Gilles Luka (real name — Gilles Fahy; born April 30, 1977, La Seyne-sur-Mer, Var, France) is a French singer, songwriter, composer and music producer. He gained international recognition as the vocalist of the electronic group Galleon, best known for the hit So I Begin, and later became one of the key members of the project Ocean Drive. Since the late 2010s, he has developed the electronic project Colorblast.
Gilles Luka's career spans French pop music, French house, electro-pop and dance music. In addition to his own releases, he has worked as a songwriter, arranger and producer for other artists, composed music for television and advertising, released remixes and taken part in international collaborations.
Among Gilles Luka's best-known works are So I Begin with Galleon, Some People (Ton désir), Without You (Perdue sans toi), Because (Connecte-toi) and Revolution with Ocean Drive, the solo tracks We Can Make It Right and I Can Believe, as well as Message in a Bottle by Colorblast.
Childhood and a musical family
Gilles Fahy was born on April 30, 1977, in La Seyne-sur-Mer in southern France, near Toulon.
He grew up in a musical family. His mother was involved in jazz singing, while his father played double bass. From an early age, the future artist was exposed both to live instrumental music and to popular song culture.
This environment later influenced his own approach to electronic music. Even Luka's club-oriented productions are usually built around a strong melodic line and a complete song structure, while synthesizer-based production is often combined with piano, guitar and other live instruments.
First songs
At the beginning of his professional career, Gilles Luka focused primarily on French pop and pop-rock.
In the early 2000s, he moved to Paris with his own demo recordings. Among his first released songs were Tout ou rien and Bien plus important.
At the same time, the musician became increasingly interested in the electronic scene and in combining traditional pop songwriting with club-oriented arrangements. This direction soon led to his first international success.
Galleon
In the early 2000s, Gilles Fahy began collaborating with Marseille-based musicians and producers Michel Fages and Philippe Laurent. Together they created the electronic project Galleon.
Gilles became the group's vocalist and contributed to the writing of a significant part of its material. Galleon's music developed within the French house scene of the early 2000s, combining house rhythms, disco and funk with guitar parts and melodic male vocals.
So I Begin
In 2001, Galleon released their debut single So I Begin.
The song was written by Gilles Fahy, Michel Fages and Philippe Laurent. The recording is built around a steady house groove, processed electric guitar and Gilles's high-register vocals.
So I Begin quickly moved beyond the French club scene. The single reached the Top 10 of the French chart, received a gold certification in France and entered the charts in several other European countries.
In the United Kingdom, the song reached No. 36 on the UK Singles Chart.
The music video featuring model Jitka Ogureková played a major role in the song's international visibility. Together with its musical production, the video became a characteristic example of early-2000s European dance aesthetics.
The Galleon album
Following the success of So I Begin, the project released I Believe, followed by One Sign and The Way.
In 2002, the self-titled album Galleon was released.
Its track listing included:
- So I Begin;
- Shining Light;
- One Sign;
- The Best World;
- I Believe;
- Each Day;
- The Way;
- Angel Wings;
- Ghost Ship;
- Freedom to Move and other tracks.
Freedom to Move, based on a work by George Frideric Handel, was used in a Levi's advertising campaign.
The album reached No. 54 on the French chart and also appeared on the Swiss chart. It remained the only full-length studio album released during Galleon's principal period of activity.
Studio work after Galleon
After Galleon's most active period, Gilles Luka continued working independently as a songwriter, performer and producer.
During the second half of the 2000s, his name regularly appeared in the songwriting and production credits of other artists.
In 2008, Luka contributed to French singer Nâdiya's album Électron libre. On several tracks, he worked as a composer, producer, programmer, keyboardist and sound engineer.
Nâdiya's song J'irai jusque-là was based on Gilles Luka's composition Just Because You Lied.
He also worked with British singer Murray Head and later collaborated with Russian performer Sergey Lazarev. Their joint track Desire appeared on the album LAZAREV.
80:08
In 2008, Gilles Luka released his first full-length solo album, 80:08.
The record consists primarily of English-language material and combines electronic pop with pop-rock and the aesthetics of 1980s synthesizer music.
The album includes:
- Just Because You Lied;
- Asylum;
- Kill Shout;
- Silver Day;
- No One;
- Time After Time;
- Golden Eye;
- 80:08;
- Solitary Share;
- Lifetime;
- Traffic Jam;
- Bulleat Song.
80:08 did not match the mainstream success of So I Begin, but it established Gilles Luka as an independent songwriter and performer beyond any particular group project.
The creation of Ocean Drive
A new major phase of Luka's career began in 2008 with the emergence of Ocean Drive.
