After Daft – A new book on Daft Punk and the past 30 years of dance music culture

Gabriel Szatan
Gabriel Szatan

After Daft by Gabriel Szatan, to be published in 2023 by John Murray Press / Hachette UK, is a brand new book about Daft Punk.

After Daft will be the first book to cover the entire career of pioneering French music duo Daft Punk, from their formation in 1993 to their split in 2021. 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.

What will be featured on the book and what it’s focused on.

After Daft will focus on Daft Punk’s seminal Alive 2006-07 tour, a concert production that forever changed the look and feel of live music, inspiring a new generation of DJ-producers and having a significant impact on the popularity and profitability of electronic music in the United States and around the world.

Much more than a book that focuses on Daft Punk alone, After Daft 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. Veteran house and techno DJs and artists from Chicago and Detroit, as well as other key figures in the arts and music from around the world, are among them. Closer to the publication date, more information about the contributors and their involvement will be revealed.

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. – the author Gabriel Szatan about the book

Daft Punk was one of the most influential bands in music history. They made an indelible mark on the electronic underground after forming in 1993 and rising to a level of success and visibility unheard of for a dance music group. By their split earlier this year, they had won six GRAMMY Awards, and were ranked the 12th greatest music duo of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine.

Daft Punk Epilogue
Daft Punk Epilogue

Their studio albums and singles have sold over twenty million copies worldwide, making them multi-platinum in almost every country, and they are widely credited with helping to popularize dance styles such as house, techno, and electro. Kanye West, The Weeknd, Pharell Williams, and Arcade Fire are among the artists for whom the duo has produced. Daft Punk’s highly acclaimed live show, which is discussed in depth within After Daft, reimagined what was possible for a live music show, giving rise to the multi-billion dollar EDM industry and normalising the position of rave DJs at the top of festival bills worldwide.

After Daft will be more than a traditional music biography, focusing on the genre- and industry-defining aspects of Daft Punk’s career. The book will position the duo as generational icons, set against the historical backdrop of shifting cultural horizons in the duo’s home country of France, the United States and the rest of the world, alongside the rise of social media and the internet. The meticulous in-depth research, combined with exclusive access to the book’s participants, results in a world-first publication on how Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, better known as Daft Punk, influenced the live and recorded music industry, wider entertainment worlds, and even transatlantic politics.

Following a multi-publisher bid, UK and Commonwealth rights to the book have been won by John Murray Press/Hachette UK. In 2023, the film After Daft will be released.

The author and his story.

Gabriel Szatan, a writer, editor, broadcaster, event programmer, streaming curator, label A&R, and DJ, is the author of After Daft. He is known for his extensive reporting on contemporary music and 21st-century cultural movements.

He began his career as a promoter and radio host in London, and later joined Gilles Peterson’s team at BBC Radio 6 Music, where he was promoted to Senior Curator of music events and editorial platform Boiler Room. During a five-year tenure, he curated hundreds of shows and projects worldwide, working simultaneously to showcase emerging talent and superstar DJs in the making, as well as celebrating rave culture and dance music history, with a particular focus on the American Midwest.

As a journalist, Gabriel has sat on the editorial teams for Red Bull Music Academy and Resident Advisor, and his specialist knowledge has appeared in The Guardian, Pitchfork, The Economist, DJ Mag, Dazed, Crack, The Face and more. For a long-form investigation into the ongoing subjugation of UK Garage, he was co-awarded Music Journalism of the Year by Complex in 2020.