Bicep

Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar are two producers and DJs from Northern Ireland, originally from Belfast, currently based in London. In the landscape of contemporary electronic music, they represent one of the rare cases able to combine underground credibility with global success, redefining the concept of emotional, nostalgic yet futuristic "club music".

Childhood friends since the age of 8, Andrew and Matthew grew up in Belfast listening to very different genres, from the metal of Slayer to the krautrock of Tangerine Dream, as well as the local club culture tied to the historic venue Shine. In 2008 they launched Feel My Bicep, a music blog born out of pure collector's passion. On the site they uploaded forgotten gems of Italo disco, Chicago house, Detroit techno and rare synth-pop from the Eighties and Nineties. The blog quickly becomes a global reference point for crate diggers (vinyl hunters) and lays the groundwork for their visual identity — built around the iconic three-petal logo designed by Matt — and their sound.

The move from bloggers/selectors to producers happens naturally. Their early EPs showcase a visceral love for analog hardware and old-school house sounds. The leap in quality comes in 2015 with "Just", "Track of the Year" for Mixmag and DJ Mag. It's the track that cements their style: a combination of breakbeat, euphoric melodic progressions and a deep-rooted end-of-night melancholy.

In 2017 the duo signs with the prestigious independent label Ninja Tune, kicking off a decisive phase of their career. Their debut album, "Bicep" (2017), enters the UK Top 20 and receives unanimous critical acclaim, both in America (Pitchfork) and Britain (The Guardian). The album is a refined journey summarizing the history of British rave culture, ranging across IDM, jungle, house and techno. It also includes "Glue", a track driven by a propulsive breakbeat and an ethereal, nostalgic vocal loop, certified platinum in the UK. The video, directed by Joe Wilson, shows the now-abandoned historic sites of illegal British raves, sealing Bicep's bond with the memory of club culture.

Their second album, "Isles", written largely while on tour and finished in London, debuts at number 2 on the UK's official albums chart and at number 1 on the vinyl chart. "Isles" explores the multicultural influences absorbed in London (Hindi vocal traditions, Bulgarian choirs), combined with the harshness and energy of Belfast techno. Singles like "Atlas" and "Apricots" demonstrate Bicep's ability to craft electronic music made for "listening" that nonetheless turns into incendiary material during live sets. The album earns the duo two landmark Brit Awards nominations (in the "British Group" and "Breakthrough Artist" categories).

Bicep help revolutionize the concept of the electronic live show, abandoning classic DJ sets in favor of performances built on the live manipulation of synthesizers and drum machines, synced to striking, complex visuals (created by visual designer Zak Norman/Black Box Echo). They have sold out historic venues such as London's Alexandra Palace and closed as headliners on major stages like West Holts at Glastonbury Festival. They have also repeatedly taken center stage in Italy on the bills of C2C in Turin and Spring Attitude in Rome.

Bicep's music is built on what they themselves call “euphoria mixed with sadness”: kinetic music designed to move bodies on the dancefloor, yet streaked with minor chords and floating synths that evoke introspection and loneliness. The duo makes extensive use of vintage analogue hardware, such as the Roland TB-303, deconstructed and pitch-shifted vocal samples, and broken rhythms in perfect breakbeat style, balancing the industrial harshness and euphoric trance of their native Northern Ireland with the cosmopolitan, percussive depth of the London scene.

In 2024 the duo launched a new creative extension called “CHROMA”, an ever-evolving visual show (developed with graphic designer David Rudnick), which precedes a return to rougher, more experimental sounds firmly geared towards the underground side of club culture. A series of singles, doled out sparingly over more than a year, serve as the backbone soundtrack to the pyrotechnic light show, and will then be collected in November 2025 in the compilation “CHROMA 000“.

In parallel, Bicep devoted themselves to a completely different idea. Contacted in 2022 by a charity for a study expedition to the Arctic, Andy Ferguson spent two weeks in Greenland, coming into contact with the region's issues (particularly the changes caused by melting ice) and attending performances at the Arctic Sounds Festival, where he met numerous musicians from the area. It was during those days that the plan was born for a shared project, one that would bring together life stories from the Arctic Circle, combining video footage with a soundtrack capable of supporting the music and languages of the region, also using natural sounds recorded live on location. The end result took shape as an immersive multimedia installation, the work of director Charlie Miller and visual artist Zak Norman. In effect, a feature film exploring the communities, culture, daily life and challenges faced by indigenous artists and the local population: what it's like to live on the front line of the fight against climate change. The music, produced by Bicep in collaboration with seven artists from the region, is the cornerstone of “Takkuuk”, in which the Northern Irish duo's hypnotic, enveloping electronic music naturally integrates the raw sounds of the region (wind, ice, traditional Inuit chants), along with the instruments and voices of local musicians. Music, climate and identity, firmly bound together, with a focus on one of the most vulnerable places on the planet — a powerful narrative that extends to Sweden, Norway and Canada, weaving together landscapes, traditions and testimonies. “Takkuuk” makes room for the voices of indigenous peoples, exploring themes such as marginalisation, displacement and the direct impact the climate crisis has on local daily life. Sami singer Katarina Barruk, Greenlandic rapper Tarrak, throat-singing duo Silla, metal band Sound Of The Damned, producers Andachan and Niilas, and indie outfit Nujia all bring new horizons to Bicep's dance-oriented sound, this time less dense with drops and crescendos, but even more attentive to loading up on evocative, deeply descriptive ambient rarefactions. So that club culture today can become a vehicle for powerful acts of protest.