The Waves at Night crew thought we would catch up with the crazy kids over at the Bag Raiders camp to talk about their upcoming EP release, current remixes and ceral variety packs. Here’s what Jack Sabbath (Brainzar from the B. Raiders) had to say…
WAV: Firstly, how did you both meet?
BRAINZAR: We went to the same school. I was a year above Chris but we used to hang out and smoke cigarettes during breaks in orchestra practice.
WAV: What was your inspiration to start producing your own music?
BRAINZAR: We both got into computers and computer music while we were still at school. When we started out we used to listen to lots of Autechre, Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin… Warp records stuff basically. So i guess we started trying to emulate bands like that. It wasn’t until later on that we really got into dance music.
WAV: Which artists are you influenced by today?
BRAINZAR: Fred Falke, Soulwax, ELO, Pilot, Picasso, Nate Danja Hands, Cool & Dre, Jeezy, Weezy, MIyazaki, you know… Little Richard, TLC, Keisha Cole, Nat King Cole, Old King Cole, Coleplay etc etc
WAV: Do you each have individual roles when your working on a new track or remix?
BRAINZAR: I do all the production work and Chris mainly cleans the studio and brings me coffees while i work. haha. No seriously… we both work pretty hands on on everything. It’s not like we have roles like Chris plays all the keyboards or Chris do the drums of whatever. We’re just like everybody do everything. Feel the love
WAV: How did you guys come about collaborating with the Fools Gold label?
BRAINZAR: By the mighty power of the internet. A-Trak hit us up a year or so ago before he came out and we went down to his show and met him and then we just kept in contact on the email etc.
WAV: I’ve noticed from listening to your mixtapes and hearing about your recent guest vocalist for the new EP that you include a lot of hip hop tracks. Is Hip Hop a genre that you’ve always been interested in?
BRAINZAR: Yeah in one way or another. We’ve always been listeners that’s for sure. Recently we’ve also been dabblers. It’s always good to be doing different stuff so things are always fresh. Like a variety pack of cereal. Hip hop = Nutra Grain, Dance music = Coco Pops, Free Jazz = Fruit Loops, Rock Music = Sultana Bran… We’ll definitely keep on doing hip hop stuff when we can.
WAV: Did you ever expect Fun Punch to be as big as it is?
BRAINZAR: Nope. It’s been pretty sweet. The internet and radio has been kind to us…
WAV: The video for Fun Punch is terrific, was that an idea that you guys always have been working on for a while and will the story continue with your next single?
BRAINZAR: Not really and no i don’t think so. The clip was kind of one of those chance things that worked out good for everyone. It was masterminded by our good friend Beaufort. We didn’t have a huge deal to do with it’s making except for the extensive acting classes and hours and hours of shooting we did til we got that shit just right.
WAV: Apart from your own tracks being spun like crazy in clubs around the world your remixes for such artists as K.I.M, Kid Sister, Muscles and The Valentinos have also proven very popular amongst dj’s and punters. Are you working on any new remixes at the moment?
BRAINZAR: We just did some remixes for ZZZ and Cut Copy. There’s a teenagersintokyo remix waiting in the wings too.
WAV: What can the kids expect from your upcoming second EP release?
BRAINZAR: Some of it’s quite different. There’s a guest vocalist on one track and some talkbox mumbling on another. I think as a whole there’s some gear for the club as well as some gear for the loungeroom. We’re pretty happy with it so hopefully people dig it.
WAV: I’m pretty excited to witness the new ‘Live’ Bag Raiders experience for the Parklife shows, what tricks have you got up your sleeves for us?
BRAINZAR: Hmmm… that’s something we’re working on right now. We’re still waiting to get our pyrotechnics license. But hopefully the finale is going to involve us setting fire to our keyboards and playing the Fun Punch lead with our wangs.
WAV: What was the most bizzare thing that has happened at one of your gigs?
BRAINZAR: One time they made us stop in the middle of the set and pulled a name out of a barrel and someone won a used car. That was pretty weird.
WAV: And finally, do you raid many bags these days??
BRAINZAR: Not as many as we used to. These days it’s mostly grocery bags.
MP3: Harris Robotis - Beat on the Street (The Bag Raiders Row Harder Re-Boot)
