While speaking to BBC regarding his life and career after Daft Punk, Thomas Bangalter revealed their approach to blurring the line between reality and fiction and discussed how he currently feels about the way we incorporate technology into all areas of our lives.
After the demise of Daft Punk, members Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo took different directions. Thomas went back to his childhood and got inspired by the nostalgia for his parent’s profession, ballet. Currently, he is working for Mythologies, a series of ballet shows, and making non-electronic music for performances.
This feels like a different field for the musician, not only because of the genre switch but also because it is more ‘real’ than what Daft Punk used to be. However, during his recent chat, the musician revealed that he has made his peace with Daft Punk’s true nature.
According to Thomas, Daft Punk blurred the lines between reality and fiction as people could hardly relate to them as human beings. They didn’t sound like one or look like one. After they released ‘Exit’ and called the quits, they didn’t hesitate to reveal their identities. They wanted to show that the entire creative process was made by humans.
The musician said:
“Daft Punk was a project that blurred the line between reality and fiction with these robot characters. It was a very important point for me and Guy-Man to not spoil the narrative while it was happening.
Now the story has ended, it felt interesting to reveal part of the creative process that is very much human-based and not algorithmic of any sort.
It was an exploration, I would say, starting with the machines and going away from them. I love technology as a tool, but I’m somehow terrified of the nature of the relationship between the machines and ourselves.”
Daft Punk has inspired and, despite their break-up, continues to inspire many musicians. They were unique and talented in mixing electronic sounds and dream-like lyrics. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Daft Punk was their outlook. From their formation until their demise, no one knew their appearance or their names because they went as Daft Punk and looked like robots from a science fiction movie.
