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Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo

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Guillaume Emmanuel "Guy-Manuel" de Homem-Christo (French pronunciation: [ɡi(jom e)manɥɛl də ɔmɛm kʁisto]; born 8 February 1974) is a French musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, DJ and composer. He is known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft Punk, along with Thomas Bangalter. He has produced several works from his now defunct record label Crydamoure with label co-owner Éric Chedeville.

Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo
Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo as a member of Daft Punk in 2013
Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo as a member of Daft Punk in 2013
Background information
Birth nameGuillaume Emmanuel de Homem-Christo
Born (1974-02-08) 8 February 1974 (age 50)
Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
OriginParis, France
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • record producer
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • DJ
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • synthesizer
  • drums
  • keyboards
  • bass guitar
  • programming
  • vocals
Years active1992–present
LabelsCrydamoure
Formerly of

Early life

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Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo was born on 8 February 1974[1] in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a Parisian suburb.[2] He is the great-grandson of Portuguese poet Homem Cristo Filho [pt], as well as the great-great-grandson of Portuguese military figure Francisco Manuel Homem Cristo, who was forced into exile in France in 1910.[3][4]

He was given a toy guitar and keyboard at around 7 years of age.[5] He was eventually given an electric guitar at age 14; he still uses a guitar when writing music.[6]

Career

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Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo met Thomas Bangalter when they attended the Lycée Carnot school in Paris in 1987. It was there that they discovered their mutual fascination for films and music of the 1960s and 1970s: "very basic cult teenager things, from Easy Rider to the Velvet Underground".[7] The two and Laurent Brancowitz eventually joined to form an indie rock trio called Darlin', in which Homem-Christo performed guitar. Bangalter felt that "It was still maybe more a teenage thing at that time. It's like, you know, everybody wants to be in a band."[7] A negative review referred to their music as "a daft punky thrash",[8] which inspired Bangalter and Homem-Christo's new name.[9] The two soon became interested in electronic dance music after going to a club in 1992. Homem-Christo is credited for designing the Daft Punk logo in the liner notes of Homework (1997), the duo's first album.

Regarding Daft Punk's creative process and working with Bangalter, Homem-Christo commented that "he's much more of the tech guy than I am. We did everything together. But I have more distance". He added, "I'm more critical of everything we do. We're two-halves of one solid combination. There's balance there – completeness between us, yeah".[10]

Homem-Christo is a co-founder of the group Le Knight Club, along with Éric Chedeville from Pumpking Records. They are the founders of the record label Crydamoure, named after a variation of the French phrase "cri d'amour" or "cry of love" in English. Crydamoure published works by Homem-Christo's brother Paul de Homem-Christo, under the name Play Paul.[11] In regards to Crydamoure, Homem-Christo stated:

Myself and Thomas have the same tastes in music. When I make records for Crydamoure it's a different style than what may end up as Daft Punk music. I know what Thomas likes, and he knows what I like. Crydamoure is not so production oriented, even if it's not too far from Daft Punk. The Daft Punk material is more orchestrated and slightly different. I may be working on a sample for Crydamoure, and maybe no one else can hear the difference, but we know. It's very precise.[12]

Daft Punk produced three projects in the 2000's, their sophomore album Discovery (2001), their third album Human After All (2005), and the soundtrack to TRON: Legacy (2010). The duo also did a world tour in 2006 and 2007, eventually releasing an accompanying live album, Alive 2007.[13]

In between these projects, Homem-Christo produced Sébastien Tellier's 2008 album Sexuality.[14] In 2010, Homem-Christo worked with Sebastian on the Kavinsky song "Nightcall".[15] In 2012, he was featured on Tellier's album My God Is Blue on the track "My Poseidon".

Following the release of Daft Punk's fourth album Random Access Memories, Homem-Christo and Bangalter collaborated on two tracks with the Weeknd, "Starboy" and "I Feel It Coming", with the former gaining the duo their first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and the latter, co-written by Chedeville of Le Knight Club, peaking at number four.[16] Homem-Christo and Bangalter both contributed writing and production credits to the 2017 song "Overnight" by Parcels.[17] This would be Daft Punk's final production work as a duo, as Daft Punk announced their split via YouTube in February of 2021.[18]

Homem-Christo worked on the title track to Charlotte Gainsbourg's fifth studio album Rest, released in 2017. He contributed to the 2018 song "Hurt You", a collaboration with the Weeknd and Gesaffelstein.[19][20]

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Homem-Christo created a curated playlist called "Star of a hero" for Italian brand MEDEA, containing tracks from The Beach Boys, the Weeknd, George Duke, and Thundercat, among others.[21]

On 22 February 2021, Daft Punk released a video announcing their breakup.[22][23] Friend and collaborator Todd Edwards later clarified that Bangalter and Homem-Christo remain active separately.[24] The two still share a studio and equipment.[25]

Homem-Christo's first release after the split was producing the song "Modern Jam" with Travis Scott for Scott's album Utopia, released in July 2023.[26][27]

Personal life

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Homem-Christo has two children:[28] a daughter and a son. He and his wife divorced in 2010.[29]

Both Homem-Christo and Bangalter have no interest in being celebrities or discussing their private lives.[30] In the rare events of interviews, Bangalter did the majority of talking to journalists. With regard to working and collaborating with other artists, Homem-Christo sees it as a matter of timing and creativity, rather than fame and opportunity. He once stated in an interview:

