The wait is almost over, after tediously been drip fed info and snippets of tracks here and there for the last few months we are almost at the almighty spectacle that is the Daft Punk composed Tron soundtrack. Although the film is not on release until December 18th the soundtrack is being dropped 11 days earlier.
Have spoken out for the first time in depth about their work “This project is by far the most challenging and complex thing we have ever been involved with,” declares Thomas of their Tron: Legacy soundtrack. “Coming from our background of making electronic music in a small bedroom, and ending up having our music performed by a 90-piece orchestra, with some of the best musicians in the world…We are lucky to have had the opportunity to experience some powerful moments artistically over the years, but recording this orchestra was a very intense experience.”
Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo’s score is one of the most hyped recording projects of 2010, and will finally see an official release on December 6, 11 days prior to the movie hitting cinemas. The duo are cover stars of the new December 2010 issue of Dazed & Confused, wherein they talk extensively to Rod Stanley about their past, present and future undertakings.
Much of the interview is concerned with Daft Punk’s foregrounding of orchestral, rather than electronic, elements in the score. Guy-Manuel suggests that there is a baroque quality to much of Daft Punk’s music, and he hopes that the arrangements on Tron: Legacy will encourage their fans to explore classical music.
“The soul and emotion of [classical music] is so powerful that to like it is so easy – it’s just people think you need to be educated. I thought that myself for a long time, until I had listened to so many kinds of music, that one day I just tried it. But it’s not about learning…It’s about learning that it’s just there.”
“We knew from the start that there was no way we were going to do this film score with two synthesizers and a drum machine,” he adds, having cited Max Steiner, Bernard Herrmann, John Carpenter, Vangelis and Maurice Jarre as inspirations.“There’s more latitude to experiment with an orchestra than an 808 drum machine and synth.”
So is it right to assume that they find dance music less appealing than they once did?
“For us, yes,” says Thomas. “We are definitely excited by music, but just trying to constantly experiment. And sometimes that means going with other art forms, because you think there’s more latitude to experiment with an orchestra than an 808 drum machine and synth.”
Listen to the first full samples of the album here.
Read the full interview – and check the accompanying 3D photo-shoot – in the new issue of Dazed & Confused, out now.
