Daft Punk: the man behind the helmets
A British dad is set for stardom after the paper helmets he used to make for his kids are picked up by Daft Punk as the face of their new album, Random Access Memories.
Draw it, cut it, paint it, bend it, fold it, pin it, wear – repeat it.
Steve Lomas has been doing it for years: making paper masks out of everything from dinosaurs to robots for his three sons.
But now his DIY offerings have been catapulted to worldwide audiences, as the face of the most eagerly anticipated album of the summer: Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories.
In fact the electro-pop duo placed the first ever bulk order from the British start-up, and the DIY mask templates have since been shipped to 35 different countries in preparation for the global launch.
It all started at the beginning of 2012. “People always loved them and often said ‘you could sell those’ or ‘I’d buy one of those’ – that kind of thing,” he told Channel 4 News.
“But it was only after our previous business (a jewellery shop) was hit hard by the recession, that I started thinking about developing them into a product.”
He came up with a flat folding A4 template, went into production and launched his start-up Make a Mask at the Toy Fair Olympia in January.
Sony picked up the product almost immediately.
Schoolchildren in Wee Waa don Steve Lomas’s masks in preparation for the Australian album launch.
“The day after the show I was sitting in Sony’s offices giving them prototypes and samples to show Daft Punk,” said Mr Lomas.
Fast forward just four months from his launch, and his robotic helmets are at the heart of Daft Punk’s album, launched on 17 May.
“The robots loved them – the rest is history, or history in the making,” he added.
The electro-pop duo’s Get Lucky single has sold over 500,000 copies in the UK and been at number one for the last three weeks. Random Access Memories has already topped the global pre-order charts and is expected to soar to number one around the world after its release – and with it, Mr Lomas’s DIY paper masks.
Wee Waa makes a mask
The tiny Australian town of Wee Waa was chosen to launch the album in Australia, and last night more than 400 locals and fans were kitted out in Mr Lomas’s Daft Punk masks to count down to 17 May.
The band has been drip-feeding videos from the town, artwork and interviews in the run-up to Friday’s launch.
One teaser (see above) features Wee Waa school children and teachers busting some Daft Punk moves while wearing Mr Lomas’s signature masks – and all to a soundtrack of the duo’s Get Lucky single.
History of helmets
Daft Punk have been hiding behind their helmets ever since they arrived on the music scene. In the late 90s, they began performing with simple Hallowe’en style masks, but as the band’s popularity grew, so did the scope of their helmets, which went on to feature glowing LEDs which synched with the music and the futuristic metallic visors donned for the Tron: Legacy soundtrack, scored by the duo.
This time around, they have rid themselves of the high-techery and opted for a DIY aesthetic. The masks look every bit as technologic as their predecessors. But these ones are for the masses.
“Our eldest son was in his early teens when the (2001) Discovery album came out so we lived and breathed that album,” Mr Lomas told Channel 4 News. “He’s now studying a music degree in Cambridge and I’m making masks for Daft Punk! It’s a strange and glorious world we live in, isn’t it?”
A sprinkling of global celebrity stardust can work wonders for British start-up, as Cumbrian company The Sporting Lodge knows only too well. One of its canvas bags, worth £225, was worn by Ben Affleck’s character in the Bafta-winning film Argo. The production team called the company with a brief for a hard-wearing bag, suitable for a CIA agent, and online sales have since soared.
After a weekend of celebrations for one of the year’s most celebrated new albums, Steve Lomas, and Make-a-Mask, is looking forward to the same.