Thomas Bangalter

French musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, composer and DJ. Born in Paris on 3 January 1975 as son of Daniel Bangalter and Thérèse Thoreux. Married to French actress Élodie Bouchez with whom he has two sons: Tara-Jay (born 2002) and Roxan (born 2008).

Bangalter is most famous as one half of the duo Daft Punk, which initially started out as Darlin', with a 3rd member playing the punky thrash that gave birth to the Daft Punk name. While the duo debuted with a single in 1993 and an album in 1995, Bangalter also did solo work, viz. the two famous Trax On Da Rocks EPs which blended various samples set to funky house and techno beats. He released Music Sounds Better With You on his own label Roulé as part of Stardust as well as his remix for Rock Shock by Roy Davis Jr.. In 1998, his track Gym Tonic was the center of controversy as Bob Sinclar included it on his album Paradise without the consent of Bangalter. This resulted in a lawsuit from fitness guru and actress Jane Fonda, whose voice had been illegally sampled on the record.

Keen on his privacy and anonimity, Bangalter nonetheless has given a few interviews in and out of the Daft Punk phenomenon. Although a lot of people credit him for the invention of 'filtered house', he has cited Throw by Carl Craig aka Paperclip People and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez as precursors of the style. Outside Daft Pank Bangalter used to DJ but he has stopped his DJing career due to hearing issues. In 2022 he started his own Alberts & Gothmaan label (its name is an anagram of Thomas Bangalter).