Daft Punk is an electronic music duo consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (born February 8, 1974) and Thomas Bangalter (born January 3, 1975). The two became good friends and later recorded demo tracks with others from the school. This eventually led to the formation of the guitar-based group called Darlin' with Laurent Brancowitz in 1992. The indie rock trio had branded themselves after The Beach Boys song of the same name, which they covered along with an original composition. Stereolab released both tracks on a multi-artist Duophonic Records EP and invited the band to open for stage shows in the United Kingdom. Darlin' soon disbanded, leaving Brancowitz to pursue other efforts with Phoenix.}}
In regards to the artistic control and freedom, Bangalter stated:
"Da Funk" and "Alive" were later included on Daft Punk's 1997 debut album Homework. The album was regarded as an innovative synthesis of techno, house, acid house and electro styles, and is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential dance music albums of the nineties. "Da Funk" was also included on The Saint film soundtrack. It was during this period of change in dance music that Daft Punk became largely successful. They combined the aforementioned music styles with crowd pleasing elements of rave. The most successful single from Homework was "Around the World", which is known for the repeating chant of the song's title. Daft Punk also produced a series of music videos for Homework directed by Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Roman Coppola and Seb Janiak. The collection of videos was released in 1999 and titled .
Discovery era (1999–2004)
By 1999 the duo were well into the recording sessions for their second album, which had begun a year earlier. This accounts for the heavy use of themes and samples from the late '70s to early '80s era on the album. It reached #2 in the United Kingdom, and its single "
One More Time" was a major club and mainstream hit, which nearly topped the UK Singles Chart. The song is well known for being heavily
auto-tuned and compressed. A 45-minute excerpt from a
Daftendirektour performance recorded at Birmingham, UK in 1997 was also released in 2001, entitled
Alive 1997.
2003 first saw the release of the feature-length animated film
. Daft Punk produced the film under the supervision of
Leiji Matsumoto, whom they have said is their childhood hero. The album
Daft Club was also released to promote the film. It features a collection of remixes previously made available through an online membership service of the same name.
on July 27, 2007]]
Human After All era (2004–2008)
Starting on September 13 and ending November 9, 2004, Daft Punk devoted six weeks to creating new material. The duo released the album
Human After All in March 2005. Reviews were mixed, mostly citing its overly repetitive nature and seemingly rushed recording. The singles taken from this album were "
Robot Rock", "
Technologic", "
Human After All", "
The Prime Time of Your Life" and "The Brainwasher". The earliest official statement from Daft Punk concerning the album was "we believe that
Human After All speaks for itself."
A Daft Punk anthology CD/DVD entitled Musique Vol. 1 1993–2005 was released on April 4, 2006. It contains new music videos for "The Prime Time of Your Life" and "Robot Rock (Maximum Overdrive)". Daft Punk also released a remix album of Human After All called . A limited edition included two kubricks of Daft Punk as robots.
On May 21, 2006, Daft Punk premiered their first directed film, Daft Punk's Electroma at the Cannes Film Festival sidebar Director's Fortnight. The film does not include their own music, which is a first for the duo considering their previous DVD and film releases (D.A.F.T. for Homework and Interstella 5555 for Discovery). Midnight screenings of the film were shown in Paris theaters starting from the end of March 2007. Initial public comments have since been positive.
Daft Punk released their second live album titled Alive 2007 on November 19, 2007. It contains the duo's performance in Paris from their Alive 2007 tour. The live version of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" from Alive 2007 was released as a single.
Recent projects (2008–present)
Following the
Alive 2007 tour, Daft Punk focused on other projects. A 2008 interview with Pedro Winter revealed that the duo returned to their Paris studio to work on new material. Winter also stepped down from managing Daft Punk to focus attention on his
Ed Banger Records label and his work as Busy P. He stated in a later interview that the duo are working with an unspecified management company in
Los Angeles. In 2008, Daft Punk placed 38th in a worldwide official poll of
DJ Magazine after debuting at position 71 in the year before. On February 8, 2009, Daft Punk won
Grammy Awards for
Alive 2007 and its single "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger".
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Daft Punk provided eleven new mixes featuring their music for the video game DJ Hero. They also appear in the game as playable characters, along with their own venue. The duo appear wearing their Discovery-era helmets and Human After All-era leather attire.
At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that the duo composed 24 tracks for the film . Daft Punk's score was arranged and orchestrated by Joseph Trapanese. The band collaborated with him for two years on the score, from pre-production to completion. The score features an 85-piece orchestra, recorded at AIR Lyndhurst Studios in London. Joseph Kosinski, director of Tron: Legacy, referred to the score as being a mixture of orchestral and electronic elements. Daft Punk also make a cameo appearance as disc jockey programs wearing their trademark robot masks within the film's virtual world. Tron: Legacy co-star Olivia Wilde stated that the duo may be involved with future promotional events related to the film. A teaser trailer features Daft Punk and their track "Derezzed" from Tron: Legacy. The was released on December 6, 2010. A deluxe 2-disc edition of the album was also released that includes a poster of the duo from the film. Additional bonus tracks are also available through various online vendors. An official music video for "Derezzed" also premiered on the MTV Networks on the same day the album was released. The video was later made available for purchase from the iTunes Store.
Influences
Bangalter and de Homem-Christo have credited many sources that influenced their musical style. Years before producing
electronic music as a duo, they were stated to have shared tastes for
Elton John,
MC5,
The Rolling Stones,
The Beach Boys and
The Stooges. Their mutual admiration for
rock bands led to the founding of their own independent project, Darlin'. Bangalter stated that "It was still maybe more a teenage thing at that time. It's like, you know, everybody wants to be in a band." They drew inspiration from the rock and
acid house in the United Kingdom during the early 1990s. De Homem-Christo pointed to
Screamadelica by
Primal Scream as an influential work, as the record "put everything together" in terms of genre. The duo also utilized vintage equipment to recreate the sound of a previous artist. As stated by de Homem-Christo, "On 'Digital Love' you get this
Supertramp vibe on the bridge," which was generated through an in-studio
Wurlitzer piano. During a later interview, de Homem-Christo clarified that "we didn't make a list of artists we like and copy their songs."
Visual components and image
Daft Punk are noted for their use of visual components associated with their musical productions. The music videos for their singles from
Homework featured memorable characters and placed emphasis on storytelling instead of musical performance. The album
Discovery subsequently became the soundtrack to
Interstella 5555.
Their outward personae have also changed over time. During their Homework years, the duo would usually wear masks to hide their appearance. Daft Punk introduced the costumes to many U.S. television viewers through an advertisement for a special presentation of their videos during Cartoon Network's Toonami block. Thomas Bangalter once stated, "We did not choose to become robots. There was an accident in our studio. We were working on our sampler, and at exactly 9:09 a.m. on September 9, 1999, it exploded. When we regained consciousness, we discovered that we had become robots." However, Bangalter later stated that the costumes were initially the result of shyness. "But then it became exciting from the audiences' point of view. It's the idea of being an average guy with some kind of superpower." When asked whether the duo expressed themselves differently within the robotic suits, Bangalter stated "No, we don't need to. It's not about having inhibitions. It's more like an advanced version of glam, where it's definitely not you."
It is believed that the mystery of their identity and the elaborate nature of their disguises has added to their popularity. He also stated:
Live performances
In the mid-to-late nineties, Daft Punk
performed live without costumes in many places including the United States. In 1996, the duo were featured at an Even Furthur event in
Wisconsin, their first public performance in the U.S. In addition to live original performances, they performed a number of times in various clubs using vinyl records from their collection. They were known for incorporating various styles of music into their
DJ sets.
In the fall of 1997 they did their Daftendirektour to promote Homework in several cities throughout the world. For this tour Daft Punk opted to utilize their home studio equipment for the live stage. Also of note is the November 8 performance in Birmingham, UK, from which came the recording of Alive 1997.
At the start of 2006, Daft Punk announced plans for a number of special summer shows. On April 29, Daft Punk performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival where they received a jubilant reception for their first U.S. performance since 1997. Thomas Bangalter had initially been reported as saying that there would be a DVD of their recent live set. He later emphasized his reluctance for such a release, as the duo felt that online amateur videos of their performances were more compelling than anything captured professionally. In an interview with the Miami Herald Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo stated that their November 11 appearance at the Bang Music Festival was their final for 2006 and that Daft Punk would conduct more performances in the future. The band later specified a date for a live show at Bercy, Paris for June 2007. Also reported were dates at the Wireless Festival and RockNess in June, the Oxegen festival in July and Lollapalooza in August. Daft Punk then announced a world tour called Alive 2007. On June 16, 2007 Daft Punk successfully headlined the third day of the O2 Wireless Festival to positive reaction and reviews. The Times described the set as a "memorable sensory spectacle, both dazzling and deafening" and ThisisLondon declared it "an almost faultless set of relentless electro euphoria".
Daft Punk headlined Stage 2/NME Stage at the Oxegen music festival on July 8, 2007. Their live set was preceded by a showing of the trailer for the film Daft Punk's Electroma. Subsequent reports stated that the Daft Punk appearance was the highlight of the festival. NME wrote that the performance was "a robotic spectacular", while Shoutmouth described the set as "typically triumphant". Four days later, the duo played at Traffic Torino Free Festival in Parco della Pellerina in Turin, Italy.
