Australian dance royalty Bag Raiders have been stalwarts in the electronic music community for more than a decade.
Photo Credit: Bag Raiders – Facebook
After releasing a slew of cult underground cuts (‘Fun Punch’ and ‘Turbo Love’), Jack Glass and Chris Stracey signed to dance powerhouse Modular Records and released their debut self-titled album in 2010. With that, the game changed forever. The record debuted at #7 on the official ARIA album chart, snagging nominations for ‘Best Dance Release’ (ARIA), ‘Album of the Year’ (Triple J Award), and ‘Dance Work of the Year’ (APRA). The LP featured the smash hit singles ‘Way Back Home’, ‘Sunlight’, ‘Snake Charmer’ and of course festival anthem ‘Shooting Stars’ – one of the biggest Australian dance tracks of all time. ‘Shooting Stars’ has now amassed over 4 billion online streams, achieving 32 Platinum and 7 Gold plaques worldwide and delivering a cultural impact beyond anyone’s wildest expectations.
EG caught up with Bag Raiders to learn more about their new release ‘Love Me Back’, their upcoming US tour, and more.
EG: Hi guys! Welcome to EG. It’s a pleasure to have you here with us. How have you been? Where are you right now?
Bag Raiders: Hello all. Currently in my studio in Los Angeles!
EG: First of all, congratulations on the news of your new single ‘Love Me Back’! You must be very excited to finally be able to share this one. What has the initial reception been like?
Bag Raiders: Thank you! So far it’s been great! People seem to be responding to it really well, I mean, we made the tune with the objective to make people dance and so far as that goes, it’s been mission accomplished so far!
EG: So, what can your fans expect to find on ‘Love Me Back’? How did this one come about?
Bag Raiders: Jack was in a session with Australian artists Meg Mac and Tim Ayre. They were working on something different, not for a Bag Raiders tune… I think at some point during the session, Meg had been going through her old voice notes and found something from a couple of years back which wound up on Jack’s computer. Later he was messing around with it and turned it into the vocal hook, which you hear on the tune. He sent me a session with that hook structured out into a house tune, and we had a conversation that it would be cool, instead of just having some chords under the vocal, to make it sound like we’d sampled an old soul record like the way a lot of the house music had done in the late 90s. So I laid down some guitars and violins and extra little vocal bits and made our “soul sample”, then sped it up, cut it up, and here we are!
EG: Of course, ‘Love Me Back’ is out via your own Broken Heads Records. What’s in store for the label this second half of the year?
Bag Raiders: Yes, we created the label to be able to release our club-focused records whenever we wanted to. Basically going back to the roots of the project. We wanted to reconnect with what made us excited about creating the music for Bag Raiders since the beginning, which was really just making club-focused tunes that we and our friends who DJ’d similar music could play. So expect some more dance floor heat from the label later in the year!
“We created the label to be able to release our club-focused records whenever we wanted to. Basically going back to the roots of the project”
EG: And this single comes with the official announcement of your new US tour. Congratulations! What can you anticipate on that front?
Bag Raiders: We’re pretty pumped about the idea of taking a live show out on tour again. We’re going to be spending the next couple of months building and planning the new show which is going to be a fun project. I’d say all roads point to the dance floor for this one, it might be a bit more of a “rave” than a “concert”… It’s going to be fun.
EG: What are your favorite bits of going on tour? Any cities that you’re really looking forward to?
Bag Raiders: Definitely the best part is seeing new cities and new faces. We have some favorites too. It’s always really fun to hang out in NYC and San Fran and to eat hot dogs in Chicago (laughter). Also love looking at museums and art galleries to stay inspired on the road.
EG: How do you keep entertained when not in the studio? Have you found any good books, movies, or albums lately that you’d recommend?
Bag Raiders: Mostly, I’m in the studio all the time (laughter)… But when I’m not, it’s probably early morning, when I’m hiking with my dogs in Griffith Park. I like to go on hikes and it’s also an opportunity to listen to some new records. I’ve been listening to more podcasts than records lately, apart from that I do have a great sauna playlist with lots of John Hassell in there. I’ve also been digging a record called ‘Meeting of Waters’ by Josiah Steinbrick.
“We’re going to be spending the next couple of months building and planning the new show which is going to be a fun project”
EG: What’s next for Bag Raiders? Where can your fans catch you next? What new milestones are you looking forward to in 2023?
Bag Raiders: Catch us on the road in the USA in October! We’ll also be doing some DJ gigs around Australia in August, stay tuned to us releasing more new music!
EG: Thank you for your time, guys! We’re excited to see what’s in store for you. Take care!
Bag Raiders: Thanks!!!
Bag Raiders’ ‘Love Me Back’ is out now via Broken Heads Records. Purchase your copy here.
You can learn more about Bag Raiders’ US tour and purchase your tickets here.
Follow Bag Raiders: Facebook | Instagram | Soundcloud | Spotify
