From 1993 to 2021, Daft Punk were the world's most influential electronic group. But how much of the cultural landscape did they change, and how much changed around them? After Daft draws on new interviews with over 100 groundbreaking and commercially-dominant artists, creative teams, record labels and concert promoters to illustrate how dance & electronic music transformed from a fringe concern to the indispensable pulse of 21st century culture.
With extensive access to Daft Punk (Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo)'s friends, collaborators, inner circle and disciples, After Daft will provide unprecedented insight into key events that gilded the group's legend. This includes their innovative Alive 2006-07 audiovisual tour, formative experiences with dance music's Black and Latin 'Teachers,' their Grammy-sweeping blockbuster LP Random Access Memories and the factors which precipitated their split in 2021.
After Daft will simultaneously chronicle the A.D. era: A radical reshaping of the global entertainment industry over the past 30 years, in which DJing became a multibillion dollar business and the lines between rave, rock, hip-hop and radio-friendly pop dissolved. All this was in direct response to the wildfire popularity of Daft Punk, as well as a coterie of key musicians who worked with, were inspired by or otherwise orbited the robotic French duo.
By detailing the broadened horizons of Millennial and Gen Z listeners, the hyper-online nature of fandom and the contentious minimizing of clubbing's pioneers, the book will authoritatively update the rich history of electro-music for a 2020s audience.
In doing so, After Daft will take the reader through the journey of how Daft Punk became not just generational icons of the digital age, but one of the most visionary acts pop culture has ever known.
