​Busy P: “When I was part of the Daft Punk world, it was a very tiny circle”

Pedro Winter, AKA Busy P, spoke to Zane Lowe this week on the legacy of good friends and collaborators, Daft Punk, for the 25th anniversary of their iconic record ‘Homework’.

The French producer told the radio host about the moment he found out about the pair’s split in 2021, which he claims he didn’t know about until the news was already released.

“To be honest with you, I learned like everybody else. I was driving my car and then suddenly my phone had a lot of text messages and whatever and I couldn't really get it. I was driving with my mum, so I stepped back and I looked at all the messages and I was like, ‘whoa, that's big news’.”

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“Thomas called me probably an hour after to tell me it wasn’t rumoured, and it was true. We had an hour-long talk together and even then, I had to respect it. I wasn't sad that they didn't call me before because when I was part of the Daft Punk world, it was a very tiny circle,” he said.

Busy P acted as manager of the French duo from 1996 to 2008, later founding Ed Banger Records. During his time working with the pair, Pedro saw the release of monumental albums such as ‘Homework’, ‘Discovery’, and ‘Human After All’.

Speaking to Zane Lowe, Pedro added: “We were five people only. And even until the last moment of their career, it was really a small team around them. This is how you create magic.”

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The producer now hosts his own show on Apple Music named Ed Wreck Radio where he released a special one-off episode in honour of Daft Punk’s 25th anniversary of their smash record ‘Homework’.

“What people need to know is that the Daft Punk boys are the most real and down to earth people I ever met, and of course they are geniuses. Everything they do, they do it for the love of art. It's definitely what drives their talent,” he said.

“They put everything in creativity and of course, it was beyond music. It was music. It was on stage. People will miss Daft Punk on stage. This is definitely something they will miss all their life.”

Listen to the Apple Music 1 episode with Busy P here, and check out Ed Wreck Radio.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Editorial Assistant, follow her on Twitter