The Daft Punk Tribute
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The Daft Punk Tribute

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"The Daft Punk Tribute Band: Homage, not fromage"

For some, a cover band is a non-event, something like eating powdered ice cream. But sometimes – like with the Daft Punk Tribute Band, for example – you can find a band that truly blasts apart the concept of "cover band," posing an existential question pertaining to who is actually the creator of the music on stage.

Covering an act has always presupposed a certain authenticity, most often predicated on the idea that the contemporary band must replay the original with the aim of being note-perfect. Toronto’s Daft Punk Tribute Band (DPTB), comprised of eight Humber College jazz program students employing everything from horns to laser noises, aspire to emulate their Gallic musical mentors in a different form: through the continuous remix of sampled elements. To put it simply, DPTB mix up Daft Punk hooks with their own improvised sections in the same manner that the French electronic act recast samples of American funk bands, classic rock and Euro soul.

"You can even hear a Bach influence in [Daft Punk's] music," explains Ryan Spratt, who plays vocoder in DPTB. "For sure, [it's in] the constantly moving arpeggios and chord progressions. The guys in Daft Punk even had a rock band but decided that wasn’t what they wanted to do. But they knew all that music: classic rock to heavy metal, from ’80s pop stuff to ’70s disco, in the end making a real genesis of many different things. If you meet a heavy metal fan who says he doesn’t like club music, tell him to listen to the guitar part in Aerodynamic – that’s heavy man!"

"I’d be inclined to agree," adds Michael Eckert, DPTB guitarist. "And we also try to blend all those flavours into our playing of it. You don’t get to see process in an electronic music performance, you don’t get to hear it develop, but you do with us."

Daft Punk Tribute Band

w/ DJ CPI

At Barrymore’s (323 Bank), Jan. 14, 10 p.m. - Ottawa XPress


"9 Humans Making Digital Love"

While many have already tried to reinterpret or remix tracks of Daft Punk with varying degrees of success (like the excellent cover of Around The World by Benedict & Sergio last year), the Canadian Daft Punk Tribute Band are certainly the most impressive. One of the best kept secrets in the country at the maple leaf. - Trax Magazine (Paris)


"That's So 90's"

Nostalgic for the nineties? Well, they're not as long gone as you may think. Toronto musicians are keeping the decade alive on tribute band at a time. (Follow video) - ryersonian.ca


"DPT are Human After All"

Sometimes you stumble upon an idea that is so different and fresh that you can't help but want to cheer for the people who thought of it. On Friday night, one of those ideas took the form of the Daft Punk Tribute band (DPT for short). But before getting too far ahead of myself, I must admit that -- despite being a fan of Daft Punk -- I had never heard of DPT before, nor did I have any idea what one of their live performances would entail -- shame on me, I know. And when I was asked if I had wanted to cover the band, I thought I was going to see two people dressed up in homemade robot costumes deejaying behind a homemade pyramid. Thankfully, I was totally wrong and, instead, I got to see something much more interesting and fun. - Blog TO


"Daft Punk gets covered The French house tribute bands returns."

Along with Busker Fest (exactly when did giant-ass speakers become part of "busking," by the way?), Halifax can add another loud, and hopefully as crowded, August tradition---the return of Daft Punk Tribute. Let's face it, even though there are rumours of a 2010 tour, chances are good you're never going to see the real French-house deal, so why not let the laser show come to you, n'est-ce pas?

Expect a live band made up of Humber College music students with at least one robot and a ton of real instruments between them. Last summer James Ervin (robot/trumpet/EWI) told Coast writer Sam Worthington that, "We'll take stuff from live sets, and base a lot off of studio work, and then throw our own things in there. We've got four horns---why not use them for something a little differently?

- The Coast


"The Daft Punk Tribute w/Scientists of Sound This week's Sure Thing will get you dancing with their laser noises."

Fans of the TV show Clone High remember the character JFK’s dig at lame, lazy hip-hop: “What if we take a ‘sample’ of a song that already exists, and then you rap over that ‘sample.’ I call it ‘song-taking!’”

It was funny and all, and then Kanye West did it for real. So for ill-taught youth who think Kanye wrote “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” school is at the Marquee this Saturday with the 10 members of Toronto’s The Daft Punk Tribute.

The group is composed of Humber music students with a mutual love of Daft Punk: Michael Carillo (drums), Keith Doiron (bass), Matthew Giffin (keyboards), Nevin Dunn (tenor sax), Martin Matuszczak (trumpet), La-Nai Gabriel (alto sax/vocals), James Ervin (robot/trumpet//EWI), Will Hebbes (stunt guitar), Joanna Mohammed (vocals), Ryan Spratt (vocoder/laser noises).

