“Monday to Friday we are in the studio from about 11 in the morning until dinner time and then on the weekends we got and do DJ shows. It’s not every weekend but we will do mini-tours where we will do like eight shows in a month – two every weekend – around a section of the states, have a break and then do another part. It is such a big country.” Glass trails off before putting exactly what he means into context: “In Australia you can do Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth and if you’re lucky you can some of the regionals as well, but in America there are so many major cities that you have city after city within a two hour drive of one another so you can tour for lot,” he concludes.
In June, Bag Raiders released their first single in almost two years entitled Nairobi. This song is upbeat with the same world music flavours that were hinted at on the song Snakecharmer from the act’s 2011 debut. However the Nairobi’s crisp and superior production seems to set it apart from Bag Raider’s previous work, implying Glass and Stracey have found a production sweet spot in LA.
“We have a studio together in Silverlake which is a really nice suburb,” Glass explains. “We both have separate apartments, Chris and I, and every day we go to the studio together. It’s cool because a friend of ours has a garage that we rent from him that we carpeted the floor of and bought our synthesisers in and set up a studio.”
The synergy Bag Raiders have achieved in the US had its ground work laid firmly in Australia, with the act’s recording career beginning in 2007 with the certified floor-filler Fun Punch and follow-up single Turbo Love following it later that year. Both tracks were on the Bag Raiders EP Bang Gang Recordshad put out that year. Combine this with a slew of remixes for electro luminaries like Cut Copy, Muscles, Headman and Bag Raiders were quickly becoming revered producers and DJs. However it wasn’t until 2009’s Shooting Stars that the act became regarded as artists in their own right. Off the back of Shooting Stars being regarded the best Australian dance release of the summer came the act’s triumphant self-titled debut album in 2010.
“We went on the road for years – we did about two years of touring – and that was crazy because up until then we had done everything in the studio,” says Glass. “We had never been ‘laptop guys’ – we didn’t even have laptops at that stage. So we didn’t really do any writing until we had finished touring so we sat down to do a new record in 2012 and really that’s what we have been doing until now.
“We came over to Los Angeles which we though would be cool for about three months to do some songwriting and we got really heavy and deep into it and we decided that we shouldn’t go home until we finish the record,” laughs Glass with a self-effacing glow as they are yet to return from the States.
“LA has always been pretty good for us musically, we have always done pretty well over here since the first record and that has been really cool,” he continues. “We have always had good crowds over here. We’ve played a couple of festivals here in California that have been really good for us. But I would say that it’s a big pond over here for sure and we are certainly not big fish but it is a good atmosphere for electronic music because there is a lot of events going on all the time. We tour around America a lot. We just did San Diego and San Francisco last week with Bondax from the UK and they were sold-out shows and we have New York and Chicago coming up before we head to Australia for the summer.”
It’s clear from Glass’s above descriptions that Bag Raiders are doing well in America have grown as an act. However, their home country is still very special to them with Glass and Stracey returning home each Summer since the move to visit their families for Christmas and also get in some shows like their appearance this New Year’s Eve at Beyond The Valley.
“We’re pretty lucky that we get to come home when the weather is best and everybody feels like partying,” states Glass.
A song of Bag Raiders that punters at BTV will be salivating for the act to drop will be their aforementioned certified hit from 2009 Shooting Stars. Glass acknowledges the reality of having a hit song that has to be played every set or the audience will be pissed-off: “We have played it a million times,” acknowledges Glass with warm yet slightly embarrassed chuckle. “I do have a soft spot for it you know, it’s the gift that keeps on giving… It always goes off so I feel good about it. Just seeing that reaction from people for this song is what feeds us to keep doing what we’re doing.”
BY DENVER MAXX
