Daft punk

Daft punk
Daft Punk, 2010
General information
Genre (s)	French house , house , funk , disco , electronic music
founding	1993
Website	www.daftpunk.com
Current occupation
	Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo
	Thomas Bangalter

Daft Punk is a French formation of French house music founded in 1993 and consists of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter .

Band history

Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem Christo (actually Guillaume Emmanuel, called Guy-Man ) founded their first band "Darlin '" at the age of twelve, together with Laurent Brancowitz (guitarist, called Branco ), currently a member of the Phoenix group . In Great Britain , however, her rocky sound did not meet with much approval from the critics. In the British music magazine Melody Maker , a journalist described the band's music as a daft punky thrash - in German roughly stupid punk , which Thomas and Guy-Man later picked up when choosing a name for their new project. Branco left the band and Thomas and Guy-Man discovered house and techno for themselves. In 1993 they founded Daft Punk as a new project for their joint house and techno productions.

The beginnings

They released their first maxis on the Scottish label Soma Records . From 1994 the maxis The New Wave / Assault / Alive , Da Funk / Rollin '& Scratchin' and Indo Silver Club were released . In the British underground scene they made a name for themselves very quickly with their hard and avant-garde sound and appeared more and more frequently at festivals and events.

The duo landed their first commercial success in 1995 with Da Funk . A year later they left Soma Records and released Da Funk a second time, but this time with the major label Virgin , which they signed for three studio albums and other maxis.

First studio album: Homework

International success came when Daft Punk released their first studio album Homework on January 17, 1997. The 16-track album included a. almost all Maxis published on Soma so far. In particular, the releases Around the World , Revolution 909 and Da Funk were international successes. The album is considered to be the main influence on house music from 1997-2001, especially the filter house genre.

The success of Homework gave the duo enough leeway for further experiments. After their world tour in 1997, Thomas and Guy-Man devoted themselves increasingly to their own labels Roulé resp. Crydamoure . In 1998 Thomas published the world hit Music Sounds Better with You together with Alan Braxe and Benjamin Diamond under the name Stardust .

One more time

With the single One More Time , which was released in advance on November 10, 2000 , Daft Punk again landed an international No. 1 hit in collaboration with singer Romanthony, which sold over 4 million times and thus became Daft Punk's greatest commercial success. One More Time also marked a musical turning point in the duo's work. Were previously the powerful sound of the TR-909 and Acid synth loops in the foreground, as she sat on opulent vintage - Synthesizer and a complex arrangement of text and melody. This change of direction was sometimes very controversial. To this day, many fans and critics see One More Time as a commercial concession to Virgin and thus question the "honesty" of the production.

Second studio album: Discovery

Due to the advance praise that One More Time had previously received at the end of 2000, the album Discovery was under considerable pressure to succeed. The 14-track album was released on March 9, 2001 with the help of a marketing campaign that had never been seen before for a house album.

Musically, the album followed on from One More Time . In addition to the quieter sounds of Digital Love and Something About Us , the album also featured dancefloor-suitable pieces such as crescendolls or superheroes . Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger and Short Circuit were meanwhile to past Homework remember Three achievements.

The main piece of the melody is taken from a radio or disco track and changed and enriched with electronic aids and adapted to your own composition. Superheroes' repeating loop is nothing more than a piece from Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed , written by Barry Manilow .

The new sound of the album is thanks to the use of a sampler, the Roland VP 9000, which was new at the time, which enabled a special flexibility and playability of samples and Daft Punk was made available by Roland before the market launch. The sound of the VP 9000 is the decisive stylistic device of the album, recognizable by the eye-catching synthetic guitars, the played-sounding vocals samples, etc. When the device appeared on the regular market with the release of the album, it was already so closely connected with the daft punk sound that it had become almost unusable for dance producers and therefore flopped.

Unlike their first album, which they had produced almost entirely on their own, this time Thomas and Guy-Man relied on collaborations with artists such as Todd Edwards , Romanthony and DJ Sneak .

