afghan raiders

AFGHAN RAIDERS are about to storm a dance floor near you. Alt-electro marauders Afghan Raiders, lock and load pulsating synth soundscapes with massive rock ‘n’ roll melodies. The now San Francisco-based trio; Mikey Francis, Vincent ‘Beans’ Campillo, and newly added member Andrew ‘Drew’ Marcogliese, connect with audiences through each and every note. Songs like ‘If Only’ slide from woozy cybernetic verses into hypnotically melodic choruses. Falling into Afghan Raiders’ strange embrace is easy during ‘Midnight Runners’ which breaks and bends kinetic keyboards into raw distortion. Afghan Raiders are dangerous enough to make you dance. Mikey describes their enigmatic style best. “Our sound is a very unique blend of a few different genres,” he says. “There are elements of dance music, but there’s a sense of classic song structure. You can feel the rock and indie influences on the hooks.” Those hooks are what make tracks like ‘Calls From The Universe’ so infectious. It’s easy to hum along with every buoyant groove. Beans adds, “Our music is upbeat and energetic, but it’s still dark. The songs are typically about overcoming something challenging. There’s an antagonist that needs to be conquered, but there’s always a positive, uplifting ending—then everyone just dances to the end result.” Friends since high school, Mikey and Beans began making music as Afghan Raiders in late 2007. After the demise of their thrash band, Golden Ax, they retreated into an aural world all their own. Blending elements of electronic, grunge, pop, dance, and new wave, they began compulsively creating. In February 2008, they released their first song, ‘Solid Gold’, on MySpace to massive fan response, following it with ‘Future Thinkers’ a few months later. The songs came together on the ‘Future Thinkers / Solid Gold EP’ released on iTunes via Afghan Raiders’ very own Badical Beats in June 2008. With an EP out to the masses, they made their live debut opening for Broken Spindles, fronted by The Faint bassist Joel Peterson. Afghan Raiders’ first gig was nothing short of incendiary, and Peterson was so blown away that he asked the band to remix ‘Mirror Error’ for The Faint. The remix gained the attention of Spin.com and countless fans that downloaded it. Remixing soon became the second big gun in Afghan Raiders’ arsenal. Their The Black Lips remix, ‘The Drop I Hold (Featuring GZA of Wu-Tang Clan) [AR House Party Remix]‘, won Filter’s monthly remix contest, personally selected by The Black Lips. Mikey comments, “We approach every remix a little bit differently. For The Black Lips, we wanted a party feel, whereas for The Faint, we wanted to do something darker and riff-y. You can always tell it’s an Afghan Raiders remix though.” 2010 saw the addition of Afghan Raiders’ drummer Drew. “Mikey and I met in college when we were playing in various bands,” says Drew. “After school Mikey moved back to Vegas and started the Raiders, and I was touring with punk bands. In February 2010 Mikey called me, as he wanted to add another live element to the band.” Also a DJ under the moniker Yr Skull, the San Francisco based producer and drummer was the perfect third element to add to Afghan Raiders – infusing their electronic sound with a live, hard rock inspired component. As a fixture of their live shows since March 2010, Drew was also a main contributor to the band’s new EP. The band derived their sound through a love for dance punk. Bands like Death From Above 1979, Q And Not U, and The Rapture, plus modern electronic music like Animal Collective, LCD Soundsystem, and Crystal Castles have inspired Afghan Raiders’ high energy, hook filled, synth saturated disco punk. “I remember getting ‘Different Damage’ and being like ‘this is awesome,’ and asking myself ‘maybe I need to expand?’” remembers Drew. “It inspired me to change and get involved in electronic music – the creative pool we all pull from.” “There was this raw, dance-fueled energy which was always there for me,” adds Beans. “Q And Not U, At The Drive In – all have this raw energy that I love, which really contributed to the first sound.” “That was common ground for all of us,” Beans expands on. “Growing up, when I first played guitar, I learned chords – there’s this standard pop structure to songs. We grew up, got older and branched out to have more experimental taste, but it was this pop element that’s at the root of our tastes.” Between remixing and releasing music on their own, AR keep entrancing crowds all over the West Coast. They’ve rocked with everyone from Soulwax to Muse to Devo, and dazzled audiences at the hottest tastemaker parties for electronic music—Dim Mak Tuesday in Los Angeles and the famous Blow Up SF in the Bay Area. Branching out further, they put on stunning shows at CMJ and SXSW. Beans goes on, “People can let loose at our shows. We try to recreate that environment of a great dance party with sing-a-long hooks and pop songs that you get sucked in by. We want fans to leave the show wanting to come back for more.” Listeners will no doubt be back for more. Drawing their name from a line in French film Amélie, there’s a lot going on under the surface for Afghan Raiders. Mikey concludes “This new EP holds a different meaning to all of us. We were all making substantial changes to our lives; the EP reflects that – and is the launching point of the band. We’re really discovering who we are as a band now, and the new record represents that. We’re about to invade your party” “The most important theme is discovery and reinvention,” adds Beans. “We recreated the writing process, and the record reflects that, plus a lot of changes in our lives – lyrically and musically.” Watch the dance floor burn when Afghan Raiders rolls through. Electronica may never be the same. Afghan Raiders are: Mikey Francis – Vocals / Synthesizers Vincent “Beans” Campillo – Synthesizers Drew Marcogliese – Drums