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Daft Punk members speak up, reveal new solo artistic endeavors

April 1, 2021

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Daft Punk left the music world shell shocked last month when they cryptically announced their breakup, and seemingly out of nowhere. Many in the dance music blogosphere raced to put out pieces speculating into the why, but in true Daft Punk vein, the real answers are never clear. Now that the dust has settled a bit, and fans across the globe have come to terms with the fact that the sun has set on Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo’s iconic project, the two spoke with MixMag on the next chapter in their careers.

The future of Daft Punk comes to a cross road: Meet Roulette and REVISION.

Bangalter will be creating a new solo alias called Roulette, along with a label by the same name. The name is a play on his underground imprint, Roulé, where Bangalter’s previously released a series of club-focused 12s in the late nineties and early aughts. He insists that Roulette must always be italicized: “Many artists now spell their names in capital letters, or with the vowels removed. That’s just child’s play. I’m the first one to use italics; it’s a statement of intent.”

Bangalter’s intention is to use the imprint to release his own material as well as those of the many working artists he’s added to his deep Rolodex over the years.

“I’m not interested in being in the spotlight and I want to continue the mystery that surrounded Daft Punk… I wanted to get back to the real. The grit and the dirt of underground music made specifically for dark nightclubs and the feeling and atmosphere of the dark nightclubs where that underground music is played.”
– Thomas Bangalter, MixMag

Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo is launching a new solo project under the fitting name REVISION, which he is currently testing a beta version of a live REVISION show that he wants to debut at Burning Man. REVISION is meant to be an explicit follow-up to Daft Punk’s seminal debut album, Homework, and the complete opposite of their last LP, Random Access Memories, which was “too safe.” As Guy-Man explains further,

“That was our radical album, made on machines, aimed at the kids who tell their parents they’re going to a sleepover but actually they go to a nightclub and stay out until dawn. Now I want to introduce those kids to the other side of my personality, the other side of music. The stuff they can listen to in the days in between weekends. REVISION is the missing half of ‘Homework’, an exploration of music.”
– Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, MixMag

Guy-Man says REVISION will include a whole concept album made alongside some of his past collaborators “including the stars of the French Touch scene and new-school American funk and ‘r’nb,” according to MixMag. “I’ve always played in bands, that’s where my heart lies,” Guy-Man told Mixmag. “I’ve worked with so many great musicians and have vivid ideas of what I want to achieve with the album format, now is the time to bring this vision to life.”

Clearly, it’s not the end for the UK musical icons. After all, every ending is the beginning of something new. At least now Daft Punk fans finally have something more tangible to piece together just why the two infamous robots hit that self-destruct button. Whether it’s a disdain for fame, getting out of the commercial spotlight and back into the underground, or pursuing more radical creative decisions, both Roulette and REVISION seem to be coming full circle.

Read the full MixMag article here.