“The last thing I want to be, in the world we live in, in the year 2023, is a robot”
April 4, 2023 | 8:03 a.m. ET
Daft Punk officially split two years ago, but so far the members of the band – Faulty Robots, have been keeping quiet about the reason for their breakup. Co-founder Thomas Bangalter shed some light on the decision in an interview with BBC‘, revealing that he had become increasingly uncomfortable with the convergence of music and technology.
“[Daft Punk] It was an exploration, I would say, starting and moving away from the machines. I love technology as a tool [but] I’m somehow terrified by the nature of the relationship between machines and ourselves,” Bangalter explained.
We’ve tried to use these machines to express something very moving that a machine can’t feel, but a human can. We have always been on the side of humanity, not on the side of technology.
But with the advent of AI technologies and algorithms, Bangalter said, “The last thing I want to be, in the world we live in, in 2023, is a robot.”
Daft Punk recently announced a deluxe reissue of their latest album, RAM, which features a demo recording of Bangalter’s work, featuring the song “Fragments of Time” with producer Todd Edwards. Bangalter told the BBC that such a recording could only be shared now that Daft Punk is on hiatus.
“Daft Punk was a project that blurred the line between reality and fantasy with these robot characters. It was a very important point for me and [co-founder] guy man[uel] So as not to spoil the narrative as it happens,” Bangalter explained. “Now that the story is over, it was interesting to reveal part of the creative process that is very much human-based and not an algorithm of any kind.”
On April 7th, Bangalter will release his new solo orchestral album legends.
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