DAF

Credited by John Peel as the “grandfathers of techno”, Düsseldorf duo Deutsche Amerikanische Freundschaft (DAF) emerged out of West Germany in 1978, going on to have a lengthy if intermittent career spanning multiple decades. Despite often being associated with the German new wave movement, Neue Deutsche Welle, both original members, Gabriel Delgado-López and Robert Görl, deny that their brand of distorted, synth-focused punk and disco-inflected experimental music was ever part of NDW. The duo started life at the height of punk at the Ratinger Hof in Düsseldorf, with Gabi Delgado-López on stylophone and Robert Görl on drums. From this point, they travelled to England to work with seasoned synth player Daniel Miller and his Mute record label. Continuing to develop their synth/punk style, they were to work with Conny Plank, who had produced Kraftwerk's “Autobahn” and Neu!'s eponymous 1975 LP among others. Adding bass, guitars and drums to expand the original lineup, DAF eventually split up and went their separate ways in 1982 following the release and success – both at home and in the UK – of three albums on Virgin Records which arrived in quick succession: Alles Its Gut, Gold und Liebe and Für Immer. The duo of Görl and Delgado-López reformed briefly in 1985 to produce the more commercial 1st Step to Heaven LP, in which they sang in English. They split again that year, reforming sporadically throughout the 21st century to release various new works including the 2003 album Fünfzehn neue D.A.F.-Lieder and the 2010 single “Du bist DAF” before disbanding once more in 2015. The pair nonetheless began touring again subsequently, calling upon dance music heavyweights including Giorgio Moroder and Boys Noize for a series of 2017 remixes of their most iconic works. After making their first ever appearance in the USA in 2019, they returned in 2020 with an uptempo new single entitled “Ich denk an dich”, co-produced by Görl and Sylvie Marks.