The project formed around producers Nicolas Carel and Just Uman. Gilles Luka became one of its principal songwriters and producers, as well as its male vocalist.
One of the team's first recordings was posted on MySpace, where it attracted the attention of DJ Oriska, who subsequently joined the project.
This resulted in Ocean Drive's characteristic formula: Gilles Luka's English-language vocals were combined with French-language female parts and radio-friendly electro-house production.
DJ Oriska, however, did not perform the French vocals on the project's major hit Some People (Ton désir): that part was recorded by singer Sab (Sabrina).
Some People (Ton désir)
Ocean Drive's first major hit was Some People (Ton désir).
The song was released in late 2008 and early 2009 and reached No. 8 on the French singles chart.
The track combined a club-oriented beat with a bilingual vocal structure: Gilles Luka performed the main English-language sections, while the female vocalist delivered the French refrain.
This approach became one of the defining features of early Ocean Drive and allowed the project to operate successfully in both club and radio formats.
Without You and Because
The success continued with Without You (Perdue sans toi), which reached No. 4 on the French chart.
The following single, Because (Connecte-toi), climbed to No. 11.
Together, these tracks defined Ocean Drive's most commercially successful period and made Gilles Luka's voice recognizable to listeners who may not previously have associated him with Galleon.
With the Sunshine
In 2009, Ocean Drive released the album With the Sunshine.
It included:
- Some People (Ton désir);
- Without You (Perdue sans toi);
- Because (Connecte-toi);
- With the Sunshine (Tellement loin);
- Diggin It;
- Your Man;
- Watcha;
- Stop Me Now;
- Embrasse-moi.
If Galleon represented the French house wave of the early 2000s, Ocean Drive became characteristic of the next phase — the era of mainstream electro-pop and radio-oriented dance music at the end of the decade.
The international version of Some People
Following their success in France, Ocean Drive began preparing material for the international market.
In 2010, a new version of Some People was recorded with Iranian-born Norwegian model and singer Aylar Lie.
The project also began working with the British electronic music industry in an effort to introduce its already successful French material to new markets.
Return to a solo career
While continuing his work with Ocean Drive, Gilles Luka once again began releasing music under his own name.
During this period, he released:
- On s'évite;
- Reviens;
- Plus près (We Can Make It Right);
- I Can Believe (Jusqu'au bout);
- Ici ensemble;
- Fan de toi.
Compared with 80:08, the new recordings were more strongly oriented toward the French market. Electronic production remained an important element, but French-language vocals and radio-friendly pop melodies became more prominent.
We Can Make It Right with Nyusha
One of Gilles Luka's best-known solo releases was Plus près (We Can Make It Right), recorded with Russian singer Nyusha.
The song combines French and English and became the musical theme of the French reality television project Les Anges de la téléréalité on NRJ 12.
Its regular use on the television program helped make We Can Make It Right one of Luka's most recognizable solo releases in France.
Ici ensemble
In 2011, Gilles Luka released his second solo album, Ici ensemble.
The record combined electronic pop, French-language songwriting and club versions of selected tracks.
Guest performers on the album included Smartzee and Nâdiya.
Among its key tracks were:
- Ici ensemble;
- Plus près (We Can Make It Right);
- I Can Believe (Jusqu'au bout);
- Fan de toi;
- Japan;
- Je le ferais pour toi;
- Et j'avance;
- Quand on le fait.
I Can Believe was used in an Axe advertising campaign featuring basketball player Tony Parker and internet musician Keenan Cahill.
Remix for Mylène Farmer
In 2011, Gilles Luka and producer Romain Curtis created official remixes of Lonely Lisa by French singer Mylène Farmer.
The official release included the Curtis & Luka Radio Mix and Curtis & Luka Extended Mix.
This became one of Luka's most notable remix productions outside his own projects.
Music for television
A separate strand of Gilles Luka's career has been closely connected with French television.
He composed songs, theme music and instrumental cues for projects on NRJ 12, France Télévisions, Canal+ and other television networks.
In addition to the theme for Les Anges de la téléréalité, his television work includes music for L'été où tout a basculé and the theme of the television show Ce soir avec Arthur.
Working for television allowed Luka to make use of one of the defining strengths of his songwriting — short melodic hooks that remain easily recognizable even when reduced to brief instrumental themes.
The later period of Ocean Drive
In 2012, Ocean Drive released Whatever (Encore et encore), followed by Revolution.
Revolution was selected as the principal musical theme for the French season of the television project Star Academy Revolution on NRJ 12.
In 2013, the project released S.O.S. and Ocean Drive Avenue. The latter was connected with another season of Les Anges.
