Fuji Rock preview: Confidence Man + 5 other acts to see

It’s been a huge year for Australian electro-pop outfit Confidence Man. After releasing their third album, 3AM (La La La), in October 2024, they have toured the UK, Ireland, Canada and the US, including a DJ set at Coachella’s Do LaB stage. Now, following the release of the remix album 5 AM (La La La), they’re heading to Japan. Ahead of their appearance at Fuji Rock, we caught up with vocalists Janet Planet and Sugar Bones to hear more about what they’ve been up to and what to expect from their set.

3AM (La La La) is your first album since moving to London in May 2023. How has the move influenced your writing?

Janet Planet: Being exposed to the music culture here [in the UK] definitely shaped it. Even touring here a few years ago, I remember seeing [British electronic duo] Orbital. I was like, ‘Who are these dudes?’ That was part of the reason we wanted to move here in the first place, hanging out with all these people doing amazing stuff that doesn’t really make sense in Australia. There’s not that connection to rave culture back home.

Sugar Bones: Day-to-day life here [in London] is just so much more energised. There’s people everywhere and there’s just shit going on all the time. You can feel the energy that comes with that. Being in a big city gives you a boost, and that creeps into the music.

The remix album 5AM (La La La), which came out in mid-April, has remixes from American artists like Fcukers and Australian artists like King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. What influenced your choice of remix artists?

JP: The King Gizzard thing is a left-field one. We’d always been mates with those guys and seen them around, and we were kind of like, ‘They’re a bit bonkers, it would be pretty interesting to get them on a remix.’ And with the Fcukers guys, we were touring with them a lot, and we did a remix for them for [their 2024 track] ‘Bon Bon’, so it kind of made sense to do a little remix swap with them, we’re big fans.

With the rest of them, we just chose people who we love, and we wanted to see what they would do with the tracks, and the package is pretty sick. We actually had like another 20 remixes on top, so there’s a lot more where that came from.

SB: That’s a luxury to just be able to ask your dream list of producers to remix your stuff.

It’s been about five years since you were last in Japan. Is there anything that sticks out about your last visit here?

SB: Oh, we’ve just been wanting to go back the whole time. It’s just such a sick place. We fell in love with Tokyo. We were only there for a few days, but it was such a great few days. We want the food, we want the really nice people, the beautiful city. We just love everything about it, and we’ve been waiting to get back, so we’re so excited.

You’re coming back for Fuji Rock this July. What are you most excited to do while you’re here?

JP: I’m going to buy heaps of clothes. I mean, obviously I’m excited for Fuji Rock too [laughs]. I’m really excited to see a Japanese crowd. A lot of the musicians we talk to say that Japanese crowds are super rowdy. Last time, we were so early in our career that we probably didn’t fully experience what that crowd is like. So we’re excited to get over there and throw down.

SB: We’ve got a plan, which is to get our label management to let us film a clip over there. So we want to spend a week there, in Tokyo or nearby.

JP: We have a Japanese-inspired song, so that’s why we want to video it there. It’s one of two songs that we have for the new album.

What should people expect from your Fuji Rock set?

JP: Only the regular rowdy controlled chaos. The multiple costume changes, the laser bra, lots of spilling champagne – and a few flips.

SB: Expect the unexpected because we’re definitely gonna have to turn up the show because we know Japan loves a proper performance. We will be putting our backs into it, that’s for sure.

Fuji Rock is at Naeba Ski Resort, July 25–27.