After the album was released, there were further releases with remixes by Jess & Crabbe and The Neptunes ( Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger ). Even Kanye West in 2007 published a cover version of Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger in hip-hop style ( Stronger ).

Despite the chart success and 2.9 million albums sold, Discovery was a less lucrative business for Virgin than Homework , not least because of the enormous marketing costs that the label had incurred.

From the Interstella 5555 video clips

While working on Discovery, Daft Punk began to write a script based on the songs on the album. They were able to win over the Japanese studio Toei for its implementation . The 60-minute anime musical Interstella 5555 - The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem was directed by her youth idol, the anime director Leiji Matsumoto .

The public got a first foretaste of the film between 2000 and 2001, as the first 15 minutes of the film were also the video clips of the five television singles One More Time , Aerodynamic , Digital Love , Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger and Something About Us were. In addition, the entire film is divided into the videos of the Discovery album , so each title contains a part (of fourteen) of the entire film.

Interstella 5555 was released in Japanese theaters in 2003, but only ran in a few select theaters outside of Japan, mainly in France and the USA. The appearance of the film caused a sensation in international anime fan circles, but it remained largely unknown to a large audience - apart from Japan - although he u. a. appeared on DVD in France and Germany.

The production cost was $ 4 million. It is believed that Daft Punk paid for the entire production out of their own pocket.

Apart from its phantasmagorically designed scenes and reminiscences of long bygone days of anime films, the film takes a critical and ironic look at the music business.

Daft Club

The duo also went unorthodox when it came to the Internet. At a time when the war was raging between the file-sharing network Napster and the music industry, Daft Punk offered its own productions and remixes free of charge on the Internet.

All buyers of the Discovery album , to which a Daft Club membership card was attached until December 2003, were entitled to access . With their ID number, users could either listen to or download the songs on the (now closed) website www.daftclub.com . To the annoyance of many users, the files could initially only be played on the "Daft Player" to be installed and were DRM- protected. The strategic partner was the DRM specialists "Intertrust Technologies". In 2003, a compilation was published under the name Daft Club , which summarized all the online works and other pieces.

Third studio album: Human After All

Human After All is the name of the third studio album and was released on March 14, 2005. The record label EMI has moved thestart dateforward by a week to counter the fact that the album has been available for download in P2P networks since February 2005. Human After All contains ten pieces. The entire album was produced in just a few weeks between September 13th and November 9th, 2004. The first single, Robot Rock , has been available in several online music stores since the end of January 2005, a long way before the official release on March 15, 2005. Human After All is an almost total departure from the sampling principle towards more raw and brutal ones , electronic sounds. In fact, there is only one sample on the entire album. Even in the run-up to its release there were very controversial discussions about this album, which for many fans represents a radical break with the past. It was nominated at the 2006 Grammy Awards in the "Best Dance / Electronic Album" category. In 2006 the film Daft Punk's Electroma , which was directed by Daft Punk, was also released.

Soundtrack to Tron: Legacy and remix album

In March 2009 it was announced that Daft Punk would produce the soundtrack for the film Tron: Legacy . At the Comic-Con International , the makers of the film announced that the duo had already produced 24 pieces for the film. The album was released on December 6, 2010 via Walt Disney Records. Daft Punk also had a cameo in Tron: Legacy .

→ Main article : Tron: Legacy (soundtrack)

On April 8, 2011 Daft Punk released the remix album Tron Legacy: Reconfigured, which contains 15 remixes by many all-stars of the house music scene (e.g. The Crystal Method , Boys Noize , Kaskade , Japanese Popstars).

Fourth studio album: Random Access Memories

Soma Records released a pre-release track called Drive , which was created while the duo were still working with Soma Records on Rollin 'and Scratchin' and Da Funk . The track was published as part of an anniversary edition on the occasion of Soma's 20th anniversary.

