Someone sold Thomas Bangalter a Daft Punk ticket in London not knowing who he was — Bangalter went anyway
Imagine being the person who sold him the ticket…
Photo by Kevin Winter/WireImage
Daft Punk‘s Thomas Bangalter was a faceless robot for decades alongside his musical partner Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. So faceless, in fact, that someone tried to sell him tickets to his own show, he’s now revealed. The best part? He paid for the ticket and went anyway.
Speaking to French TV channel, Brut, the former silver-helmeted Daft Punk member says that the duo’s anonymity was often advantageous, but sometimes had bizarre consequences.
“This anonymity and creation of these characters allowed for protection and seclusion,” Bangalter remembers. “[It] was practical but also created a certain distance. There were amusing situations, like in London, where someone tried to sell me a ticket to my own show while I was out getting a sandwich. I thought it would be funny, so I bought the ticket, went to the venue, and waited.”
Speaking more on the choice to remain anonymous, Bangalter adds: “There’s a lot of randomness and chance involved, and it’s also a connection with the audience, even if there’s some distance due to the robot concept, which was a metaphor for the role of technology between utopia and dystopia. It was a constant back-and-forth, allowing us to have fun and express things.”
On the decision to recently make himself more in the public eye in light of new projects, Bangalter says: “At some point, it seemed pretentious to continue staying anonymous. I found myself in situations where people apologised for not having photos to ensure I wouldn’t be disturbed. I wasn’t seeking attention, but the anonymity started to attract more attention than it removed.”
In 2023, Bangalter explained why Daft Punk came to an end. “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.
“When you’re 25, you don’t say ‘You know what, we’re just going to build robot masks and dress up like robots until the day we die.’”
Read more Daft Punk-related news via MusicTech.
