Irish duo Bicep talk about their musical journey from Belfast to success, unpacking creative process and the influence of emotional trance. They share insights on CHROMA project, creating dynamic productions for the dance floor. A deep dive into their minimalism, collaborations, and unique rollout strategies. Reflecting on challenges during the pandemic and teasing future plans including a third album and ambient single.
Bicep's CHROMA project focuses on dynamic music production for the dance floor, diverging from sugary DJ sets.
Embracing minimalism in music, Bicep draws inspiration from techno and classical genres for impactful soundscapes.
The duo prioritizes collaboration and flexibility in their creative process, exploring new motifs and musical directions.
Deep dives
Exploring Playful Creativity Through the Chroma Project
Ferguson and McBryer discuss how their Chroma Project, a record label and series of events, allows them to experiment with diverse music styles, focusing on quick, raw production influenced by their live performances. Embracing a wider range of BPMs, the project provides a space for playful creativity and spontaneous music creation, diverging from the meticulous album process.
Blending Expansive Music with Minimalistic Aesthetics
The duo delves into their fascination with negative space and minimalism in music, drawing inspiration from various genres like techno and classical music. They highlight the importance of subtleties in music, preferring minimalistic approaches to allow for listener interpretation. By combining expansive soundscapes with minimalistic packaging and messaging in their art, they aim to create a strong, impactful musical experience.
Maintaining Creative Freedom through Collaboration and Iteration
Ferguson and McBryer emphasize the significance of collaboration and flexibility in their creative process. By working closely with their team, including visual artists and engineers, they explore new motifs and aesthetics, allowing for experimentation and evolution in their music. The duo values openness to new ideas and the freedom to explore diverse musical directions, balancing refinement with raw creativity to engage and surprise their audience.
Creative Evolution in Music Production and Performance
The podcast delves into the creative process of the musical duo and their evolution from interpreting their own music to leaving interpretation open for the audience. They discuss how naming tracks with singular words encourages varied listener perspectives. The conversation highlights key moments in their career, such as a chart battle and Brit Awards nominations, underscoring the surreal nature of their achievements and the impact of live streams and pandemic-era adaptations on their success.
Balancing Performance Styles and Creative Nourishment
The episode explores Bicep's shift from DJing to live performances, emphasizing the energy and audience connections in their shows. They reflect on experiences at print works and small clubs in comparison to large festivals, detailing the challenges and rewards of each setting. The duo discusses the importance of engaging with underground music and live collaborations as they curate lineups and explore new artistic ventures, aiming to maintain creativity, authenticity, and flexibility in their musical journey.
"We used to roll up socks in our shoes to give us an extra inch." The childhood friends talk about coming of age in Belfast and their label and event series, CHROMA.
Bicep—the Irish duo Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar—have been winning over the hearts of fans with trance-inflected, melancholic dance music since 2009. In this interview with RA editor Gabriel Szatan, the childhood friends talk about how they got where they are, unpacking their creative process and the abiding musical influence of their hometown, Belfast, a city where emotional trance reigned supreme.
They also discuss their ongoing multidisciplinary project, CHROMA—a record label, event series and evolving live audiovisual show. Ferguson and McBriar say that the idea for CHROMA came from a sense that their DJ sets were becoming too "sugary," so they buckled down with a renewed focus on creating dynamic new productions made specifically for the dance floor and their sets. The result is a string of hard-hitting EPs which you can find online now. Listen to the episode in full.
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