John Murray wins three-way bid for Szatan's Daft Punk book

John Murray has acquired an exploration of Daft Punk by journalist Gabriel Szatan in a three-way auction.  

Yassine Belkacemi, publicity director and editor at John Murray Press, bought UK and Commonwealth rights including audio from Charlie Brotherstone at BCM. John Murray will publish After Daft: How Daft Punk Rewired the 21st Century in hardback, e-book, and audio in autumn 2023.  

The blurb reads: “Following their split earlier in 2021, After Daft will be the most thorough attempt yet to capture Daft Punk’s unique position within the musical landscape. The Parisian duo’s success had profound effects on the sound of pop, the look of the modern concert industry and the acceptance of DJing as a creative artform. As such, After Daft will exceed the remit of a conventional biography by documenting the past three decades of music and culture at large."

After Daft will draw from more than 100 worldwide contributors “in order to paint an authentic, entertaining, up-to-date picture of Daft Punk as artists, and how the musical landscape has changed from 1993 to the present day,” John Murray said. More details about contributors will be revealed at a later date. 

“For my generation, Daft Punk sit alongside Prince, Talking Heads, Kraftwerk, Stevie Wonder, Kate Bush, David Bowie or any visionary you’d care to name,” Szatan said. “Beyond simply making joyous records, there are countless compelling sub-narratives which flow in and out of their career. Who were the teachers to whom the duo owe their sound? What enabled the Alive 2006-07 tour to crack America’s resistance to rave culture? And how did Daft Punk retain anonymity at a time when the internet erased privacy for everyone else? I’m excited to bring it all to light — as well as making the case for how, over 28 years, music really did sound better with them.”  

Belkacemi said: "As someone, like Gabe, who grew up with Daft Punk as the soundtrack to their youth, I’m thrilled to be the proud publisher of After Daft. I can’t imagine a better writer who matches the energy of Daft Punk as Gabe Szatan. But what particularly excites me about Gabe and his debut is how this is a book that goes beyond the biography of Daft Punk, and joins the dots between the different communities, countries and cultures that has seen electronic music become a global phenomenon.”  

Szatan is a London-based writer, known for his extensive reporting on contemporary music and 21st-century cultural movements. He worked on the curation and editorial teams for Boiler Room, Red Bull Music Academy and Resident Advisor and his specialist knowledge as a journalist has featured on BBC Radio 1 and Radio 6 Music, the Guardian, Pitchfork, the Economist, Crack, Dazed and the Face among others.