Daft Punk’s 9 minute track ‘ Giorgio By Moroder ‘ begins without any music at all. You hear the faintest trace of static before a man begins to speak.
“When I was 15, 16, when I really started to play guitar, I definitely wanted to become a musician. It was almost impossible because… The dream was so big.”
Then, as he continues to tell his story, Daft Punk’s music picks up. He talks about about his search as a young man for a definitive sound; as he calls it, “The music of the future.”
His name is Giorgio Moroder, and in addition to his recent collaboration with Daft Punk, he’s basically the father of EDM.
Born Hansjörg Moroder in 1940, he would later take the name Giovanni Giorgio when building his record label, which he named Oasis Records. While living in Munich Germany, Giorgio struck paydirt while collaborating with Disco Princess Donna Summer, with the track Love To Love You, Baby , which not only was their first Certified Gold album , but had the distinct honor of being described by no less than TIME Magazine as “A marathon of 22 orgasms”.
Giovanni would continue to collaborate with Summer several times, and then go on to produce hits for other disco notables like Sparks and The Three Degrees. By the time Disco was beginning to breathe in its last few gasps, Moroder had branched out, founding the legendary Musicland Studio in Munich, which saw the likes of Led Zeppelin, Queen, and Elton John.
In the 80’s, Moroder’s music became the background noise for just about every movie that is representative of that particular decade, from Beverly Hills Cop to Top Gun to kids movies like The Neverending Story. In the 90’s, he reteamed with Donna Summer for another album, Carry On, which won a Grammy.
In 2000, Daft Punk released One More Time, and Moroder praised the EDM duo. Daft Punk reached out to Moroder when they began working on Random Access Memories. The man who wanted to create “the music of the future” has come face to face with the fruition of his childhood dreams.
And he isn’t finished by a long shot.
After working with Daft Punk, Moroder was recently tapped by singer Kelis to collaborate on her upcoming album. Lately he’s been a fixture in the NYC and Miami EDM scene , DJing at venues packed to the rafters for the Red Bull Guest House series.
At a recent set in Miami , he opened with a tricked out version of Love To Love You Baby.
When asked about the possibilty of retirement, Daft Punk’s collaborator, muse, and (re)rising star smiled and said “Playing golf is all great too, but it’s boring.”