Bicep are an

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

production and DJ duo from

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Northern Ireland, consisting of Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar.

History

Bicep was formed in 2009 as a production and DJing pair in London. The duo, childhood friends, created a blog called "Feel My Bicep", which was used to post lost and forgotten

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

Chicago house Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the original house music of DJs and producers from the area, such as Ron Hardy and Phuture History and origins D ...

Detroit techno Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff Mi ...

and

Italo disco Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, pop, ...

edits. They released tracks on labels Throne of Blood, Traveller Records and Mystery Meat before joining Will Saul's Aus Music and setting up their own label Feel My Bicep in September 2012. That year the pair were awarded ''

DJ Mag ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lati ...

s 'Best of British Breakthrough DJ' award. After signing to

Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an independent record label based in London, with a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1990 by musicians Matt Black and Jonathan More, known collectively as Coldcut. The label was established as an outlet for Col ...

in 2017, Bicep released their debut album '' Bicep'', which went in at number 20 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, and received positive reviews from publications such as ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

Resident Advisor ''Resident Advisor'' (also known as ''RA'') is an online music magazine and community platform established in 2001 and dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. Its editorial team provides news, music and ev ...

'' and ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

''. The lead single, "Glue", was voted by the public as

's (Best of British) Track of the Year. It also reached number 1 on

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's Best Electronic of 2017, and came second in ''

'''s 100 Best Tracks of 2017. Bicep released their second album '' Isles'' on Ninja Tune on 22 January 2021. They released the lead single "Apricots" with a music video from

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

-winner director

Mark Jenkin Mark Jenkin (born 1976) is a Cornish director, editor, screenwriter, cinematographer and producer. He wrote and directed the film '' Bait'' (2019), which earned him a BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer ...

. "Apricots" scored Top-50 entries in both the UK's Official Singles Chart and Billboard's Dance/Electronic Songs Chart, was named Billboard's #1 dance track of 2020, hit #1 on the UK's Shazam chart, and spent 10 weeks on the BBC Radio 1 playlist. The album was nominated for Best Irish Album of 2021 for the

Choice Music Prize The Choice Music Prize (), known for sponsorship reasons as the RTÉ Choice Music Prize is an annual music prize awarded to music from a band or solo musician who is born in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland or holds an Irish passport. ...

. ''Isles'' was number one on the midweek

for the week beginning 25 January 2021, before debuting at number two on the final chart, scooping a number 1 on the UK Official Vinyl Albums Chart, additionally breaking into multiple Billboard charts including number 12 on the Dance/Electronic Chart. The duo made a pivot to ticketed streams during the coronavirus pandemic, delivering two shows broadcast across 5 timezones. The shows were watched in over 70 countries worldwide, giving fans new live material ahead of the return of in-person shows. The second global stream was recorded at London's

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and was awarded four stars by ''

'', with ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' calling it an innovative and boundary-pushing audiovisual show. Following the release of ''Isles'', Bicep were nominated in two categories at the 2021 BRIT Awards for 'British Group' and 'Breakthrough Artist'. In August 2024, McBriar received brain surgery for a rare

craniopharyngioma A craniopharyngioma is a rare type of brain tumor derived from pituitary gland embryonic tissue that occurs most commonly in children, but also affects adults. It may present at any age, even in the prenatal and neonatal periods, but peak inciden ...

tumour on his pituitary gland.

Live performances

Between 2017 and 2018, the duo embarked on a live headline world tour to venues across the world, including the US, Japan and Europe. In the UK, they played shows at Electric Brixton, Roundhouse and three consecutive dates alongside Overmono at

Printworks Printworks may refer to: *Printworks (London), a nightclub and events space in Rotherhithe *The Printworks (Manchester), an entertainment venue *Printworks Campus, of the Leeds City College {{DEFAULTSORT:Printworks, The ...

in London, which was filmed by ''Resident Advisor'' and one of their final live shows until 2020. Bicep headlined their first major British festival at

Field Day Field day may refer to: * For the armed forces use and its derivatives, see wiktionary:field day * Field day (agriculture), a trade show * Field Day (amateur radio), an annual amateur radio exercise * Field Day (band), a Canadian pop-punk band fro ...

in August 2021.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Other charted songs

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * *http://thisismusicltd.com/artist/bicep/ {{authority control Musical duos from Northern Ireland Electronic music groups from Northern Ireland British electronic dance music duos Musical groups from Belfast DJs from Belfast Ninja_Tune_artists 2009 establishments in Northern Ireland