Fitzsimon and Brogan – Artist Interview

Hello Fitzsimon and Brogan, welcome to the studio. I had a chance to read your bio and I must say it sounds like you have had a pretty impressive ride in the music industry. So let’s first start off on how you two met? Was it in the previous band you were in or did you know each other before that?

Bee answered an advert when I was working with a keyboard player. We were looking for girl singers and Bee was the one that we chose. We were then in various line-ups before Pretty Blue Gun were formed. We then went onto getting our first recording and publishing deal.

What made you break off from the band and go on your own?

Well, Pretty Blue Gun, were signed to an indie label. Unfortunately, when the record company ran into financial problems, we found ourselves in limbo. Bee and myself then decided to go it alone.

I see you are from London, what’s the music scene like there?

The music scene is as vibrant as ever. You can see a different band every night of the week in every genre you can think of.

Tell us a little bit more about yourself, wait… there’s a catch. Brogan, you tell us about Fitzsimon and Fitzsimon, tell us about Brogan.
This could get interesting (laugh).

Brogan: It’s a good job that people can’t get hold of any out-takes from the studio. Things can get quite fraught and the air becomes quite blue. Fitzsimon is a perfectionist as am I but sometimes we disagree on the definition of ‘perfect’.

Fitzsimon: I left all of the technical side of things to Bee. I’m not that way inclined and never have been. One of Bee’s main strengths is her ability to work out really clever vocal arrangements.

I was reading that your songs were placed into film and TV. Could you tell us what songs and where were they placed?

One of our songs, Scared of the Dark, was placed in an indie Sci-Fi feature film, American made but based in London. It is called, ‘Project London’. Another of our songs was placed and screen at BAFTA in London. The film was called, High Windows’ and the song was, ‘The Very Last Day in Clown Town’. This song was also used for a TV film, called, ‘Beyond a Joke’, which was also screened at BAFTA. We’ve also had a couple of tracks, ‘Sea of Love’ and ‘Revolution of the Mind’ in a soap series on national TV, called, ‘Hollyoaks’. We’ve also had a couple on South African TV that were used in adverts. The songs were, ‘The Thrill Has Gone’ and ‘The Drowning Pool’. We also wrote a musical called, ‘Jack Dagger’. It won a Musical Future’s Aware and had a run at the Greenwich Theatre in London. It was also shown at The Bridewell and the Royal Academy of Music, in London.

If I was in the studio with you for about five hours, what would I see? What would I do?

With regard to the music, you’d hear how it gradually evolves into something that is sometimes unrecognisable from the original idea. We tend to create, on the spot, with whatever feels right.

How would you explain your music to David Bowie if he was still around?

Well, we’re actually working with David Bowie’s drummer from The Spiders From Mars, Woody Woodmansey. So, that is a real honour for us as we are fanatical about Bowie. We would tell Bowie that our influences mainly come from the 1960s, which was the most innovative decade for music in this country, and we think, the world. One thing that we would ask Bowie, is how the hell did you ever think of those songs. How the hell did you ever come up with Life on Mars.

Could you tell us about your new album, “Big Blue World?” How’s that going for you? How did you come up with the title?

We’re really pleased with the reaction to Big Blue World. The reviews so far have been brilliant. We try to set a high standard on the album, hopefully with absolutely no ‘fillers’. We’ve tried to make it an experience that should be listened to as a whole. The title? We don’t know really – it was a phrase that just came into our head and we wanted to write an anthemic track for the album, which ultimately turned into the debut single

When you are writing a song, how does that start out for you? What was one of your hardest songs to write off the new album and which was the easiest?

I write in the old school way. That means myself, a guitar and a blank piece of paper. I then take it from there. I also work to a rule that Sting once said an that is, if you don’t get anything in 45 minutes, put the guitar down and come back to it. It’s hard to say which was the easiest or the most difficult song to write on the album. Once you get the initial spark, things start to flow quite easily.

I like your song “One Minute Every Hour”, what is that song about?

It’s about, yet again, a failed relationship, and no matter how badly the person has been treated, they can’t stop thinking about their lost love…. One minute every hour.

What future projects are you looking to get involved in?

We’ve just finished recording two tracks with Woody Woodmansey and are about to record two more. We will have a new album out next year. We also now have more than enough songs for another album later in the year.

When you aren’t in the studio and not writing music, what do you like to do?
Read and watch TV. We love watching TV and reading. 

We have come to the close of this interview, it’s been great. Please take this time to share, where people can find your music and any tours
coming up.

It’s been a pleasure,

T Dawn and BTD Radio