Thomas Bangalter Bio | Facts About The French Musician
Table of Contents
Profile Summary
- Name:Thomas Bangalter
- Year of Birth: 1975
- Occupation: Producer
He is a French musician, popularly known as one-half of former French house music duo Daft Punk. He is a record producer, singer, songwriter, DJ, and owner of the music label “Roulé.”
Thomas Bangalter Bio | Early Life
In Paris, France, Thomas Bangalter was born on January 3, 1975, to French musician and songwriter Daniel Vangarde and Theresa Thoreux. Daniel Vangarde’s father was a songwriter and producer for famous performers like the Gibson Brothers, Ottawan, and Sheila B. Devotion.
As a result, Thomas was exposed to music at a tender age and began playing the piano at the age of six as his parents were strict in keeping him in practice. His father was Jewish, but his family didn’t consider themselves religious.
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Thomas attended Lycée Carnot Public School, the same high school he met Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo in 8th Grade.
The duo bonded and later started the “Darlin,” an indie punk band with Laurent Brancowitz, where Thomas played the bass.
However, the band got disbanded with Thomas and Guy-Manuel starting a piece of electronic music known as “Daft Punk” and Laurent starting “Phoenix.”
Thomas Bangalter Bio | Career
Before the age of 18, Thomas and Guy-Manuel grew interested in electronic music, which leads to the duo presenting a demo of Daft Punk material to Stuart Macmillan of Slam in 1993.
It resulted in their first single, “The New Wave.” According to Thomas, his father provided valuable advice on the record industry and how it works.
In 1996, Thomas joined a group known as Da Mongoloids, including Armand Van Helden and Junior Sanchez.
They created their only song, “Spark da Method,” released under the “Strictly Rhythm” record label. He released the album “Homework” in 1997, and it was recorded in his bedroom, with the help of his father, Daniel Vangarde.
Years after the release, Thomas decided to focus on his record label, Roulé, which means “rolled” in French. The label released Thomas solo material and also singles by Roy Davis Jr., Romanthony, among others.
Who are Daft Punk?
His solo works, titled “Trax on da Rocks,” released in 1995 and 1998 respectively, were released on two vinyl-only EPs. Three songs from the EPs, “Outrun,” “Extra Dry,” and “Turbo,” later appeared in the video game Midnight Club II.
In 1998, Thomas collaborated with Alan Braxe and Benjamin Diamond to release the club hit “Music Sounds Better With You” under Stardust; the single was recorded in Thomas’s home studio, just like Homework. Around the same time, he co-produced Bob Sinclar’s second single, ” Gym Tonic.”
There was, however, a minor dispute over the release of the single music video, as it contained samples from a Jane Fonda workout tape, which was used without her permission.
As a result, Fonda refused to grant permission to have the single released officially.
However, a different act called Spacedust later released a rerecorded version of the track and titled it “Gym and Tonic.” The single soon became a number one single in the United Kingdom, shortly after “Music Sounds Better with You” became number two on the same chart.
Bangalter and de Homem-Christo collaborated with Romanthony in 1998 in what would be known as the first of the Discovery sessions.
“One More Time” became Daft Punk’s most successful single in 2000. In 2000, he teamed up with DJ Falcon under the name Together to release their eponymous single.
In 2002, he produced the score to the film “Irréversible,” a soundtrack album with the same name later released.
That same year he produced the track “113 Fout La Merde” for French hip hop group 113, appearing in the music video wearing his Daft Punk helmet while dancing.
Why did Daft Punk break up?
In 2003, Together released the single “So Much Love to Give,” while Daft Punk’s third studio album, ” Human After All,” was released in 2005. In 2009, Thomas was the sound effect director in the film “Enter the Void”; this was his second work with filmmaker Gasper Noé following Irréversible.
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The film features his track “Désaccords,” which was initially composed for Irréversible.
Thomas directed and choreographed a short film featuring Élodie Bouchez in 2011, and the film served as an advertisement for a fashion line.
In 2012, he scored the short film “First Point,” starring Lindsay Lohan. In 2013, Thomas and Homem-Christo released their fourth studio album titled Random Access Memories.
It was announced in June 2017 that Thomas would be a co-producer on Arcade Fire’s album titled “Everything Now.”
In 2018, he provided two tracks for the film “Climax.” In June 2019, a re-mastered version of the song ” Music Sounds Better With You” was released for the song’s twentieth anniversary.
In February 2021, Daft Punk released a video announcing the band’s disbandment, with its members pursuing personal projects.
Thomas Bangalter Bio | Personal Life
Thomas Bangalter is married to French actress Élodie Bouchez, and they have two sons named Tara-Jay and Roxan, born in 2002 and 2008, respectively.
The couples in 2004 moved to Beverly Hills, California, due to Élodie’s acting career and Thomas growing interested in filmmaking; currently, they live in Paris.
Interesting Fact
In 2002, Thomas had to quit Djing in clubs due to tinnitus; according to him, he gave it up to protect his ears from being damaged. However, he has longed to recover from the condition.
