For those who don’t follow the electronica music scene, Daft Punk is basically a music duo consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. They’re known for their use of disguises, particularly the ornate robot costumes, while in public and/or performing. Continue reading to see five of their songs played entirely with floppy disk drives.
5. One More Time
Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo met in 1987 while attending the Lycee Carnot, a secondary school in Paris. 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.
4. Derezzed
A negative review in Melody Maker subsequently dubbed the music “a daft punky thrash.” Instead of dismissing the review, they found it amusing. As de Homem-Christo stated, “We struggled so long to find [the name] Darlin’, and this happened so quickly.” Darlin’ soon disbanded, leaving Brancowitz to pursue other efforts with Phoenix. Bangalter and de Homem-Christo formed Daft Punk and experimented with drum machines and synthesizers.
3. Digital Love
In 1993, Daft Punk attended a rave at EuroDisney, where they met Stuart Macmillan of Slam, co-founder of the label Soma Quality Recordings. The demo tape given to Macmillan at the rave formed the basis for Daft Punk’s debut single, “The New Wave”, a limited release in 1994. The single also contained the final mix of “The New Wave” called “Alive”, which was to be featured on Daft Punk’s first album.
2. Something About Us
Daft Punk returned to the studio in May 1995 to record “Da Funk”. It became the duo’s first commercially successful single the same year. After the success of “Da Funk”, Daft Punk looked to find a manager. The duo eventually settled on Pedro Winter, who regularly promoted it and other artists at his Hype night clubs. The band signed with Virgin Records in September 1996 and made a deal through which the duo licensed its tracks to the major label through its production company, Daft Trax.
1. Aerodynamic
By 1999, the duo was well into the recording sessions for its second album, which had begun a year earlier. The 2001 release of Discovery took on a slicker and distinctly synthpop-oriented style, initially stunning fans of Daft Punk’s previous material in Homework. The group states that the album was conceived as an attempt to reconnect with a playful, open-minded attitude associated with the discovery phase of childhood.
