The brainchild of Grammy winning producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter
André Allen Anjos,
RAC (short for Remixers Artist Collective) was initially known as a prolific remixer before creating uplifting, anthemic electro-pop originals. On his hundreds of remixes of songs by artists spanning
Lana Del Rey,
U2,
ODESZA, and
Bob Marley,
Anjos takes a distinctive approach: Instead of grafting dance beats on them, he reinvents them with new instrumentation. On
RAC's own albums, such as 2014's
Strangers,
Anjos' collaborators are nearly as varied and include
Tegan and Sara,
Weezer's
Rivers Cuomo, and
Jamie Lidell. With 2020's
BOY,
Anjos introduced a more reflective side to
RAC as he looked back on his years of making music.
Born in Portugal to an American mother and Portuguese father who worked as missionaries,
Anjos frequently felt torn between his nationalities and turned to music to express himself. He studied piano and guitar while growing up near Porto, and played in various metal bands while absorbing the music of
Nirvana,
Paul Simon, and
Fleetwood Mac. He started experimenting with production and recording at age 15 and continued to pursue music in the States.
While studying music business at Illinois' Greenville College, founded
RAC in January 2007. Initially, the project also included Seattle's Aaron Jasinski and Netherlands-based remixer
Chris "Crookram" Angelovski; later additions to the collective included
Andrew Maury, a remixer/producer/engineer out of Brooklyn, and Portland's Karl Kling, with whom
Anjos founded the electro-rock band the Pragmatic. Eventually,
Anjos became
RAC's sole member. The project's first official remix was a reworking of
the Shins' "Sleeping Lessons," which the group included as the B-side of the U.K. single "Australia" in April 2007. From there,
RAC worked with
Surfer Blood,
Foster the People, and
Bloc Party, among others, and in 2008 the music website Stereogum released a collection of
Anjos and company's work to date. That year also saw the release of their first EP, Nintendo vs. Sega.
Anjos began releasing original
RAC songs in 2012, starting with the single "Hollywood," which featured
Penguin Prison's
Chris Glover. After signing to Cherrytree Records, in October 2013
RAC released the Don't Talk To EP, which included "Hollywood" and "Let Go," a collaboration with
MNDR and
Bloc Party's
Kele. Featuring collaborations with
Tokyo Police Club and
Tegan and Sara,
RAC's debut album,
Strangers, was initially released as two EPs early in 2014; it arrived as a full-length that April.
RAC continued a busy release schedule in 2015, releasing the
Master Spy soundtrack as well as a slew of singles that included the
Little Boots collaboration "Magic Hour" and "Back of the Car," which featured Nate Henricks and spawned a remix collection that arrived that October. In 2016,
RAC was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non Classical for a reworking of
ODESZA's "Say My Name." The following year, he won the Grammy in that category for his remix of
Bob Moses' "Tearing Me Up."
In July 2017,
Anjos released
RAC's second full-length,
EGO, which featured collaborations with artists including
Rivers Cuomo,
St. Lucia,
Classixx, and
MNDR. That year also saw the release of
Linkin Park's final album
One More Light, on which
Anjos contributed production work. In 2018, he composed music for Closer, a production by the Oregon Ballet Theatre. He returned to
RAC in 2020, first with a cover of
Third Eye Blind's "Never Let You Go" featuring
Matthew Koma and
Hilary Duff that was released on Valentine's Day, and then in May with his third full-length
BOY. Three years in the making, the album reflected on childhood and maturity and featured
Phil Good,
Louis The Child, and
Gothic Tropic.~ Heather Phares