After this period, Ocean Drive's activity gradually declined, while Gilles Luka concentrated increasingly on his solo and production work.
Colorblast
In 2018, Gilles Luka launched a new electronic project called Colorblast.
Initially, the identity of the person behind the project was deliberately kept secret. Its debut release was Gorgeous, conceived as a contemporary interpretation of French touch and disco-house aesthetics.
Colorblast subsequently became Luka's principal outlet for electronic production. Unlike in his solo career, he works here primarily as a composer and producer, although he also contributes vocals.
Releases from the project include:
- Gorgeous;
- There She Goes;
- Baby;
- Let Me In Closer;
- Killer;
- Message in a Bottle;
- We Figured It Out;
- URGENT.
Message in a Bottle
Colorblast's most successful release became an electronic version of Message in a Bottle by The Police.
The first version appeared in digital catalogs in late 2021, followed by an expanded official release in early 2022.
Gilles Luka and Romain Curtis reworked Sting's well-known composition into a contemporary dance track while retaining the central vocal melody of the original.
Numerous club remixes were subsequently released, while the recording itself became Colorblast's most popular track on streaming platforms.
Colorblast in 2025–2026
In 2025, Colorblast released the single We Figured It Out.
On November 28, 2025, URGENT was released in collaboration with American producer Warren Williams. The track is an electronic reinterpretation of the Foreigner song written by Mick Jones.
The release appeared through Broddway Publishing with distribution by Virgin Music France.
In January 2026, Gilles Luka described Colorblast as his main current musical project during an interview with the French radio station Voltage.
Thus, almost a quarter of a century after Galleon's breakthrough, Luka continues to work within the contemporary electronic music scene, maintaining his interest in melodic dance production and in reinterpreting pop and rock material from previous decades.
Gilles Luka's musical style
Gilles Luka's work spans several areas of electronic and popular music.
One of his most distinctive characteristics is his high male vocal register, which stands out clearly against dense electronic arrangements.
Another consistent element is his emphasis on melody. Club rhythms are rarely an end in themselves in Luka's music: most of his work is structured as complete songs with verses, a strong chorus and an easily recognizable motif.
With Galleon, this formula was combined with French house and disco; with Ocean Drive, with bilingual electro-pop; in his solo career, with French-language pop songwriting; and Colorblast develops the same approach within the contemporary international dance scene.
Personal life
Gilles Luka is married to French interior designer and television presenter Emmanuelle Rivassoux, known for the television programs Maison à vendre and Mieux chez soi.
The couple met on February 7, 1999. Exactly seven years later, on February 7, 2006, Gilles and Emmanuelle married.
The couple occasionally share aspects of their family life on social media, but do not turn their relationship into a separate media project.
Selected discography
Galleon
Studio album:
- Galleon — 2002.
Major singles:
- So I Begin — 2001;
- I Believe — 2001;
- One Sign — 2002;
- The Way — 2002.
Gilles Luka solo albums
- 80:08 — 2008;
- Ici ensemble — 2011.
Selected solo songs
- Tout ou rien;
- Bien plus important;
- On s'évite;
- Reviens;
- Plus près (We Can Make It Right) — with Nyusha;
- I Can Believe (Jusqu'au bout);
- Ici ensemble — with Smartzee;
- Before You Go — with Mathieu Bouthier.
Ocean Drive
Studio album:
- With the Sunshine — 2009.
Major singles:
- Some People (Ton désir);
- Without You (Perdue sans toi);
- Because (Connecte-toi);
- With the Sunshine (Tellement loin);
- Bikini;
- Whatever (Encore et encore);
- Revolution;
- S.O.S.;
- Ocean Drive Avenue.
Colorblast
- Gorgeous — 2018;
- There She Goes — 2019;
- Baby — 2020;
- Let Me In Closer — 2020;
- Message in a Bottle — 2021/2022;
- Killer — 2022;
- We Figured It Out — 2025;
- URGENT — 2025.
Gilles Luka in French electronic music
Gilles Luka's career spans several generations of the French electronic music scene. In the early 2000s, he became the voice of Galleon and So I Begin; at the end of the decade, he contributed to Ocean Drive's commercial success while simultaneously developing his career as a solo performer, songwriter and producer.
His professional work has never been limited to his own releases. Collaborations with Nâdiya, Mylène Farmer, Sergey Lazarev and other artists, together with music for television and advertising projects, established a separate and substantial studio dimension to his career.
Colorblast continued this trajectory into the streaming era. Despite the changes that have reshaped electronic music, the central thread connecting So I Begin, Ocean Drive's hits and Luka's later work remains his melodic approach — combining club rhythms with pop songwriting and an immediately recognizable vocal or instrumental hook.
