Banx & Ranx are a Canadian music duo: producers, songwriters and remixers formed in 2014 in Montreal, Canada. They are an Electronic Caribbean Music Group and production team. The team was founded in 2014 by Soke (Producer / Artist & Dj ) and KNY Factory (Producer / Artist & DJ) in Montreal Canada. The idea was born with the strong desire to make a hybrid sound between Jamaican music, Pop music elements and Electronic Dance Music.
Members are Soké whose real name is Zacharie Raymond and KNY Factory with the real name Yannick Rastogi. KNY was born in the French-Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. He’s half Indian, half French Canadian. From an early age KNY was embedded in the island’s dancehall culture, while Soke—who has produced dozens of albums for Montreal’s French hip-hop scene—grew up in the countryside outside the city. Both founders share a love for the 3 distinct sounds but were never able to perfect the blend before working together. This was what formed Banx & Ranx.
In 2015 Banx & Ranx sent one of their beats to Taio Cruz, who then wrote the topline to what was to become Olly Murs’ hit single ‘Kiss Me’. This garnered their production success in the UK and have since been working with Sean Paul, Tinie Tempah, Ella Eyre, Dua Lipa and Lady Leshurr to name a few.
Their second single ‘Time Bomb’ (featuring Lady Leshurr) was released in May 2017 and their hit single, “Answerphone” dropped in 2018. Their work with other artists has included two remixes for Gorillaz, production and co-writing on Sean Paul’s “Crick Neck” which featured on the soundtrack to the Usain Bolt documentary I Am Bolt; production on Afrobeat musician Fuse ODG’s track “Window Seat”; and production and co-writing credits on Nicky Jam’s Fénix, which was nominated for Album of the Year at the Latin Grammy Awards.
Banx & Ranx also remixed David Guetta’s “Dirty Sexy Money” track featuring Afrojack, Charli XCX and French Montana.
Banx & Ranx released the song “Answerphone” with Ella Eyre featuring Yxng Bane in 2018. The song they are best known for. It’s their hit single. They also released the song “Genius – Banx & Ranx Remix” together with LSD (a psychedelic supergroup and collaboration with Labrinth, Sia and Diplo) in 2018.
FACTS
– According to Banx & Ranx “People may know us for our main Caribbean sound but we have separate folders for the different genres of beats.”
– When it comes to the music, Banx & Ranx has been said to resemble a modern version of Major Lazer
– How “Answerphone” came into being according to them: In November 2017, they went for an afternoon session in London. There were five of them in the studio; after listening to Nigerian music, “then the afro-beat materialized” in their words. They thought about a guitar line, a verse, a bridge, a chorus and the song was completed by early evening.
– For Banx & Ranx it’s always been about doing something creative, whether together or individually. So whether it was illustrating or making music they knew they just had to create something, anything.
