend. And as always, that's just science.