Daft Punk have always been regarded as one of the most popular and intriguing electronic music groups of all time. This very face was further exemplified by the robotic duo sweeping five prestigious Grammies this year.  For those amongst us who want to take our curiosity to the next level when it comes to the 2 robots,  author Dina Santorelli has written Daft Punk: A Trip Inside the Pyramid, a book that chronicles the robots’ rise from producing their first album in a small bedroom in Paris, France to putting on a sold-out world tour.

The book starts by diving into historical information about the duo, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, starting from an introduction to their upbringing as well as insight to their first band Darling. The two initially became friends after bonding over their taste in film, when they met at Parisian secondary school Lycèe Carnot in 1987. The book then goes on to shed light on each of Daft Punk’s albums, showcasing  where they got inspiration from for each of their songs, as well as their biggest musical influences overall:

Newcomers to the Daft Punk sound are often surprised to learn that Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo’s early music influences were more rock and pop than dance. In their teen years both men gravitated toward music icons such as The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Velvet Underground, and Led Zeppelin.

Some of the book’s sections talk about Daft Punk’s incessant, almost pathological need to always push the boundaries that had been set before. One of the most notable examples of this is when Daft Punk was signed on to score Disney’s  Tron Legacy. The director wanted to try something completely new and fitting to the storyline and instead of going with a traditional film composer, he decided to go with the robotic duo:

In 2008, Disney Arranged to have Daft Punk meet with several successful soundtrack composers about a potential collaboration, including Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, John Powell, and Christophe Beck. “They were very generous and very open, sharing a lot of technical advice,” Bangalter has said. However, in the end, Daft Punk scrapped any collaboration plans.

The book even goes on to explore the depths of their newest album, Random Access Memories, and has quite a detailed study on the many artists that collaborated on the project. An entire section of the book goes through each of the collaborators, explaining where they came from, how they met Daft Punk, and which tracks they worked on. For example, Pharell Williams, who met the duo at a Madonna party and “expressed interest in working with the duo on their new record, even if that just he meant he was to play the tambourine.” Another notable collaborator, Nile Rodgers, had wanted to collaborate with Daft Punk for  a long time but was never able to until Random Access Memories because of a series of scheduling conflicts.

This is just a brief summation of what the book actually entails. If you’re a Daft Punk fan, or just curious about the phenomena that surrounds the infamous robotic duo, this book is definitely one you need to add to your personal library.

You can buy the book off Amazon, here.