Well that depends on what we want to do at the time. It depends. I don't know. Yeah, exactly. There are all these considerations you're talking about. But yes, it just depends on the moment you're asked. If you feel it and if you feel something creatively interesting then it's possible. For everything that we're asked to do, if we have a creative answer and think we might bring something to a project then we can do it. But if we don't have any ideas or don't think we can push the envelope by creating with anybody... well, if you take Sébastien Tellier for example it is one of the few collaborations where I had the idea that I could do something and bring something to it. But it's all about the moment and the situation. When it feels right to us, when we feel it we do it, and when we have the time. There's so many factors.[31]

Discography

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See also: Daft Punk discography

Production credits

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Albums

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Tracks

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Year Title Artist Album Credit(s) Notes
2006 "See Me Now" Cassius 15 Again Composer, producer Produced with Éric Chedeville [credited as Le Knight Club]
2012 "My Poseidon" Sébastien Tellier My God Is Blue Composer
2013 "Nightcall" Kavinsky OutRun Composer, producer Produced with Kavinsky
2017 "Rest" Charlotte Gainsbourg Rest Composer, producer
2018 "Hurt You"
(featuring Gesaffelstein) 		The Weeknd My Dear Melancholy, Composer, producer Produced with Gesaffelstein
2023 "Modern Jam"
(featuring Teezo Touchdown) 		Travis Scott Utopia Composer, producer Produced with Travis Scott

References

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  1. ^ Perez, Fernanda (8 February 2018). "08 de febrero de 1974, nace Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo de Daft Punk". RadioPop.cl (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  2. ^ Perron, Erwan, and Gancel, Alice (7 April 2013). "Daft Punk, interview-fleuve pour la sortie de Random Access Memories". Telerama (in French). telerama.fr. Retrieved 7 April 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Weiner, Jonah (21 May 2013). "Daft Punk: All Hail Our Robot Overlords". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Bas les casques – Le vrai visage de Daft Punk". 19 February 2014.
  5. ^ Daft Punk interview in Japan (1/2) Retrieved on 14 November 2012.
  6. ^ Bryan Reesman, Daft Punk interview Archived 10 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine mixonline.com. Retrieved on 6 March 2007.
  7. ^ a b Matthew Collin, "Do You Think You Can Hide From Stardom?" Mixmag (August 1997) (archived Archived 16 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine at techno.de)
  8. ^ "Review of Shimmies in Super 8." Melody Maker Apr.-May 1993: n. pag. Web. 6 April 2013.
  9. ^ Alan Di Perna, "We Are The Robots" Pulse!, April 2001, pp. 65–69.
  10. ^ Blurt, "Encounters of the Daft Kind" Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine (September 2008) pgs. 28–29. Retrieved on 26 July 2009.
  11. ^ "Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo revives Le Knight Club, listen to new song "The Fight"". 29 May 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  12. ^ "Robopop". remixmag.com. 27 May 2016.
  13. ^ Masim, Austria (23 February 2021). "Daft Punk discuss Coachella, Alive 2007 tour, Kanye West, and more in unpublished interview". Dancing Astronaut. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  14. ^ "Q&A with Sebastien Tellier | Anthem Magazine". anthemmagazine.com. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  15. ^ "Nightcall EP, by Kavinsky". Kavinsky. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  16. ^ "The Weeknd's 'Starboy,' Featuring Daft Punk, Hits No. 1 on Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  17. ^ "Daft Punk Assists Australian Band Parcels on Groovy Single, 'Overnight'". Billboard. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  18. ^ Monroe, Jazz (22 February 2021). "Daft Punk Break Up". Pitchfork. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  19. ^ "Listen to Charlotte Gainsbourg's New Song "Rest," Made With Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel". Pitchfork. 8 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  20. ^ Blistein, Jon (29 March 2018). "The Weeknd Releases New Album 'My Dear Melancholy'". Rolling Stone.
  21. ^ "À écouter : la moitié de Daft Punk Guy-Man a curaté une playlist ultra solide pour une marque italienne". Trax Magazine (in French). 17 April 2020. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  22. ^ Daly, Rhian (22 February 2021). "Music world reacts to Daft Punk's split: "An inspiration to all"". NME. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  23. ^ Coscarelli, Joe (22 February 2021). "Daft Punk Announces Breakup After 28 Years". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  24. ^ "Interview: Todd Edwards on new single 'The Chant', what's next for Daft Punk, and the inspiration behind his productions". 909originals.com. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  25. ^ Woolfe, Zachary (3 April 2023). "Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter Reveals Himself: As a Composer". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  26. ^ "Listen to Production From Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo on Travis Scott's "Utopia" Album - EDM.com - The Latest Electronic Dance Music News, Reviews & Artists". EDM.com - The Latest Electronic Dance Music News, Reviews & Artists. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  27. ^ "Here are the full credits for Travis Scott's UTOPIA". The FADER. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  28. ^ Baron, Zach (May 2013). "Daft Punk Is (Finally!) Playing at Our House". GQ. Vol. 83, no. 5. pp. 76–82. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2017. the two men are seated, sans disguises, outside at a café [...] They're talking about their kids (two each)
  29. ^ "Daft Punk, This Is the End". Society (in French). No. 161. July–August 2021. pp. 22–34.
  30. ^ "Daft Punk: Who are those masked men?". canoe.ca. 12 April 1997. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  31. ^ Robinson, Peter (27 November 2007). "Daft Punk Interview". popjustice.
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