Jack Glass of Bag Raiders on Latest Song ‘Checkmate’ and Songs That Will Appear on Their Sophomore Album

Matt Matasci

With anticipation growing for the release of Bag Raiders’ long-awaited sophomore full-length album later this year, the duo from Australia has hit the road on a North American tour. While it has been six years since the electronic group released their self-titled debut, Jack Glass and Chris Stracey have kept quite busy. A couple of three-song EPs were released in 2015 entitled “Waterfalls” and “Friend Inside” and earlier this month, the band released yet another extended player called “Checkmate.” Jack took the time to talk to Entertainment Voice about the set lists on their tour, the band’s evolution and their creative process.

As your third EP in two years, how do the songs on “Checkmate” compare to “Friends Inside” and “Waterfalls?”

I think it’s similar in following down that same path of us being more of a “band” and having more of an “indie” feel, I suppose. We are making music that’s danceable as opposed to dance music. More focused on the actual songwriting side of things.

The EP’s title track features vocals from Benjamin Joseph of SAFIA. How did this collaboration come about?

Well we were looking for a vocalist on the track and we had a few people in mind and then we asked him to try it out. And we said this is it, this guy’s the one. He nailed it the best, understood it the best. We were really happy with it.

With your second LP expected to be released later in 2016, how has Bag Raiders’ sound evolved over the last six years?

I think it’s like I was saying before, we are trying to be more band-focused. We play a lot more of the instruments live, we sing a lot more of the stuff ourselves. “Checkmate” is the one exception. Everything else is me and Chris doing the vocals. We’ve gone in the direction of more songwriting and crafting songs. More band-focused and less club-focused. Less about breakdowns and more about writing good lyrics.

I was just about to ask you about lyrics! Many electronic artists are known for putting more emphasis on setting a theme or mood with the music itself than through lyricism. When you write, how much importance is placed on getting across a message or feeling with the lyrics?

Yeah, it’s very important to us. That’s not where we started from of course. But it is fun for us, it’s challenging. It’s not second-fiddle for us. It is as important as the music and we take a lot of time to try to make it right.

Can we expect any of the tracks from “Checkmate,” “Friends Inside,” “Waterfalls” or older EPs to appear on the upcoming full-length album?

Yeah, I think just the title track of each EP will be on it. And then the rest will only be on the EPs. There’s going to be eight or nine new tracks, which is pretty exciting for us. Having gone so long with no new music out there [it seems like] a lot coming in a short amount of time and it’s a good feeling.

You’ve remixed many well-known artists like Kid Sister, The Ting Tings and Banks. How do you decide which artists or songs you would like to remix?

Generally, people ask us or send us something, and we just decide whether we can do something cool with it, you know? Whether we have a good idea for a direction to take it or whether the vocals . . . if you set them in a different context and make it really cool. So if we get something we really like and can do something with it, it’s basically about whether we have a spark of an idea and then we’re like alright let’s do it.

With most of your North American tour in the books, can fans expect your set to be weighted toward your newest material or will you mix in tracks from your self-titled debut?

There’s definitely still [older] tracks. We play maybe five songs from the old album, all the favorites. It’s a good blend of old and new and I think people have been responding well to it ― to both the new and the old stuff. It’s really encouraging for us.

Does your new approach change the way those older songs sound?

They probably sound a bit different now. We have a live drummer now so that’s a big change and yeah with the instrumentation it’s different and a little more live sounding. But I think that’s good, it brings its own sort of energy to the show, which I think is important. Better than a song repeated the exact same way – [the audience] wants to feel you doing it there for them live. It can be raw and you can go wrong and there might be mistakes here and there but there’s an energy that makes people get into it.

Catch the Bag Raiders when they play at The El Rey April 1. Find tickets here.