Big Mountain County formed in Rome in 2013 after four southern boys, two from the slopes of Mount Etna and two from the Adriatic Coast, came together. They instantly bonded over a mutual love for The Stooges, MC5, The Velvet Underground, and Joe Spencer, leading to the release of a 7-inch record brimming with raw Garage Rock & Roll. This debut propelled them into an exciting tour across Eastern Europe, hitting countries such as Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. They soon moved beyond Garage Rock to immerse themselves in the European Neopsychedelic resurgence and spent the following years carving out a reputation in the vibrant continental live scene.
They dropped two LPs—Breaking Sound (Gas Vintage Records, 2015) and Somewhere Else (Porto Records, 2020)—along with a live album. After relentlessly touring across Europe and the UK, joining the bills of Sziget Festival, Binic Folk Blues Festival, ESNS, Fusion Festival, and opening the Italian tour for Cloud Nothings in 2019, they finally hit the US in 2023, gracing six different venues at SXSW and sharing stages with Osees and Os Mutantes. By the time they returned to Italy, they had secured summer openings for Brian Jonestown Massacre and La Femme. That year’s EP Klaus marked a bold new shift, diving into a more dance-driven and electronic sound. Featuring collaborations with electronic psych producer and LEVITATION DJ in residence Al Lover, along with the distinguished Roman producer Hugo Sanchez, the making of ‘Klaus’ gave the band a revitalising spark, steering them into a new musical direction.