Hello, Goodbye & Thank You

The first post. number one. uno.

How to begin?

I guess I should introduce myself.

My name is Luke Puzzar and I am striving everyday to study and learn as much as I can about of the world of sound (more specifically music!). Sometimes this involves learning the science behind acoustics and how sound waves travel, other times how parallel processing can be implemented to help improve my mixes. My goal is to become the best mix engineer I can be, but recently, especially during lockdown, I have been re-evaluating and looking back at the motivations behind my goals.

During the start of the first lockdown in the UK I felt deflated, lethargic and less motivated than I had felt in a long time. I struggled to keep my head up whilst the music industry was crashing around me. Venues closing, Mr. Sunak telling us to "retrain" and my chances of starting a new networking circle seemed impossible. I moved to the other side of the country to start university and struggled within the first weeks to find work to help pay for my rent. All these events made me question my choices. Why was I even doing this? What was the point?

Then on February 22nd Daft Punk announced that they would be splitting as a group.

It's hard to put into words how important Daft Punk's music is to me but I'll try my best to explain.

I was around 10 when I first started listening to the French duo's incredibly creative evolution of dance and house music. I eventually stumbled upon their album 'Discovery' which included singles such as 'One More Time' and 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger'. I had never heard music like this in my life, I didn't even know that this is what music could be. You see people remember Daft Punk for their fun and silly costumes and robotic aesthetic in their songs, but if you listen closer you will find that they are so much more. It's in tracks such as 'Digital Love', 'Something About Us' and 'Voyager' that you can hear the sonic magic that Daft Punk created. Are the robotic vocoder vocals cheesy as hell? Yes. But look beyond that into the music itself and you will be transported on a musical journey that I have strived to recreate for nearly a decade now. Daft Punk had this ability to create a wonderful soundscape that would be so much fun to listen to, but then the bridge would hit. This is where the magic is for me. All of a sudden the duo shifts you from their energetic four to the floor grooves and you find yourself as the listener floating in space, only to then emphatically return to the groove in the most satisfying of ways.

Scientists can't fully explain why we as humans enjoy music as we do (at least not to my knowledge). Most other animals do not posses the ability to enjoy music the way we do. There is no scientific explanation for this, which to me is the definition of magic. Music is magic and wonderful and joyous and sometimes sad and other times invigorating. It is a shared experience that many of us 'fanatics' dedicate our lives to. Hearing these bridges in Daft Punk's music were one of the first times I really felt swept away by this 'magic'. It also helps that Discovery's album flow is absolutely fantastic. No word of a lie, in those days when I first started listening to Daft Punk, I once listened to Discovery five times back to back! No breaks, no listening to the music in the background while doing chores. Just me, a pair of headphones and musical goodness.

Upon hearing of their break up I was initially upset. I will never get the opportunity to see the group live which was a big dream of mine. Then I remembed why I loved them in the first place. They taught me the magic of music and it was then that I knew music is the only thing I wanted to do with my life. It probably all sounds stupid I understand, but Daft Punk really do mean that much to me.

At a time when I was struggling to motivate myself, their break up served as a reminder of why I do what I do. It has always been to chase that magic that Daft Punk helped me to see. I will forever cherish Daft Punk's wonderfully strange and creative approach to songwriting and will carry that influence with me throughout my whole career.

Moving forward, I have new ideas of how to shape my career and I have never felt as motivated as I feel now to achieve my goals. I have some upcoming projects which I am so excited to put out very soon, but you'll have to wait for that ;)

For now I would like to end by saying a big thank you to Daft Punk for all the wonderful memories you gave me. Even in your break up you inspired me to chase the magic within the music.

If you've read this far thank you so much for reading my nonsense. I plan in the future to make these post a little less melodramatic. I shall move on now to doing little write ups on new song releases, hidden gems and album reviews. I hope though that through this you've learnt a little bit more about myself and why I'm doing this in the first place.

Cheers,

Luke Puzzar