Daft Punk headlined the AT&T; stage on August 3, 2007, the first night of the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago. Their show there was praised by Pitchfork Media stating that the experience of watching the performance "was a much-needed reminder of the still-potent power of communicative pop." On August 5 they performed at the International Centre in Toronto followed by an August 9 performance at KeySpan Park in Brooklyn, New York. The duo also headlined the Vegoose festival in Las Vegas on October 27. They appeared at the festival along with bands Rage Against the Machine, Muse and Queens of the Stone Age. The duo also performed on Friday November 2, 2007 at the Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico and Guadalajara.
Modular announced that Daft Punk would appear in Australia for an event in December 2007 called Never Ever Land. The announcement addressed years of speculation on whether Daft Punk would visit Australia for live performances. Daft Punk were supported by their regular acts SebastiAn and Kavinsky at the appearances, which had been announced as an extension to the Alive 2007 tour. A Triple J interview with Pedro Winter (Busy P) revealed that Daft Punk's Sydney appearance on December 22 would be their final show for 2007 and the last to feature the pyramid light scheme. Tickets for the Australian tour sold more quickly than for any Daft Punk-related event in their history. The duo stated in an EMI-sponsored live webchat that there will be no tour performances for 2008, and that they would instead focus on new projects.
Daft Punk made a surprise appearance at the 50th Grammy Awards on February 10, 2008. The duo appeared with Kanye West to perform a reworked version of "Stronger" on stage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. For the appearance, Daft Punk utilized four JazzMutant Lemur controllers. A press release specified that this was the first televised live performance by the duo in their career.
In February 2009, a website stated that a "hidden" tour had been set for 2009. An event for February 13, 2009 in Shanghai, China was mentioned in the website. It was later revealed to be a hoax unaffiliated with Daft Punk and a scam to sell tickets for a nonexistent event. Representatives of the band announced that Daft Punk have no tour plans for 2009, but stated that the duo is looking forward to performing in China during their next world tour "in 2010 or 2011". The announcement also stated that all of Daft Punk's shows are and will be posted on their official MySpace page, and that the page can therefore be used to verify validity.
Daft Punk made a surprise guest appearance during the encore of Phoenix's October 20, 2010 show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. They played a medley of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" and "Around the World" before the song segued into Phoenix's song "1901".
Appearances in media and tributes
Daft Punk's popularity has been partially attributed to their appearances in mainstream media. The track "Daftendirekt" from Daft Punk's album
Homework was sampled for the
Janet Jackson song "So Much Betta" from her 2008 album
Discipline. The track "
Aerodynamic" was sampled for
Wiley's 2008 single "Summertime". "Veridis Quo" from the album
Discovery was sampled for the
Jazmine Sullivan song "Dream Big" from her 2008 album
Fearless. DJs
Marc Mysterio and Téo Moss released a cover version of "
One More Time" featuring the vocals of Yardi Don. Daft Punk's "
Around the World" was sampled for
JoJo's 2009 song "You Take Me (Around the World)". The song "Cowboy George" by
The Fall contains a clip of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger".
Daft Punk has also produced music for other artists. They produced the Teriyaki Boyz's debut single "HeartBreaker" on the album Beef or Chicken?. The song contains a sample of "Human After All". Daft Punk later produced N.E.R.D's song "Hypnotize U". Daft Punk are featured on the cover of the December 2010 issue of British publication Dazed & Confused to promote the film , for which the duo composed the score. They also made a cameo appearance within the film as masked DJs at a nightclub.
Discography
;Studio albums
Homework—March 25, 1997
Discovery—March 13, 2001
Human After All—March 14, 2005
;Other albums
Alive 1997 (live album)—November 6, 2001
Daft Club (remix album)—December 1, 2003
(remix album)—March 29, 2006
Musique Vol. 1 1993–2005 (compilation album)—April 4, 2006
Alive 2007 (live album)—November 20, 2007
(soundtrack)—December 7, 2010
;Film and home video
—1999
—2003
Daft Punk's Electroma—2006
Grammy Awards
The
Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States. Daft Punk has received seven nominations and two awards.
|-
| || "Da Funk" || Best Dance Recording ||
|-
| || "Around the World" || Best Dance Recording ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| ||"One More Time" || Best Dance Recording ||
|-
| "Short Circuit"|| Best Pop Instrumental Performance ||
|-
| || Human After All || Best Electronic/Dance Album ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| ||"Harder Better Faster Stronger (Alive 2007)" || Best Dance Recording ||
|-
| Alive 2007|| Best Electronic/Dance Album ||
References
External links
*
Category:Ableton Live users
Category:Bands with fictional stage personas
Category:Club DJs
Category:Electronic music duos
Category:French DJs
Category:French electronic musicians
Category:French electronic music groups
Category:French house music groups
Category:Musical groups established in 1993
Category:Remixers
Category:Techno music groups
Category:Virgin Records artists
Category:1990s music groups
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![Daft Punk - One More Time (Original) [High Quality]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110511171102im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gN2hntZBIUQ/0.jpg "Daft Punk - One More Time (Original) [High Quality]")