That’s right people, laser noises.

When the band formed in 2007, their plan was to play a one-night-only tribute show featuring music from the Daft Punk album Discovery. They played for a capacity crowd at Clinton’s Tavern in Toronto, and realized more shows would have to come.

“There was snow on the ground,” says Ervin. “I remember that because I was trekking my robot suit in my suitcase through the snow.”

Ervin says for the first show he was “more mascot than performer” but soon complimented his onstage robot suit with trumpet and EWI (electric wind instrument). After honing their set in Toronto, DPT is ready for their first production in Halifax.

“We’ll take stuff from live sets, and base a lot off of studio work, and then throw our own things in there,” says Ervin. “We’ve got four horns---why not use them for something a little differently?”

Saturday, August 9 at The Marquee Club, 2037 Gottingen, 9pm, $9.99 adv/$12 door. - The Coast


"Robot rock rips up the El Mo"

Despite a massive snowfall that blanketed Toronto, the Daft Punk Tribute Band braved the weather and took the stage at the El Macombo, playing into the wee hours of the morning last Saturday.

The venue was close to capacity, yet the turn out was surprisingly high given the poor weather conditions, said Ad Dhar, a bartender at the venue.

This was the group’s second performance – its first was played at Clinton’s – and it turned out to be huge success, said Ryan Spratt, a second-year Humber Jazz student who plays the keyboard and vocoder (a speech synthesizer) for the Daft Punk Tribute Band.

Once the band took the stage, almost everyone was dancing and enjoying the music.

“A lot of people came out to support us,” said Spratt. “We were worried about the weather, but people have already told us that a little snow won’t stop them from coming out.”

Matthew Giffen, a second-year student and keyboard player in the band, was excited and optimistic about the performance.

“We want giant craziness and madness,” he said.

“We want the crowd to love us and each other and for them to dance all night. We want there to be great energy.”
The tribute band consists of eleven members who emulate Daft Punk performances with the help of traditional and electronic instruments, like keyboards and vocoders.

“The concept is basically taking electronic music and playing it with a big live band. It’s big party music no matter how you do it,” said Giffen.

Band members listened to Daft Punk albums endlessly in order to learn the music through constant repetition.
“It wasn’t always easy for us to meet for rehearsals, but this show means so much to us we were willing to make sacrifices,” said Spratt.

To bring more theatrics to Saturday’s show, they added lasers and robots to the mix.

“We are the only band we know that is covering Daft Punk, though we are not the only ones that do live house music,” said Giffen.

David Hunt, a fan of the band who was at the show, was amazed by the keyboardist and sound effects.
“The first show I went to blew me away and that’s why I came back for this one,” he said. “The show was amazing. The lighting and music were better than last time. It was awesome.” - Humber Et Cetera newspaper / A&E


Discography

Check out some of our videos on YouTube!

Crescendolls - Barrymore's Music Hall, Ottawa:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZUgtYM-dYM

Around the World - Lee's Palace - Toronto:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1pyiFoO5mY

Photos

Bio


Since emerging from Toronto's prestigious Humber College Jazz Program in 2009 the Daft Punk Tribute have been melting faces and liquifying dancefloors at the most prestigious clubs and concert halls across Canada.

"For some, a cover band is a non-event, something like eating powdered ice cream. But sometimes – like with the Daft Punk Tribute Band, for example – you can find a band that truly blasts apart the concept of "cover band," posing an existential question pertaining to who is actually the creator of the music on stage." - Cormac Rea, Ottawa XPress, Jan 2011

"On the night of January 19th, The Daft Punk tribute band graced Bishops's University with an absolutely electric show, both literally and physically. The band fit the University crowds tastes to a T. They covered all the best songs - and obscure Daft Punk gems - and provided us with a show that this school will never forget. They brought to life the electric sounds of Daft Punk as they played a 2 1/2 hour show that had the crowd of 400+ Bishop's students dancing until the music stopped, no one wanted the show to end! A truly powerful band with a real passion for the music they play, great sounds, great people, had one hell of a good time." -Adam Phillips (Venue Manager, Bishop's University)

"DPT is a high energy, vibrant group that is perfect for a unique college event. Their look, sound and energy was extraordinary and definitely not something you see everyday. They put on an amazing show and were great to work with. Thanks DPT!" -Hannah Dahn (VP Student Life, Dalhousie University Student Union)

The Daft Punk Tribute is a 9-piece band who reinterpret the world's most popular electronic dance music as a live ensemble - horn section, rhythm section, vocals, synths and electronics.