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Daft Punk Epilogue

Daft Punk is still playing at my house: how the French duo redefined experience

To read the original article, head to Campaign for the arti- cle published 24th February 2021. The Daft Punk experience was always an- chored around a core focus, their music. But ‘’ of the French their approach to experience was always more visionaries and the way they than that – holistic, multifaceted and multime- created a unique narrative. dia. While their output was broad, Daft Punk had a single-minded vision with a cohesive narrative told over numerous and varied epi- Sometimes it’s not until you have something sodes. The pair created worlds, not just releas- taken away from you that you quite realise its es or shows. significance. The release of Daft Punk’sEpi - logue on Monday prompted 1.4 million social Get Lucky interactions inside 24 hours but la séparation Even their masks, originally a tool to tackle does give us a welcome excuse to revisit their shyness and take the focus away from them as prolific output as well as explore some of the individuals to refocus on the music, was an ac- lessons we can learn from the duo, who were cidental stroke of genius forming the blueprint way ahead of the time in creating and redefin- for creating the future mystique and sense of ing experience. the spectacle they were to build upon. x

Face to Face Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger Core to Daft Punk’s vision was a belief in the As true artists, taking their inspiration looking power of collaboration. Drawing parallels with forward as much as looking back, Daft Punk David Bowie, whom they admired and had weren’t ever happy to be pigeon-holed or previously sampled, they used their status and stuck in boxes. This applied to their music fame as a platform to collaborate with artists, taking a concept approach to each con- from the emerging Australian group Parcels, stantly reinventing themselves, defying expec- to the revered Nile Rogers and Pharrell Wil- tation ensuring they were fresh and exciting. liams, through to cultural collabs with Jap- Compare their tough debut Homework, creat- anese anime master and ed purely on studio equipment, with their final mainstream work with Kanye and . outing, the smooth, polished Random Access These collaborations helped bring to both Memories recorded predominantly live. parties the attention and admiration of new audiences.

Around the World Their commitment to their music included live performance, thankfully captured in two key releases – early doors with Alive 1997 at Bir- mingham’s Que Club (trainspotter alert – a gig I was actually lucky enough to be at) and again 10 years later at their peak with and their ground-breaking pyramid show.

Synonymous with Coachella, where it debuted, it set the standard for dance acts and event or- ganisers alike to follow. The duo performed in their signature robot outfits inside a 24-foot-tall aluminium pyramid covered with screens and dazzling LED lights. As dance bible notes: “Their Pyramid production wrote them into history as one of the most popular and mythologised acts of all time.” x

This equally applied to whatever medium End of Line they conveyed their creativity through, which What Daft Punk did best was being consist- spanned fashion shows (Yves Saint Laurent), ently exciting and consequently talked about. exhibitions (Philharmonie de ), pop-up Over 28 years, Daft Punk ignored, challenged stores (in LA), film scores (: Legacy com- and defied expectations. Their artistry, music, plete with an 85 piece orchestra), video games image, collaborations, shows and side projects (DJ Hero), commercials (with for all meant the duo had a wide fanbase proving Gap and with for ), animations credible and mass don’t need to be mutually () and even much sought exclusive. In the track Teachers from their de- after toy figurines (Be@rBrick / Medicom). but album, Daft Punk paid homage to the art- ists and that inspired namechecking musicians Television Rules the Nation including Bryan Wilson, George Clinton and In particular their contribution to and com- Jeff Mills. Bowing out on a high they join that mand of film as a medium cannot be ignored. very same alumni – safe in the knowledge their The music videos for their singles from their legacy and influence lives on in those that they Homework debut featured distinctive char- too have inspired. acters and placed emphasis on storytelling instead of musical performance. They worked Jonathan Emmins is the founder of Amplify with then up-and-coming directors including , , Seb Jania and , who directed the incredible Around the World – my personal all-time favourite . This was followed by the 2003 full-length animation Interstella 5555 and their 2006 directed Electroma – which this week’s eight-minute Epilogue referenced.

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