Meet The Robots

Daft Punk is an electronic music duo that has received numerous awards and accolades. Their debut album Homework features the singles "Da Funk" and "Around the World", which led to Grammy Award nominations in 1998 and 1999 respectively for Best Dance Recording. In 2002, Daft Punk received nominations for the tracks "One More Time" and "Short Circuit" from their second studio album Discovery; the album as a whole was also nominated for a Brit Award that same year. The duo's third studio album "Human After All" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronica Album in 2007. Daft Punk would go on to win their first Grammys in 2009 for their live album "Alive 2007" and its single "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Alive 2007)", in the respective categories of Best Electronic/Dance Album and Best Dance Recording. Daft Punk have won 6 Grammys with 12 nominations.

Bio

They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement; they also had success in the years following, combining elements of house music with funk, techno, disco, rock and synthpop. They have worn ornate helmets and gloves to assume robot personas in most public appearances since 1999 and rarely grant interviews or appear on television. The duo were managed from 1996 to 2008 by Pedro Winter (also known as Busy P), the head of Ed Banger Records.

After Bangalter and Homem-Christo's indie rock band Darlin' disbanded, they began experimenting with drum machines and synthesisers. Their debut studio album "Homework" was released by Virgin Records in 1997 to positive reviews, backed by singles "Around the World" and "Da Funk". Their second album, "Discovery", had further success, supported by hit singles "One More Time", "Digital Love" and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". In March 2005, Daft Punk released their third album, "Human After All", to mixed reviews, though the singles "Robot Rock" and "Technologic" achieved success in the United Kingdom. Daft Punk toured throughout 2006 and 2007 and released the live album "Alive 2007", which won a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album. They composed the score for the film "Tron: Legacy", which was released in 2010 alongside its soundtrack album.

In 2013, Daft Punk left Virgin for Columbia Records, and released their fourth album, "Random Access Memories", to acclaim; lead single "Get Lucky" reached the top 10 in the charts of 32 countries. Random Access Memories won five Grammy Awards in 2014, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for "Get Lucky". In 2016, Daft Punk gained their first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with the song "Starboy", a collaboration with The Weeknd. As of 2015, Daft Punk had sold over 12 million albums worldwide.

Source: wikipedia

Why the Masks?

"We don't believe in the star system. We want the focus to be on the music. If we have to create an image, it must be an artificial image. That combination hides our physicality and also shows our view of the star system. It is not a compromise. We're trying to separate the private side and the public side.

It's just that we're a little bit embarrassed by the whole thing. We don't want to play this star system thing. We don't want to get recognised in the streets. Yes. Everyone has accepted us using masks in photos so far, which makes us happy. Maybe sometimes people are a little bit disappointed but that's the only way we want to do it. We think the music is the most personal thing we can give. The rest is just about people taking themselves seriously, which is all very boring sometimes."

- Thomas Bangalter

Accomplishments

  • Grammys
  • Billboard
  • BRIT
  • MTV Europe
  • BMI

Awards & Nominations

Album Postion Noms Wins
Homework 150 8 1
Discovery 3 9 1
Human After All 1 3 1
Alive 1 5 4
R. A. M. 1 23 10

Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo

De Homem-Christo was born on 8 February 1974 in Neuilly-sur-Seine. He is the great-great-grandson of Portuguese military figure Francisco Manuel Homem Cristo, who was forced into exile in France in 1910. Homem-Christo was given a toy guitar and keyboard at around seven years of age. He was eventually given an electric guitar at age 14, and uses a guitar when writing music.

Thomas Bangalter

Bangalter was born on 3 January 1975 in Paris. He began playing the piano at the age of 6. He has stated that his parents were strict in keeping up his practice, for which he later thanked them. His father, Daniel Vangarde, was a songwriter and producer for performers such as the Gibson Brothers, Ottawan, and Sheila B. Devotion. As expressed by Bangalter, "I never had any intention to do what my father was doing."