Jack Glass and Chris Stacey are two music nerds who went to the same high school and hung out during orchestra and choir practice. A couple years after school, the two began sharing and discussing their love of music while other friends were starting up a club night in Sydney called “Bang Gang.” Glass and Stacey would get drunk and hang with Gus (label head/Prince Fingers), Beni & the rest of the Bang Gang crew which sparked the duo’s interest in club music.

Jack Glass – which I hope is his real name, it sounds like it belongs to a crime fighter – answered a few questions of mine after their set at a bizarre and highly entertaining frat party gig.

How was your first frat party?

It was awesome man! something completely different, and we’re always up for that. diggin that natty light.

I heard from a friend you guys were done with makin’ “bangers.” Is this true? What’s your idea of banger?

Yeah, I guess it depends what you mean by banger. I think we’re done with making heavy, noisy club music but I think most people are kinda over that anyway. But then again I can think of plenty of house tracks I’d call bangers that we dig big time.

From an outsider’s perspective are you finding that the U.S. is warming up to the OZ style of dance music?

It’s hard to say. I guess we can only speak from our own experience and in that sense, yeah, it seems like we are slowly building up steam here. It’s different for us playing here to back home. I supposed we’re used to bigger shows in australia so right now it feels like we’re trying to spread the gospel over here.

Do Australian girls think American accents are hot?

What kind of american accent we talking about here? Californian? Southern? Might depend on exactly where the bro is from.

Speaking of aussie girls, who’s the babe in the sunlight vid and is she taken?

I think she’s russian actually. The clip is made by two frenchies – fleur and manu – stars a russian actor and was shot in thailand. So pretty cosmopolitan! It’s also made by australians with an english vocalist who lives in paris. Woah.

What upcoming 2011 releases are you guys psyched about?

Keen to hear the new Justice. Also keen for the new Van She and Presets stuff to come out. I’m hearing rumours that this could finally be the year the Avalanches album comes out too!

Were there any main players helping to produce the album or was it mainly a DIY job?

Totally DIY. All done in our Sydney studio. I mean we recorded some vocals in other studios, but the rest is all us.

Are you already working on album #2? If so what will it sound like compared to the debut?

We had a few jam sessions before we came on tour. I think we’ll both try and work a little while we’re on the road too. I’m pretty excited to get back into the studio for real. But right now that feels like a long way away with all the touring we’ve got coming up.

You probably get asked this in every interview but why the name “Bag Raiders”?

Yes we do… It’s from a mix CD we did ages and ages ago. We called the cd bag raiders and the name just stuck.

Was your journey to the top a quick one or a long time coming?

Are we at the top? Don’t think we’re quite there yet. So far everything has felt pretty easy, pretty natural which is a good way to be.

Was there a particular show or meeting that lead to Bag Raiders signing with Modular?

We had meetings obviously but there was no real moment I could pin point. I think the big change was that we decided we wanted to make an album. Before “Shooting Stars,” we’d just been making club music, techno. I think that song made us want to write more lyrics, go a bit more pop and from that point an album became the obvious next option.

You’ve had a lot of great artists remix your work over the years. Which is your favorite?

For me the best remixes are this last bunch we got for “Sunlight.” The Armand Van Helden is fire; Tiedye, so, so nice and the Gloves kills it. Best package we’ve ever got for sure.

Any new talent you’ve been digging that deserves more attention?

There’s a whole bunch of amazing dance music going on in Australia… Cassian, Shazam, Prince Fingers, Knightlife. On a more band tip Tim and Jean are a dope young band from Perth who are worth a listen.

Why do you think a lot of Australian dance pioneers (specifically from the 2k7 golden year) are learning toward a softer alt-rock approach? I’m thinking specifically of new Cut Copy and Midnight Juggernauts releases but this trend seems to be spreading to a lot of similar artists.

I couldn’t say why but I notice the trend too. There seems to be more of an emphasis on melodic music, music to listen to as well as party too. I’m all for it but hanging out at ultra the other day I saw the crowd going most mental for Afrojack and Skrillex, stuff like that. So music like that still has plenty of fans too.

Bag Raiders are about to go on tour again, supporting Ellie Goulding in the US. Check here to see if your city is one of the lucky ones.

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