Richard Kiely Photography
You might be wondering why we’ve had no What’s Conkin? monthly feature brought to you by our dearest friends found in Conquistadors. We ourselves have had to be quiet regarding the issue until it all sorted itself out.
In the industry you are always, ALWAYS going to cross paths with a name you wish you hadn’t. With somebody who has more money than sense, somebody who will stop at no lengths to be ahead of someone else. Somebody who jumps on the band wagon, see’s how successful somethings going and decides to do the same- seamlessly getting more support over somebody that works incredibly hard whilst working for their ego’s not the passion.
Our lovely Conquistadors, four very talented men and four genuinely amazing individuals had just that. We were privileged to meet the talent during their gig with Tera Melos at Stone Cold Jane Austen’s launch night in Birmingham last year- since then we’ve met up with them at various gigs and kept a close eye on the band’s work- to the extent we got them writing for us!- So it’s disheartening when you hear of something blocking an outlet for musicians work- and that happened to Conquistadors when they found themselves being threatened with lawsuits regarding an LA based artist’s working name also of ‘Conquistadors’. The whole thing is ridiculous- the Birmingham 4 piece didn’t steal their name from some magician man?! they didn’t conflict any interests and lets be honest they weren’t playing shows on the same bill together just to piss the other guy off. However the four men did the right thing and decided to move on which suited all in the end. They decided to move on with their musical journey and introduce a new moniker.
A sad day in the Circuit Sweet office as Conquistador’s is laid to rest. But out of the ashes comes a stronger, promising band with musicians who are eager to impress, under a new name with a new outlook. We introduce you to Mount Fuji.
Mount Fuji are four friends from Birmingham making music without boundaries.
Formerly Conquistadors, the unfortunate trademarking of their name by another performer meant having to start over.
But following a brief hiatus they’re back with their eclectic tastes and unstructured style intact, making for high-energy, catchy songs that can be infectious pop one second and hellish noise the next.
From headlining shows to supporting Tera Melos, Shapes, Blacklisters, &U&I, The JCQ, Kong and Blakfish as well as countless other distinguished and hardworking bands, Conks – as they were affectionately known – leave behind a memorable legacy. Mount Fuji now aim to build on the solid fan base they gathered under their previous guise.
Currently halfway through the writing stage of their debut full-length, Mount Fuji return to playing live armed with an arsenal of fresh material.
For those unaware the four piece consist of Adam Jaremko – Guitar, Andy Palmer – Drums, James Sharp – Guitar/Vocals and Oz Powles – Bass.
In May last year the band released their 7 track EP under their old name. The EP titled “On Tape” has received some great press- something you can look forward to from new recordings from Mount Fuji:
‘The effort highlights more maturity following previous releases; priding itself on catchy verses, stop start riffs, punchy guitars, enticing basslines, bold beats and overall a diverse collection of harmonious hits.’- Circuit Sweet
‘On Tape EP’, have created simply a musical masterpiece in its ingenuity and inventiveness.’ –RockPulse Magazine
“The real gloriousness to be found within their music is their playfulness, their inventiveness. It is in the sheer scale of these four musicians’ imagination that any glory can be found.” –Reviewage.net
“Part experimental Prog-Rock, part Lo-Fi sound explosion, all of it gloriously noisy, the band are not afraid to play around with new sounds and new ideas. If anything, they are just afraid of sounding like anyone else…. If you like music that’s not afraid to push entire post offices full of envelopes, this could well be the band for you.” BBC.co.uk
Mount Fuji are to make an explosive welcome onto the live scene with their first gig under that name supporting This Town Needs Guns at the Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath on 23rd October. – With any luck we will be reporting from that gig.
Now we urge you to get their new venture heard. Tell your friends Mount Fuji is to be believed in.
Follow them all over the internet and show them your support
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