Marcus and the Mountain

Mountain Bio:

The Mountain was formed in early 2010 by guitarist/vocalist and composer Marcus Wong. After years of playing pop music, Marcus has taken a turn back onto familiar territory, bringing back to the stage his A-list band, jaw dropping guitar playing and awe inspiring compositions. This is a band that will have you buzzing.

Having toured across this great country and much of the North Eastern States, veteran frontman Marcus leads the Mountain into the spotlight and delivers a classic and seasoned performance to the stage, every time.

If you can say anything about this group, Marcus and the Mountain is above all else, about the music. Central to the band's ethos is that the music must speak for itself, convince you that there is something greater within.

The composition style is deep and intense, articulate, but also raw. The melodies, be they ornate and elegant, or plain and simple, always appear before a tapestry of undeniable energy. The music breathes and it is the Mountain that gives life to the music.

“Aside from the countless hours spent mulling over melodies and arrangements, I have one objective. And that is to attain a level of openness that allows me to express myself in my truest form. I constantly strive for that kind of freedom. To get past playing the notes and singing the lyrics that I have spent so much time fussing over. I want to express the real music. To communicate with an open mind and heart the feelings and emotions attached to this music. The most amazing thing is that this is a band that plays the music different every time. I am lucky to have a band with that kind of flexibility."

Their debut EP entitled Freedom (2010) is a fragmentation of the word itself. Omnipresent in the music and performance is the life force of the Mountain, the synergy and harmony of energy and intent. Minds that are liberated from constraint and limitation. The band recorded live off the floor to showcase the connections between the band members and to capture the dynamic shifts into the huge musical landscapes that the Mountain can traverse.

"When we get it right, it feels like the music is flowing through our bodies, carried through our instruments and then pouring into the songs, as if we are just the medium that translates the music into something tangible. At that point, we are not the players, we are the instruments. The music plays through us. And when the band, as a whole, gets to this place together, where we are just dancing around one another withing this framework of the music, it is the most satisfying experience that I know.”

With influences ranging from the genre-defying Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, to song-writers like David Gray, there is no musical landscape that Marcus and the Mountain will not tread upon. From the wondrous and dramatic instrumentals, to the convoluted popular song forms, the Mountain is at home everywhere.