EXCLUSIVE: Bag Raiders Don't Know How The 'Shooting Stars' Meme Started, But They're Here For It

Internet memes going viral are not uncommon, but internet memes that get you on the US music charts are a whole other thing. 

Thanks to one particular meme featuring their 2009 hit song, Shooting Stars, Bag Raiders have emerged on a bunch of charts in America and the Sydney duo are hoping to keep the momentum going. 

Speaking to The Music on Friday, Bag Raiders' Chris Stracey said he wasn't aware the song had made the US Billboard charts until it was reported.

"I'd seen that we had been on, like, viral charts on Spotify and stuff like that, but I hadn’t seen Billboard," Stracey said.

"That's pretty insane."

Despite never cracking the US charts before, Shooting Stars is now featured in three of the dance charts, while Bag Raiders' 2010 album has also made it's debut on the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart to land at #15. 

The classic tune has also appeared in the UK's Download Top 100 Singles chart at #82 over the weekend after debuting at #87 last week.

Stracey says that he, nor band mate Jack Glass, have any idea how the meme started, but after seeing the hugely popular Lady Gaga version of the trending meme, he knew they had something big on their hands. 

"That's been one really cool thing out of it," he explained.

"When I first started seeing it pop up like that I was like, oh no, here we go, we're the new Rick Rolled or something like that, people are gonna be really annoyed by it.

"But it's actually been the opposite. We've found that lots of people are just discovering us for the first time, which is so awesome.

"We're always working on new music. It's a nice thing to have eyes on the project so when it's time to release the next thing, then people are aware."

Given that Shooting Stars climbed an impressive 11 spots on one particular dance chart, there is every chance that it could eventually get to #1 on multiple lists.

"It's so cool to see that kind of thing because it’s been a funny song for us," Stracey said.

"Obviously it's been a favourite for lots of people and every now and again it pops up…"

Fellow Sydney dance act Empire Of The Sun enjoyed similar success last year when their 2008 song, Walking On A Dream, made its debut on the US charts last year, thanks to it being featured in a car commercial.

That success scored them a spot on Ellen, so there's no reason why Bag Raiders couldn't achieve the same feat.

"That would be pretty good," Stracey laughed.