​Kraftwerk’s Wolfgang Flür hoodwinked into fake collaboration with Daft Punk impersonator

Former Kraftwerk member Wolfgang Flür was tricked into a fake collaboration with a Daft Punk impersonator, according to a new interview.

In an interview with Line Noise Podcast’s Ben Cardew in February, Flür spoke about his new solo record, ‘Times’, and the collaborations that were due to appear on the album.

Flür explained that someone who he believed to be Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter had reached out on social media asking for a signed copy of his 2022 solo album ‘Magazine 1’, saying that Daft Punk were inspired by Kraftwerk’s sound.

“He said, ‘We love you guys. Without Kraftwerk, we would not have found our own robot style, being on stage with the helmets, you know’,” Flür explained.

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Flür then asked the impersonator, who he believed to be Bangalter, if he would be interested in collaborating on his next album, which he agreed to.

“He sent me something, but it was not really fitting the musical key,” he said. “But we changed the key and corrected [the tempo] a little bit, but we could very, very much use it in the middle part,” he said, calling it a “technical problem”.

The sample was then reportedly used in a track featuring New Order’s Peter Hook, titled ‘Über_All’, which Flür said “fitted very well”.

It’s long been reported that Thomas Bangalter was proposed to appear on Flür’s March-released solo record. Initial reports dating back to early 2023 suggested that Flür had been working with Bangalter on new music.

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After the tracklist for ‘Times’ was released, fans were left puzzled when Bangalter’s name didn't appear as a feature, though the name ‘Thomas Vangarde’ appeared next to two tracks, suggesting some confusion between Bangalter’s name and his father’s, Daniel Vangarde.

The Daft Punk Historian reportedly reached out to a member of Daft Punk’s team to clarify whether Bangalter did in fact appear on the record, and was told that he was “not involved in [Flür’s] album”, confirming that he does not use the alias ‘Thomas Vangarde’.

They added that “legal teams are aware” of this error, and are working with Flür to correct the mistake. “Please extend him grace and courtesy; it’s not his fault that oversight failed here,” they said.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter