Thomas Bangalter “relieved” over way Daft Punk ended
Thomas Bangalter – one half of Daft Punk – has revealed that he was “relieved” over the way that the band ended.
The musician, who founded the French electronic duo with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, was speaking as part of a new interview when he reflected upon his time in the group, and recalled his feelings towards calling it quits back in 2021.
In the discussion with BBC Radio 6 Music, Bangalter explained that it “felt good” to draw the project to a close and was sometimes left surprised by how long Daft Punk continued to make music, following their 1997 debut album, ‘Homework’.
“The question I ask more myself is why we did end it rather than how it could last for so long,” he said after he was asked why they decided to part ways. “It’s a lot like a story or mini saga – sometimes there’s a TV show that has a special place in people’s hearts and it keeps that place, and it runs for one, two, three, four, five, sometimes 10 seasons.
“There’s a moment where it ends and I think it’s actually interesting to have this opportunity to start, have the middle and to end it… [I was] relieved and happy to look back and say: ‘OK, we didn’t mess it up too much.’”
Elsewhere in the interview, he also shed insight into their reasoning behind the anonymity when starting Daft Punk, and explained why they chose to wear their signature masks.
“You have an idea when you’re like 25, [but] you don’t say ‘You know what? We’re going to dress up like robots until the day we die…’,
“I really remember thinking – it would be fun to just have some special effects guys from Hollywood do these personas – robotic personas like if they were part of the cantina scene in Star Wars or something like that,” he added. “It was a weird idea and neither me nor Guy-Man ever imagined it would end up taking such proportions.”
In a separate interview back in April, Bangalter once again explored the reasons behind the band calling it quits in 2021 – revealing that he wanted to distance himself from his technology-inspired sound.
“I love technology as a tool [but] I’m somehow terrified of the nature of the relationship between the machines and ourselves,” he said. “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.”
Following their split, Bangalter announced his first solo album in over two decades, ‘Mythologies’ – which was originally conceived as a ballet score and performed at Bordeaux’s Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux last July.
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
