Influences
Bangalter and de Homem-Christo have credited many sources that influenced their musical style. Years before producing electronic music as a duo, they were stated to have shared tastes for Elton John, MC5, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and The Stooges. Their mutual admiration for rock bands led to the founding of their own independent project, Darlin'. Bangalter stated that "It was still maybe more a teenage thing at that time. It's like, you know, everybody wants to be in a band." They drew inspiration from the rock and acid house in the United Kingdom during the early 1990s. De Homem-Christo pointed to Screamadelica by Primal Scream as an influential work, as the record "put everything together" in terms of genre.
The liner notes of Homework pay tribute to a large number of musical artists and contains a quote from Brian Wilson. Bangalter stated that "In Brian Wilson's music you could really feel the beauty—it was very spiritual. Like Bob Marley, too." When questioned on the success of Daft Punk's debut album and rising popularity of their associated musical genre, Bangalter responded, "before us you had Frankie Knuckles or Juan Atkins and so on. The least you can do is pay respect to those who are not known and who have influenced people." The Daft Punk track "Teachers" on Homework refers to several influences including Romanthony and Todd Edwards. De Homem-Christo stated that "Their music had a big effect on us. The sound of their productions—the compression, the sound of the kick drum and Romanthony's voice, the emotion and soul—is part of how we sound today." In 2011 Bodytonic broadcast a 42-track "Teachers"-themed DJ mix of the artists that inspired the Homework album, which included the Wilson quote.
Romanthony and Edwards later collaborated with Daft Punk on tracks for Discovery. For the album Daft Punk focused on new styles of electronic music. A major inspiration was the Aphex Twin single "Windowlicker", which was "neither a purely club track nor a very chilled-out, down-tempo relaxation track" according to Bangalter. The duo also utilized vintage equipment to recreate the sound of a previous artist. As stated by de Homem-Christo, "On 'Digital Love' you get this Supertramp vibe on the bridge," which was generated through an in-studio Wurlitzer piano. During a later interview, de Homem-Christo clarified that "we didn't make a list of artists we like and copy their songs."
During another interview, Bangalter named Andy Warhol as one of Daft Punk's early artistic influences.
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