[1] Despite the group's African origins, they are mostly based in New York City.
[2] They were formed in 2007 when Maï Lingani (vocals), Wende K. Blass (guitar), Kurt Dahlke (electronics), and Lukas Ligeti (drummer) created the band for a tour of Austria.
Lingani and Blass are from Burkina Faso, Dahlke (also known as Pyrolator) is from Düsseldorf, Germany, and Ligeti is from Austria.
[3] They released an EP called "Reem Tekre" in 2007 on the Atatak label.
[4] It was described as "fierce" by Richard Gehr in Spin,[6] and as "a sleek, kinetic album" by Nate Chinen.