Daft Punk

Music group

Thomas Bangalter

  • Born: January 3, 1975
  • Place of Birth: Paris, France

Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo

  • Born: February 8, 1974
  • Place of Birth: Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
  • Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo
  • Composer, keyboardist, bassist
  • Thomas Bangalter
  • Composer, guitarist, drummer, keyboardist

Contribution: Daft Punk is a French electronic band best known for their albums Homework (1997), Discovery (2001), and Random Access Memories (2013).

Background

Guillaume Emmanuel de Homem-Christo, better known as Guy-Manuel, was born on February 8, 1974, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. His parents managed an advertising agency. De Homem-Christo became interested in music as a child and by age fourteen was playing the electric guitar.

Thomas Bangalter was born on January 3, 1975 in Paris, France. His father, Daniel Bangalter, was a songwriter and producer who worked heavily in the 1970s disco scene. Bangalter’s parents insisted that he seriously practice the piano. He began taking lessons when he was six years old.

Bangalter and de Homem-Christo met in 1987 while they were students at the Lycée Carnot public school in Paris, France. When they were in their late teen years, they formed a cover band called Darlin’ with guitarist Laurent Brancowitz.

In the early 1990s, Bangalter and de Homem-Christo began experimenting with synthesizers and drum machines. They named themselves Daft Punk after a negative review of Darlin’ in Melody Maker magazine, which called them “daft punky thrash.”

Career

In 1993, the duo gave their demo tape to Stuart Macmillan, cofounder of a record label known for releasing electronic music. The demo tape led to their first single, “The New Wave,” which was given a limited release in 1994. Their second single “Da Funk” came out in 1995 and sold 30,000 copies. Following a lot of press exposure and a bidding war, Daft Punk signed to Virgin Records in September 1996. In order to maintain artistic control of their music, the deal with Virgin specified that the group would license rather than give their music to the record company.

When they started receiving exposure in the press, Bangalter and de Homem-Christo decided to maintain a certain amount of anonymity by wearing black bags over their heads. They then wore Halloween masks until deciding on donning robot helmets designed by friends. The duo stated that they wore the helmets in order to be anonymous and because they were shy—but also to add some glamour to their live shows.

Their major label debut, Homework, was released in 1997. The album was widely praised and brought the group and French electronic music worldwide attention. The most popular single from the album was “Around the World,” which was made into a music video directed by Michel Gondry.

In 1998, Daft Punk began recording what would become their second album, Discovery, but the album was not released until 2001. Discovery features a more pop music sound and contained the hit single “One More Time,” which reached number one on the dance music charts in United States. In 2003, the duo produced the Japanese animated film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003). The film uses the music of Discovery to tell the story of an interplanetary music group.

Daft Punk’s follow-up album, Human after All (2005), took only six weeks to record. Bangalter commented that for their third album, he and de Homem-Christo wanted to examine the scary side of technology and find beauty in it. The album received mixed reviews and many music writers were critical of the group’s hurried recording process. The duo directed their first film, Daft Punk’s Electroma (2006), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. The film stars two actors playing the band, robot helmets and all, as they embark on a mission to become human.

Daft Punk toured during the 2000s, including a performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2006, which was their first performance in the United States since 1997. Their live shows typically incorporated many visuals and a pyramid-shaped construction where they performed. In November 2007, they released the live album Alive 2007, which is a recording of their June 2007 live show in Paris.

For two years Daft Punk worked on the score for the film Tron: Legacy (2010), a sequel to the 1982 cult classic Tron. The score was given favorable reviews and the soundtrack album was certified gold in France and Australia. The band received high honors in France in 2010 when they were admitted into the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture.

Daft Punk’s album Random Access Memories was released on May 17, 2013. In addition to Bangalter and de Homem-Christo, the album features live instrumentation by a team of studio session players. The album received universal acclaim and was a top seller in over twenty countries. In early 2014, the duo won four Grammy Awards for the album at the Fifty-Sixth Grammy Awards. These included Grammys for album of the year and best dance/electronica album for Random Access Memories as a whole, and record of the year and best pop duo/group performance for the single, "Get Lucky." A documentary about the duo, Daft Punk Unchained, which includes their appearance at the Fifty-Sixth Grammy Awards ceremony, was released in 2015.

In 2016, Daft Punk were featured on the title track from Starboy, an album by Canadian R&B singer the Weeknd (Abel Makkonen Tesfaye). "Starboy" topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was the duo's first number-one hit in the United States. The duo were also featured in "I Feel It Coming," another track from the same album. In 2017 they performed with the Weeknd at the Grammy Awards, and cowrote and produced the track "Overnight" by the Australian electornic group Parcels. Bangalter and de Homem-Christo also branched into work on their own. Bangalter helped produce the album Everything Now (2017) by Arcade Fire and worked on music for the film Climax (2018) by director Gaspar Noé. De Homem-Christo worked on the 2017 album Rest by Charlotte Gainsbourg and the 2018 EP My Dear Melancholy by the Weeknd.

Daft Punk was included in the electronic music retrospective exhibition Electro by the Philharmonie de Paris in 2019. However, their output of new material tapered off. In February 2021 they announced they had broken up, releasing an avant-garde video to spread the news. In 2024, Daft Punk launched a vinyl repress of their single "Something About Us."

Impact

The two members of Daft Punk combined their mutual love of disco and dance music to create a unique sound that became a worldwide phenomenon. Their work in film and music videos also proved highly influential.

Personal Life

Bangalter and de Homem-Christo earned reputations as very private people with little desire to become well-recognized celebrities—at least without their trademark helmets. They each had two children and various side projects outside of Daft Punk. Bangalter married French actor Élodie Bouchez.

Bibliography

Baron, Zach. “Daft Punk Is (Finally!) Playing at Our House.” GQ. Condé Nast, May 2013. Web. 2 Sept. 2013.

Collin, Matthew. “Do You Think You Can Hide From Stardrom?” Mixmag. Development Hell, Aug. 1997. Web. 2 Sept. 2013.

Coscarelli, Joe. "Daft Punk Announces Breakup After 28 Years." The New York Times, 22 Feb. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/02/22/arts/music/daft-punk-breakup.html. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.

Flanagan, Andrew. "What Does Daft Punk Leave Behind?" NPR, 24 Feb. 2021, www.npr.org/2021/02/24/970896489/what-does-daft-punk-leave-behind. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024

Lynskey, Dorian. “Daft Punk: The Midas Touch.” Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 18 May 2013. Web. 2 Sept. 2013.

Phares, Heather. "Daft Punk." AllMusic, 2024, www.nytimes.com/2021/02/22/arts/music/daft-punk-breakup.html. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.

Sayles, Justin. "The Robots Who Ruled the World." The Ringer, 23 Feb. 2021, www.theringer.com/music/2021/2/23/22296993/daft-punk-break-up-announcement. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.

Weiner, Jonah. “Daft Punk: All Hail Our Robot Overlords.” Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone, 21 May 2013. Web. 31 Aug. 2013.