We Got Lucky with Daft Punk

While most people became familiar with Daft Punk in 2013 with the release of their Grammy-winning album Random Access Memories, the duo has been around longer than I’ve been alive. For a quick refresher, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, the two faces behind the robot masks and masterminds behind this French house duo, first met all the way back in 1993 as two members of a rock band, but later switched their rock roots for dance after frequenting raves. Previously known as Darlin’, the duo now goes by Daft Punk, a name inspired by a magazine review that claimed that their music was “daft punky trash.” They released their first full-length album Homework in 1997, and after messing around with house, dance, and funk in their first album, the group released their second album Discovery in 2001. Known for its emphasis on synth-pop and its experimentation with 70s/80s disco, Discovery contains Daft Punk’s most iconic hits, including “One More Time” and “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.”

While Discovery is commonly known as Daft Punk’s best album, Human After All (2005), the duo’s third album, is known as their worst. There’s a reason why even the most loyal fans seem to forget its existence. However, as harsh as the critiques were for this album, the duo’s subsequent 2006 Alive Tour redeemed the duo as trendsetters and game-changers of the music industry. Their 2006 headlining Coachella set, widely known to be one of the best sets of all time, forever changed the way live music is performed. Arriving in lit-up space suits with their iconic robot-esque masks and performing in front of a grandiose pyramid set-up to create a multicolored alternative techno reality, they integrated visual illusions, light shows, and live production all with their greatest hits. It’s no wonder that performance literally set the stage for the future of EDM concerts and festival performances. Their production was years ahead of anything else in those times, and it was the final push that took dance music out of the setting of underground raves and elevated it to full-blown visual spectacles. (Side note: if you haven’t seen the performance and are a fan of dance music, please watch at least five or so minutes — it’ll blow you away.) The album of the live tour unsurprisingly won a Grammy for best electronic album that year. 

Daft Punk is more than just a music group. In fact, if you ask anyone familiar with all of the group’s different pursuits, the words “artist” and “innovator” seem more accurate. Between all their album releases and tours, the duo produced an animated movie for their album Discovery, and after their Alive Tour, directed the movie Daft Punk’s Electroma (2006), which centered around a group of robots in their quest to become human. In the beginning of 2010, the duo was also approached to write the score for the futuristic sci-fi movie, TRON: Legacy, and for those of you familiar with the movie, it’s obvious why Daft Punk was the perfect choice. For 19 months, this was the only project the duo worked on, which allowed them to perfect it enough for it to land on the top 10 US album chart and receive a Grammy nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. 

After being off the grid with TRON, Daft Punk finally made a come back with Random Access Memories (2013). It was one of the most anticipated electronic dance music albums of the year. However, it delivered nothing similar to the duo’s past releases. Instead of heavy instrumental riffs, strong house roots, and more production techniques than I can count on my hands, RAM was recorded almost fully with the use of live instrumentals and aired along the side of soft pop with touches of rock and disco — almost a full 360 back to the duo’s first days in their rock band. While many were surprised with this shift, the duo has never been one to stick to what is mainstream or what is expected. After all, freedom is at the core of Daft Punk’s artistry. RAM wasn’t what fans expected, but neither was anything else Daft Punk had ever done. The album won the Grammy for Best Album of the Year, and “Get Lucky,” one of Daft Punk’s most well-known chart-topping songs, won Best Song of the Year. 20 years from Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo’s venture into EDM, and the duo was still at the top of their game. 

Electronic dance music was just a small spark in the music scene, until Daft Punk took the spark and turned it into an explosion that still flares today. Skrillex says that going to the Alive Tour changed his life and inspired him to become the producer he is today. Eric Prydz, deadmau5, and Kanye West all credit some of their biggest hits to Daft Punk, not to mention the countless number of artists who followed in Daft Punk’s footsteps and started placing emphasis on making sure their work is a stimulating experience, both audibly and visually. 

While Daft Punk remains a guilty pleasure for many, it is naive to discount the duo’s worldwide influence in the world of music since the late ‘90s. Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo revolutionized the industry, doing it all hidden behind robot masks. Nothing makes Daft Punk more unique than the fact that at its essence, their music is a timeless expression of creative freedom. In Thomas Bangalter’s words himself, “We create our own rules, so everyone can create their rules, which means there are no rules anymore.”

Article by Nikita Bhatia