Daft Punk Talks Making Musical Magic, Technology, Electronic Music and More

Just a few days before this year’s Coachella festival out in California, Pitchfork had the opportunity to catch up with innovative and ever-popular duo Daft Punk. The scene surrounded a photo shoot coinciding with their new Random Access Memories album, which we can only assume (and take Pitchfork’s word) was quite the spectacle.

For the first part of the day’s shoot, Thomas Bangalter (silver helmet) and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (gold helmet) stand behind a wall of eight-foot flames. Members of the crew, some of whom wear white gloves in order to avoid smudges on the pair’s glittering getups, remain vigilant for curious passersby.

After the madness of the shoot dies down and the final product has been revealed, the guys addressed the magic that has been made and how readily available it can be in today’s day and age.

“Technology has made music accessible in a philosophically interesting way, which is great,” says Bangalter, talking about the proliferation of home recording and the laptop studio. “But on the other hand, when everybody has the ability to make magic, it’s like there’s no more magic—if the audience can just do it themselves, why are they going to bother?”

Talk then eventually progresses to the state of electronic music and the continual progression, as now it basically falls into the pop genre, but what has it lost?

“It’s very strange how electronic music formatted itself and forgot that its roots are about the surprise, freedom, and the acceptance of every race, gender, and style of music into this big party.”

Of course, much more information was revealed via Pitchfork’s chat with Daft Punk, as you can check out the entire feature by visiting their website here.