Daft Punk worked on their fourth studio album with the singer-songwriter Paul Williams and chic front man Nile Rodgers . Williams mentioned the collaboration in two interviews and said that the project has been around since 2010.

In May 2012 it was announced that Giorgio Moroder and Daft Punk had recorded a monologue about his life as well as a “vocal booth” that includes three microphones from the 1960s to the present day. When asked, the sound engineer said that the individual microphones should represent the respective stages of Moroder's life. When asked whether you could hear the difference, the sound engineer denied, which is why Moroder asked why you should do it that way, whereupon he replied that Thomas [Bangalter] heard the difference. Chilly Gonzales said in an interview that he had recorded various material with Daft Punk.

In October 2012, Daft Punk released a 15-minute mix by blues musician Junior Kimbrough for Hedi Slimane's Yves Saint Laurents Fashion Show . The duo was also voted 44th on the annual DJ Magazine's "Top 100 DJs list".

On March 23, 2013, pre-sale on iTunes began under the title Random Access Memories . The album was released on May 17th. On April 19, 2013, the pre-single Get Lucky was released , which was recorded together with Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers . Like the previous album , Random Access Memories was offered for illegal download on file sharing platforms before it was released. On May 28, 2013 the album and the single Get Lucky reached number one in the German charts. The album received almost all critical acclaim and was named the third best album of the year by Rolling Stone in December . At the Grammy Awards 2014 , Daft Punk were the most successful artists. With single and album of the year they won in two main categories. They received three further awards in pop and dance as well as in a technical category.

Public and media

Daft Punk are one of the few musicians who, despite their extreme popularity, have successfully managed to keep their faces out of the press to this day. And although verifiably correct photos can be found by a simple search on a search engine , most people associate Daft Punk with their characteristic robotic masks, which they have been wearing since Discovery . The first robot masks were made by the Californian company LED FX , today the helmets are made by Ironhead Studios and are under the copyright of the duo.

After the breakthrough of the French DJ duo Justice in 2007, discussions about Daft Punk's identity increased in French and international internet forums and blogs . So many fans suggested that Daft Punk and Justice are the same duo. Indications for this are above all similar appearance, same management and music genre and the use of pyramid symbols in music videos by Justice, which Daft Punk also often use.

Daft Punk appeared as a supporter for the Lotus F1 Team at the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix .

Mia Hansen-Love's feature film Eden (2014) about the development of the French house scene also deals with the development of daft punk.

Discography

→ Main article : Daft punk / discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	FR
1997	Homework	DE48 (17 weeks) DE	AT34 (16 weeks) AT	-	UK8th platinum (40 weeks)UK	US150 gold (19 weeks)US	FR3 platinum (104 weeks)FR	First published: Jan 20, 1997 Sales: + 1,405,000
2001	Discovery	DE5 gold (24 weeks)DE	AT6 (19 weeks) AT	CH6th gold (25 weeks)CH	UK2 × 2 Double platinum (61 weeks)UK	US23 gold (28 weeks)US	FR2 × 3 Triple platinum (128 weeks)FR	First published: March 12, 2001 Sales: + 2,785,000
2005	Human After All	DE38 (6 weeks) DE	AT23 (7 weeks) AT	CH8 (7 weeks) CH	UK10 silver (5 weeks)UK	US98 (1 week) US	FR3 × 2 Double gold (37 weeks)FR	First published: March 14, 2005 Sales: + 260,000
2013	Random Access Memories	DE1 platinum (29 weeks)DE	AT1 platinum (41 weeks)AT	CH1 platinum (68 weeks)CH	UK1 platinum (44 weeks)UK	US1 platinum (53 weeks)US	FR1 diamond (169 weeks)FR	First published: May 17, 2013 Sales: + 2,972,178

