Montreal hit-makers Banx & Ranx break down 5 of their biggest hits

Zacharie "Soké" Raymond and Yannick "KNY Factory" Rastogi understand the value of crediting everyone who worked on a song. The Montreal duo better known as Banx & Ranx have performed almost every behind-the-scenes task you can imagine: songwriting, producing, engineering, mixing and even A&R as the heads of their own label, 31 East. 

When CBC Music sat down with the recent Juno-nominated act to discuss some of their biggest hits to date, they made sure to list as many people involved in a session as possible. "It's important to credit everybody," Raymond explains. "Usually people only know about the artists and sometimes the producer, but there are so many people involved in the creation process — everybody deserves their credit, you know?" 

It is perhaps that urge to acknowledge the collective, and to embrace many different styles of collaboration, that has held Banx & Ranx back from becoming a household name yet. But if you listen to their music over the years, a signature sound quickly emerges: bouncing beats, dynamic guitar riffs and a melting pot of African and Caribbean influences, drawing from Afrobeats, dancehall and more. (Rastogi is from the French-Caribbean island of Guadeloupe; Raymond started off making reggae and dancehall music before Banx & Ranx. "It's really part of our DNA," Raymond notes.) 

They've lent their production and songwriting skills to some of the world's biggest artists including Sean Paul, Nicky Jam, Dua Lipa and K-Pop girl group Twice. But a 2022 partnership between 31 East and Universal Music Canada helped Banx & Ranx focus more on homegrown musicians, with the duo signing and developing fellow Juno-nominated acts Preston Pablo and Rêve. "There's just so much talent here," Raymond says, "and we want to help build a structure for artists who might not get much of a chance. It's really hard to make it in this business. We came from nothing, and we want to give back, and I think it's important to have an impact on the market where you live." Rastogi adds that helping artists find success in Canada "shows that you can actually stay in Canada and do stuff for Canada, and eventually for the world."

Ahead of the 2023 Juno Awards, where Banx & Ranx are up for three awards (single of the year for Preston Pablo's "Flowers Need Rain"; breakthrough group of the year and Jack Richardson producer of the year) and will perform alongside Pablo and Rêve, we spoke to the duo about five of their biggest and most important songs.  

'Flowers Need Rain,' Preston Pablo, Banx & Ranx

Raymond: There was a music producer [in Ottawa] that I met once; I didn't really know him, but he knew our work. He met a girl and then decided to move back to her hometown of Timmins, Ont. Really randomly, he reached out and said, "My friend works at this restaurant with this guy who knows a guy who sings pretty well." He said that he didn't have the skills to take on his music because he was more into trap and hip-hop, but he was like, "You guys make pop music so maybe you'd be interested." So he sent me a YouTube video [of Preston Pablo], and I was blown away.

He recorded a freestyle in the forest and that's how "Flowers Need Rain" came out. I saw that and was like, "Yo, we need to finish this," and he was like, "Oh, it was just an improv!" But I said, "No, no, no — Yannick, we need to get on this!" He came to Montreal, and we finished it all together.

Rastogi: On the writing side of things, we started with some verses that we wrote with Preston, but something was off. So, Sara Diamond, a really talented Canadian songwriter, helped unlock the verses. And the guitar was replayed by Clément Langlois-Légaré from a band called Clay and Friends. 

Raymond: We actually kept the demo vocals [from that Instagram post]. We just loved the energy behind it, and it's really hard to recreate. We tried and, after 25 years of experience, you learn that usually the first take is the best one, even if there are some imperfections. So as a piece of advice to other artists and producers, don't underestimate that first, imperfect take.

'Answerphone,' Ella Eyre feat. Yxng Bane 

Rastogi: We linked up [with Ella Eyre] because of our management. They were hooking up sessions for us in the U.K., and Ella was on a list of people we wanted to work with.

Raymond: We wanted to experiment with Afrobeats and those kinds of rhythmic patterns; everybody was on the same page with the direction that we wanted to take it in. We started with some drums, which we now realize were not exactly authentic, but that's OK. And then [Jacob Manson of the Bristol house duo Blonde] came up with the guitar riff that made the song really come to life. And [British artist Shakka] came up with the melody for the chorus. It went pretty fast, and the funny thing was that we were running two sessions at the same time so we were running back and forth in different rooms. Our laptop was overheating so we had major technical issues. We couldn't really play back what we were recording so we just had to trust the process.

Rastogi: We started the session around noon and finished around 8 p.m. When we finally managed to hear the song back, we were like, "Oh my God, this is huge."

'Kiss and Make Up,' Dua Lipa feat. Blackpink 

Rastogi: Dua Lipa was big, but not as big as today, obviously. This was a session in London in 2016. We started the beat in Montreal with some friends, and made the song with Dua and [songwriter Chelcee Grimes]. We didn't hear back from them for two years, I think. And then finally they wanted to release the record, and then all of a sudden, for the repackaging of the album, they wanted to have Blackpink on it. 

[K-Pop songwriter and producer Teddy Park] came in and translated some of the lyrics that were already there. I believe it was the second verse because the original track has Dua Lipa on two verses. We're the only ones who have the version with two Dua verses, I don't think anyone else does.

Raymond: We were definitely very happy with that decision because Korea is a market that we want to tap into, and since then we've had some good opportunities. It's crazy because it's one of our most-streamed songs, but I think it's been really underrated. Like there was no promotion; I think there was just one post on Instagram.

'Lie to Me,' Alessia Cara 

Rastogi: The original song didn't sound like this at all. We made a version that was more funk and groove-driven, but I don't think it was fitting with the album. We did the original songwriting, chords and everything in Montreal, and then Boi-1da, Don Mills and YogiTheProducer jumped in and put it more in a format that would fit with the album, but still kept the musicality of it. But the session was great; Alessia is a really talented artist and she's super nice. We spent two days together and made two tracks; the other one didn't make the cut.

Raymond: We often bring artists out of their comfort zones, but we always make sure to stay as true as possible to their sound. It's always a balance. Alessia was really open to exploring new things, and we really enjoyed having the freedom to do that.

Rastogi: At the end of the day, it's not our song. It's like, you can have kids but you can't really decide stuff for your kids. You can try to give them tools and push them toward a certain direction, but in the end, you can't really control the trajectory. And I guess that's the same for music. A Banx & Ranx record is different, we have way more control and obviously we have to be pleased with the record. But when you do stuff for artists, it's a different ball game. There are so many cooks in the kitchen, from labels to managers, so you just have to swallow your pride sometimes and just say it is what it is.

'CTRL + ALT + DEL,' Rêve

Rastogi: Of all the songs you mentioned, this was my favourite one to make.

Raymond: Yeah, it was a fun day. It was not easy, though. We started with a bunch of ideas, and when you struggle, one idea will lead to another one, then another one, and then you take stuff out and you end up with something you didn't have in the beginning. It's a chain of events.

Rastogi: But that almost didn't happen for us in that session. We almost called it a day. Rêve started off recording a high, almost Middle Eastern melody and we made some chords to put underneath. It was a dark song, originally. But we kept the lead-up to the chorus where the bass comes in. And then we transformed the vocals from the chorus into a saxophone chorus just because the melody was like, super cheeky and annoying.

Raymond: That's what we call an earworm. We wanted it to sound super cheesy.

Simu Liu is back to host the 2023 Juno Awards on Monday, March 13, at 8 p.m. ET. Tune in on CBC, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One and CBC Listen, and stream globally on cbcmusic.ca/junos.