Star of the Year: Bicep
The Belfast duo who became house heavyweights and hometown heroes
Want to witness why DJ/production duo Bicep won 2015? Then YouTube footage from their new Belfast fetival AVA, which saw their hometown crowd totally losing it to Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar's set of warm jacking house. "The energy was exceptional," says the bequiffed Matthew. "But we weren't surprised. Belfast crowds are always like that".
The festival, organised by Matthew's sister, was a way to give something back to the city that got them off a diet of Metallica and scuzzy punk, and weaned them onto underground dance music.
"Going to [legendary Belfast night] Shine as a teenager in the late 90s and 00s opened my eyes," says Matthew. "You could see Jeff Mills, Dave Clarke, Billy Nasty. We played their 20 birthday party this year and you could see how deep the culture goes: there's now two or three generations of Belfast DJs, producers and promoters who've been inspired by Shine."
One of the key tracks debuted during their DJ AVA set was their epic edit of Dominica's 'Gotta Let You Go'. They also tested new tunes on their Feel My Bicep blog, among a steady diet of obscure disco, vintage Italo and trance tunes pitched down to 33rpm.
The crate-digging side of Bicep isn't exactly stuff that'd work at peak-time Fabric. And yet during 2015's 13-week residency ay XOYO, they were able to knock out the odd curveball.
"That was a highlight because you had the freedom to hold back a wee bit and get to know the room before letting loose later on," says Matthew. "We played lots of stuff from the blog, weird stuff that we normally have to leave at home, and it went down well. People who were at the early ones came back for more."
With new converts being won over all the time and rumours of an LP in the words, Bicep are set for an even bigger 2016.
Top Bicep moments of 2015
Dominica 'Gotta Let You Go' (Bicep edit)
A 90s house stomper that inspired many 'What's this? It's brilliant!' festival moments over summer.
Bicep AVA set
Feel the love through your screen, as Bicep go from floaty electronics to chunky house in front of their adoring hometown crowd
'Just' (Aus music)
The moodier side of Bicep's production arm gets an airing for this deep, brooding chugger with an eerie spoken-word sample.