Awards and nominations

Prices

• Brit Awards
  • 2014: in the "Best International Group" category
• Dance Music Award
  • 2001: in the category "Most Successful Album" (Discovery)
  • 2001: in the category "Radio Dance Hit" (One More Time)
• Grammy Awards
  • 2009: in the category "Best Dance Recording"
  • 2009: in the category "Best Electronic / Dance Album"
  • 2014: in the category "Best Dance / Electronica Album"
  • 2014: in the category "Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical"
  • 2014: in the category "Best Pop Duo / Group Performance"
  • 2014: in the "Record of the Year" category
  • 2014: in the category "Album of the Year"
• International Dance Music Awards
  • 2008: in the category "Best Dance Artist (Group)"
• Swiss Music Awards
  • 2014: in the category "Best Hit International" (Get Lucky)

Nominations

• Brit Awards
  • Best international group
  • Best international newcomer
• echo
  • Electronic Dance Music National / International (2014)
  • Hit of the year (2014)
• Grammy Awards
  • Best Dance Recording (1998)
  • Best Dance Recording (1999)
  • Best Dance Recording (2002)
  • Best Pop Instrumental Performance (2002)
  • Best Electronic / Dance Album (2006)
• MTV Europe Music Awards
  • Best international video
• MTV Video Music Awards :
  • Best international video
• Swiss Music Awards :
  • Best Album Pop / Rock International (2014)
  • Best Album International (2014)

swell

1. ↑ Eric Ducker: The Creators . In: The Fader Magazine . No. 47 (July / August), 2007, pp. 115 ( thefader.com ).
2. ↑ Daft Punk scores Tron soundtrack . reuters.com, accessed October 7, 2009.
3. ↑ SDCC: Comic-Con: Disney 3D Hits Hall H! comingsoon.net, accessed October 7, 2009.
4. ↑ Daft Punk: New album in November ( Memento of the original from August 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ Soma Records announce… Soma20 - Daft Punk - Drive Unreleased 1994 . somarecords.com; Retrieved August 25, 2011.
6. ↑ Lists: Lost Daft Punk Track “Drive” . Pitchfork
7. ↑ Paul Williams on Hit Records Nightlife Video hosted by Eddie Muentes Youtube
8. ↑ Daft Punk | Random Access Memories | The Collaborators: Giorgio Moroder (A Series by The Creators Project ) Interview with G. Moroder, from 5′34 ″; Retrieved July 28, 2013.
9. ^ Giorgio Moroder Recorded With Daft Punk . URB. May 25, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
10. ↑ Field Day Radio | Field Day Festival . Fielddayfestivals.com. June 2, 2012. Archived from the original on September 25, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 10, 2013. 
11. ↑ Daft Punk unveil new blues mix - listen . Nme.Com. October 11, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
12. ↑ DJ Mag Top 100 DJs of 2012 djmag.com. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
13. ^ "Random Access Memories" by Daft Punk . iTunes. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
14. ↑ Carl Pierre: Daft Punk's New Album Random Access Memories Leaked Online for Download . InTheCapital. May 13, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
15. ↑ German single and album charts: Daft Punk have the double top . In: Spiegel Online , May 28, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013. 
16. ↑ Critic Review- Random Access Memories Metacritic (accessed December 7, 2013)
17. ↑ Felix Bayer: New Daft-Punk-Album: The fabulous robot boys Spiegel Online , May 6, 2013 (accessed December 7, 2013)
18. ↑ 50 Best Albums of 2013 Rolling Stone, December 7, 2013 (accessed December 4, 2013)
19. ↑ A Visual History of Daft Punk's Helmets. Retrieved April 5, 2019 . 
20. ^ Ironhead Studio: Daft Punk Portfolio. Ironhead Studio, accessed April 5, 2014 . 
21. ^ Programm.ARD.de - ARD Play-Out-Center Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany: Eden. Retrieved November 6, 2017 . 
22. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US FR

Web links

Commons : Daft Punk  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Official website for the new album Musique Vol. 1 1993–2005
• Artist page for Daft Punk on the BBC website
• Daft punk at Discogs (English)
• Website for the album Discovery ( Memento from July 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) on Virgin Records