There’s no arguing that Daft Punk’s robotic visage has become as iconic as their music.
The significance of the silver and gold chromed helmets can be seen from the bold artwork of this year’s blockbuster Random Access Memories LP to gracing the faces of the 2,000-strong population of the rural NSW town of Wee Waa that hosted the global launch for that same album.
The most hardcore of Daft Punk devotees have even made moonlighting careers out of creating their own replicas of the robotic headpieces.
But there was a time when the Parisian pair behind the futuristic headwear, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, tried to maintain their anonymity through much cruder means, such as tacky masks and facepaint.
In the late 2000s, when the French pair began developing what would become their future-proofed sophomore effort, Discovery, they sought a more effective way to create personas that kept their identities hidden while focussing on the music itself.
But who is the person credited with actually creating what would become Daft Punk’s iconic look, and in turn, some of the most distinctive iconography in modern music?
That’ll be Tony Gardner, a special effects wizard for Alterian Inc, who is the subject of a new mini-documentary titled Daft Punk: Behind The Helmets, produced by Mixmag (as Consequence Of Sound reports).
The free online doco looks at the creative process behind crafting Daft Punk’s headgear; gaining inspiration from 50s sci-fi classic The Day The Earth Stood Still through to the various designs (including hair, bizarrely enough) by Grammy-winning music video director team Alex & Martin, all contributing to the ‘look’ before reaching the finished, LED-enhanced product.
The insightful five-and-a-half minute look into one of the most streamed artists of the year also takes a peek at the evolutions the gold and silver techno masks have undergone over the years to match the musical duo’s various releases, from playing upon their visual appeal in the experimental art-house feature Electroma to the sleek Tron: Legacy versions, (and you can always delve deeper with Daft Punk diehard Hayes Johnson’s A Visual History of Daft Punk’s Helmets).
View Daft Punk: Behind The Helmets below, along with the just-released music video for the latest single lifted from Random Access Memories, ‘Instant Crush’, starring a mannequin version of Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas.
