Big Wave
Tara Renee Settembre
Special Correspondent
Brian Grosz says his band Conquistador plays "Big Wave" music, a beefed up version of 80s "New Wave" with an extreme rock edge. (Think "The Cure" on steroids or "The Clash" with schizophrenia.) Now his only hope is that there are plenty of fans out there who want to ride that "big wave."
Conquistador has just released their first full-length album, "What's Up, Fireball," a 13-track CD, which they are selling at Tower Records, over the Internet, and at upcoming gigs and events. The group hopes to sell 3,000 copies by the fall, record a new album, and then, jokes Grosz, a 24-year-old electric guitarist from Old Greenwich, "world domination."
The road to "What's Up, Fireball," however, has been a long one.
Conquistador was formed back in 1995, when the band's seven members teamed up within their first few days of their freshman year at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.
The group eventually moved to New York City - during the summer of 1999 - after winning the Mastercard Talent Acts award for best area band. Since then, they have steadily gained notoriety through extensive touring of the East Coast and California. Conquistador, can also be seen as the house band on twelve different episodes of Comedy Central's "Premium Blend" and they have been featured in Guitar World Magazine and on MTV's "Undressed."
Their album, though, was recorded independently - over the course of 9 months - on a privately-funded budget of more than $10,000. The band, Grosz explains, was determined to give their best performance, and ensure that every aspect was just right. Studio time was split between New York City's RPM studios (which has played home to the Beastie Boys and Billy Idol) and The Ranch Studios in upstate NY.
The music, however, wasn't the only thing the band worked on together. The art work for their album cover - and the designing of their official Web site, www.conquistadornyc.com - was all done by the members of the band who make ends meet working as graphic and video designers and doing computer programing jobs in between gigs and rehearsals. "It's great to have seven guys to rely on for that kind of in-house talent," Grosz says.
Now, to promote their album, the band is starting a Summer 2002 tour within the Tri-State area. They will be playing at 11:30 p.m. on July 3, at Marty's in Port Chester, N.Y. and on the 4th of July they will be doing a 10:00 p.m. Independence Day throw-down, at Jimmy Seaside in Stamford.
But there is plenty more work to be done. Grosz says he and his band mates will have to continue their efforts if they really want to make it to the big time.
"It's the hardest job I ever had in my entire life," he says. "It takes so much work to get to the next level."
But don't be too surprised if they reach their goal - "world domination," as Grosz put it. Conquistador, after all, is Spanish for conqueror.
(For more info on their tour schedule and new album visit their Web site.)