'After Daft' is a new book being released about Daft Punk

A brand new book about Daft Punk is announced today: After Daft by Gabriel Szatan, due to be released in 2023 by John Murray Press / Hachette UK. The book will be a career-spanning capture of the pioneering duo's impact on pop, electronic and live music. It will be the most thorough attempt yet to document Daft Punk’s unique position within the cultural landscape, including interviews with a broad swathe of contributors who worked closely with Daft Punk for years, as well as others in the wider industry who were affected & inspired by the duo and their enduring impact.

After Daft will take a particularly in-depth look at Daft Punk’s seminal Alive 2006-07 tour: a concert production which changed the look and feel of live music forever, inspiring a new generation of DJ-producers, as well as having a profound effect on the popularity and profitability of electronic music in America and worldwide. will also document the impact of those who inspired the duo — their ‘Teachers’, as mentioned on 1997 debut Homework — and their varying fortunes as Electronic Dance Music became a major cultural movement of the early 21st century. These include the veteran house & techno DJs and artists of Chicago and Detroit, as well as other key players in arts & music around the world.

Of the book, author Gabriel Szatan says, “Daft Punk sit in the pantheon of pop alongside Prince, Talking Heads, Kate Bush, Stevie Wonder, Kraftwerk, Missy Elliott, David Bowie or any visionary you’d care to name. Beyond making joyous records, there are countless compelling sub-narratives which flow in and out of their career: Alive 2006-07 was as consequential for dance music as The Beatles’ 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show was for rock ’n’ roll — what changed about the way we respond to concerts in the aftermath? Were the Teachers sufficiently recognised for their contributions? And how did Daft Punk retain anonymity at a time when the internet erased privacy for everyone else? I’m excited to bring it all to light — as well as making the case for how, over 28 years, music really did sound better with them.”

Words by Parry Tritsiniotis

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