Going by the pseudonyms Janet Planet, Sugar Bones, Clarence McGuffie and Reggie Goodchild, the band court a certain degree of mystery. While composed of “family, friends, and lovers” the exact relationships and dynamics between the members are still to this day unknown. According to rumours, Planet is engaged to one member and is the sister of another, but who among them are actually family, friends, or lovers remains the stuff of rumour.

Despite these enigmatic elements and the ongoing sense of their self-mythologising – the costumes, the personas, and the playful evasiveness – Confidence Man is actually a group of take-us-as-you-find-us extraverts hiding in plain sight. Uninhibited stage personas, arresting dance moves and fantastical sartorial style aside, as a band, their ideology is pretty straightforward: to party, get high, and make the “funnest” music they can.

Their much anticipated new album Tilt takes inspiration from the likes of Grace Jones, Madonna, The Chemical Brothers, Deee-lite, 90s runway music and archive footage of raves, while harking back to the “super dodgy, dirty warehouse rave clubs” of the “good old days”. With striking artwork by designer Braulio Amado, the album cover is as bold as its sound.

Recently hitting the road to tour the new record, the Aussie Anglophiles performed at some of the UK’s coolest venues, travelling the length and breadth of the UK to bring Tilt to the masses. Below, we chat with Confidence Man’s Sugar Bones about wild times on tour, meeting his heroes, and the experience of seeing their new album artwork on BUILDHOLLYWOOD billboards across the UK, as part of the Your Space Or Mine initiative.

Please could you share the backstory of Confidence Man? How did you all find one another and how did your sound evolve? 

Sugar Bones: We are a group of family, friends, and lovers that first started making music on drunken weekends. We set ourselves one basic goal – to make the funnest party music possible and get high while doing so. These days, we basically operate under the same regime, it’s all just become bigger and better.

How would you define your sound?

Sugar Bones: Hot hot heat. Wasted chic.

How do you think your sound has evolved over time? 

Sugar Bones: We’ve ditched the kitsch. I guess the music has gained some depth and weight to it as we’ve explored further into dance music. We didn’t want to joke all the time so we’re looking towards euphoria for the meantime.

You recently toured the UK. Which cities did you visit and do you have any more dates planned for 2023? 

Sugar Bones: We’ve been up and down England, into Scotland and even beyond, to Ireland. We have so much lined up for 2023 but you’ll just have to wait and see what!

Please could you share some of your overriding memories of the tour? 

Sugar Bones: It was crazy cause normally you have a few good shows then a small one, then a few then a couple more small ones. But this was different, every show was just absolutely pumping. Playing the three nights in London and then three in Manchester was pretty wild, we won’t forget that any time soon. Also, meeting your heroes  – including Jimmy from KLF – is always a little crazy. Some quality pub roasts – we love a UK pub – and new friends and venues, with a special mention to the White Hotel in Manchester. Oh, and a few late nights barely missing the tour bus.

Could you tell us about the tour diary images? Who was the principal photographer? What kinds of moments did you choose to immortalise? 

Sugar Bones: They’re really just a mish-mash of tour life. The nitty gritty behind-the-scenes mess. They’re a range of photographers and moments, take from them what you will.

What stories emerge from the photos? 

Sugar Bones: Happy stories, sad stories, many stinky tour stories. Some of these are from sessions we did, some are from backstage, some are straight from the road.

What have your impressions of the UK and the music scene here been so far? 

Sugar Bones: We love the scene over there… there are so many good upcoming and established bands and musicians and the fans are just so sweet and committed. It’s a level of deep love and support beyond anything else we’ve ever seen.

How would you describe the dynamics of the band on tour? It must be quite intense. In what ways does travelling together bring you closer or alter the dynamics? 

Sugar Bones: For sure, it’s one of the hardest things ever! For us, it just seems to bring us even closer together. We are just so lucky we’re super close to begin with so we can be really honest. Honesty is key on the road, if you can get that right everything else should follow.

How do you feel about having your posters displayed on billboards here? 

Sugar Bones: It’s always cool and pretty surreal. It’s a ‘look ma, it’s me!” kinda vibe.

Can you tell us about the artwork for the new album?

Sugar Bones: We were lucky enough to work with Braulio Amado. We got some hot shots and let him bring some magic.

How does the artwork communicate your style and sound, do you think?

Sugar Bones: It’s fresh, loud, in your face, OTT, fancy, a bit trashy… all things Con Man.

If your new record was the soundtrack to a film, what genre would the film be and who’d direct and star? 

Sugar Bones: It would be an erotic spy film, kind of like James Bond but Janet would be the spy. She wouldn’t bother saving the world though, she’d just round up the band and all the hotties and relocate to our new 24-hour club on Mars. Penelope Cruz would direct.

What are your hopes for the future? What projects do you see on the horizon? 

Sugar Bones: We just want to keep making people feel good. We have some really fun collab tracks we’ve been working on, big film clip ideas and also just getting stuck into the third album. Oh, and a Broadway musical I can’t say too much about at this point.

What really excites you most culturally at the moment?

Sugar Bones: We’re really loving the rave revival scene right now. We want to move to London and open a super dodgy, dirty warehouse rave club like the good old days.