Daft Punk: The Insult That Became a Band Name and the Robots Born in a Studio Explosion
Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo started in Paris with a trio called Darlin’, named after a Beach Boys song. It lasted around six months, played two gigs and recorded four songs.
In 1993 Melody Maker reviewed a Darlin’ record and called it “a daft punky thrash.” The two found the review amusing, and the insult became their name.
Their debut album, Homework, came out in 1997 and Discovery in 2001, the year the helmets appeared. The robots had a legend: by the duo’s account, on 9 September 1999 their sampler crashed and exploded in the studio, sparks flew, and they became robots. Bangalter told Vice: “We were doing a track and our sampler crashed and exploded and there were sparks.” The time of day changes from interview to interview, and the press printed it all with a straight face.
Their fourth and final album, Random Access Memories (2013), carried “Get Lucky” with Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers and won Album of the Year at the 2014 Grammys.
On 22 February 2021 they uploaded a video called “Epilogue” and announced they were splitting up. Daft Punk has its own station in the Exclusive collection of Kalisha. Open the radio and press play.
— Kalisha 🎧
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