“We went into the darkness looking for something”: Pharrell recalls studio sessions with Daft Punk

In a new interview, Pharrell reveals how studio sessions with Daft Punk opened his eyes to the magic that comes from doing things “over and over and over and over again”.

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Speaking on episode six of Daft Punk’s Memory Tapes documentary series, the musician shares some of his takeaways from working with the legendary duo on their final album, Random Access Memories.

“I’ve always been like ‘okay I’m gonna go in there and once it feels good to me that’s it.’ But it’s really not, that’s just the beginning,” says Pharrell, who co-wrote and featured on the tracks Get Lucky and Lose Yourself to Dance.

“I’ve never went in there to perfect it and he continued to push me. So it might have been written, but he’s like ‘Okay now record it again. Okay cool. Now record it again. Okay cool take this again. Okay cool stack this again. Okay do it again, do it again, do it again.’”

“It was like over and over and over and over again which is the right way to do it, right? You get all the knots out and for me that’s what I learned in working with the robots,” he says.

“Now I understand the value of just taking the time to iron it out – that it could be perfection. That’s the difference between a human and a robot.”

Describing his songwriting process with Daft Punk as “all feeling”, Pharrell says: “We went into the darkness looking for something.”

“Working with them is just very magical because I feel like we all see music the same way. We saw music as just like, gift that was given to us to connect with people and set people free and liberate people.”

Also in the chat, Pharrell recalls how the band surprised him by using his recorded vocals on the final versions of Get Lucky and Lose Yourself To Dance.

“I didn’t know who was gonna end up singing it. I left the studio thinking, ‘Okay, can’t wait to see who sings and what it sounds like,” he said. “I didn’t hear it for a year, so I forgot what the song sounded like – both of them.”