Daft Punk

“Two scruffy blokes banging out strange alien sounds in their tinshed and getting to Number One,” was how U.K. music mag Select described the rise of Daft Punk. Parisian dance duo Daft Punk, who began making music only a few years ago, have indeed made a giant splash on the European music scene. Guy-Manuel De Homem Christo and Thomas Bangalter, the artists behind the name, have become the shy new darlings of crossover electronic music.

Embodying a new chapter in the house music story, Daft Punk is making waves with their insistence on a synthesis of sounds and influences, rather than re-hashing the themes that have dominated the techno and house scenes. “Daft Punk is about what we like about all aspects of dance music,” Thomas remarks. “Hard stuff to disco. Hip hop stuff to house and techno. It’s very boring if all your tracks sound the same.”

Despite their overwhelming popularity, Thomas and Guy are actually rather uninterested in the spotlight. “We don’t really want to be photographed… we didn’t really speak on the TV because it is dangerous. We don’t especially want to be in magazines,” remarks Guy. What Daft Punk is interested in is making music that continually puts genres to the test, expanding their solo projects, and inspiring future generations to continually redefine the face, the look, the feel of dance music.

We found house was the real music for us. Rock won’t die but house is younger, fresher,” Thomas explains. They bought basic recording equipment, set it up in their bedrooms, and began producing heavy house music based on big hip-hop beats and boasting strange sounds, sirens and guitar-driven samples.

Barely a year into their career the duo was signed to an independent dance label (Glasgow’s Soma Records), where their singles were immediately snatched up by fans. Like the Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk’s songs appeal as much to the rock crowd as they do the techno heads. The fact that their single ‘Da Funk’ has been one of the biggest selling dance tracks of the last 18 months is only one reason why Virgin Records was so eager to brave a bidding war to sign them on.

Whatever you do, though, don’t compare them to the Chemical Brothers. Daft Punk’s music is a sound and an atmosphere all their own. “Maybe it’s our link with the remix (‘Life Is Sweet’) we did and now there’s this hype. I think they like the stuff we are doing,” offers Thomas. However, Guy’s view is much more adamant about maintaining a distinction between themselves and similar bands like the Chemical Brothers. “There’s no comparison between them and us. Not at all. Especially with what we’re going to do next, there won’t be any links. Da Funk is more of a disco track than hip hoppy which is what they’re doing. I think their sound is more rock using guitars. We may use guitars but in a funkier way. We will be doing stuff in more categories so you can’t say it sounds like the Chemical Brothers.”

Daft Punk’s debut album, Homework, draws influences from across the musical spectrum. Instead of using samples, however, they have chosen to create their own sounds using a hodge-podge of analog equipment in Thomas’ bedroom. Layer after layer gets added into the mix, a DIY approach which soon gets forgotten when favorite sounds like metallic drones and high-pitch screeches tear into the mix. Raw house beats pave the way for sonic insanity and forwards into instant scrambled mental faculties and general dance floor delirium. Irresistible stuff.

Despite their critical and popular success in the U.K., Thomas and Guy have made enemies due to the French government’s reactionary anti-rave policies. “Right now, we’ve got some friends who are being charged with inciting people to take drugs,” explains Thomas. “They weren’t even selling anything. They were just having a party. But in France these days they’re saying that having a party is encouraging people to take drugs, booking a DJ is encouraging people to take drugs.”

One of the first things one notices about Daft Punk is their commitment to contributing to a house community that is omnipresent, accessible from all sides at all times.

“You can make music in your bedrooms, in France, Australia, Japan… more people should be doing demos. There’s not much of a g a p between wannabees and canbees,” states Thomas. “We began from nothing. You can make music from nothing. Anyone can do it. We will talk about the music, we don’t want to talk about us. We are trying to say that everyone should get involved. It is a time to move for everyone to do something on their own,” exclaims Guy.

Daft Punk is injecting the house music scene with a new politic, one which emphasizes an interactive approach to the music they produce. Their resistance to the spotlight could be attributed to a variety of things: modesty, their disdain for pretentiousness. But, the impression their music makes on the dance floor, the energy it spurs, speaks to a new consciousness which holds sacred the relationship between artist and listener and stresses the interactivity of that relationship. The strongest acknowledgment Daft Punk makes is that music can change the world and does effect how we live our lives.

Guy eloquently states, “I think it’s about sharing your music with everyone… Now music is more important, serious, and deep. It’s not just a record to dance to. It can bring people together like on the War Child project (the Help album). That is very noble. The people who are 20 to 25 have a responsibility to do something for the next century. Music is one of the ways to make something good for the world. All the art is mixing now and the young people have a chance to do something in music, movies… There’s big energy when you see the festivals. I don’t think we need any politics, it’s just human beings trying to move things forward. Everything is getting on the edge, we’ve got to go the right way. We can decide.”