Pete Fij / Terry Bickers end a great 2014 with 'Album of The Year' awards

Well what a year it's been. Some five years in the making, and messers Bickers & Fij finally got 'Broken Heart Surgery' out, no small thanks to our fabulous Kickstarter supporters who helped make it happen.

Rave reviews, appearances on 'Radcliffe Maconie' on BBC 6Music, 'Loose Ends' on Radio 4, 'Sunday Brunch' on Channel 4, not mention single of the week on Steve Lamacq's 'Roundtable' show on 6Music and also single of the week on the Rebel Playlist meaning daytime plays on all the 6Music programmes. A sell out Moscow premier of the Bickers & Fij documentary, plus a plethora of UK shows with the bonus of many new friends along the way.

To top it 'Broken Heart Surgery' has been named 'ALBUM OF THE YEAR' in Porky's Prime Cuts, Say It With Garage Flowers, Pop Junkie London , and This Wreckage as well as appearing in lists in Alltag und kulture (in at #2) Rock N Roll Runner ( #6)  the Platten Vor Gericht (PVG) (#7), Isolation Records (#9),Unthought Of But Somehow (#16), Louder Than War (#33), Italian Troublezine & Pennyblack  amongst others.

Pete said "Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, to everyone who helped us get this far - we've been truely taken aback. We've started on the long road to recording the next album, and we aim not to take quite as long this time. We'd like to wish you all the very best for the coming year."

You can buy the album from the duo's Bandcamp page, including Pete's solo version of the album recorded a few years prior to Terry's involvement, and you can follow them on Facebook .

See you in 2015 for the next installment...

UK Premier at Cine-City for Bickers & Fij Doc

After the sell-out screening of the world premiere in Moscow for the Pete Fij / Terry Bickers documentary 'Various Songs'  (directed by Peter Bromley of the 1968 Film Group)  the film get's it's UK premiere at the Cine-City Film Festival in Brighton in November.

The film, made over a period of 18 months, features extensive interviews with Pete & Terry on the build up to the release of their debut album 'Broken Heart Surgery' as well insights from those around them from their past and present.

The UK premiere will take place on Monday 24th November at 7pm at The Sallis Benney Theatre in Brighton, and is part of the Cine-City Festival (which runs throughout Brighton from 20th November - 7th December). The screening will feature a short acoustic set from messers Bickers & Fij which will be their last live appearance in what has been a very eventful 2014. Tickets are available here

You can buy the album 'Broken Heart Surgery' from the Pete Fij / Terry Bickers Bandcamp site, and you can keep up to date with all things to do with the melancholy duo via their Facebook page and/or  you can follow Pete on Twitter

'Broken Heart Surgery' out to rave reviews!

What a month it's been!

'Broken Heart Surgery' was released on July 7th and has met with a very positive reaction - here is a quick(ish) summary of our reviews

The Guardian called it "a gently melancholic album that's really rather lovely" whilst Q magazine described it as "a sparse, rather lovely album. Bickers' playing is a masterclass, while Fij's voice has the fragile, worldly wise tenor of Richard Hawley or Ian McCulloch" and Mojo had it down as a "gorgeous set of bruised mid-life ballads."

On-line 'Broken Heart Surgery' has already made an all time top 12 line-up courtesy of this Brandish list of All-Time Top 12 Break Up Albums, nestling alongside the likes of Adele, Coldplay, Bob Dylan, Lykke Li & Fleetwood Mac "...a decade in the making and the finished result is a work of exquisitely melancholic, stripped-down songwriting". Backseat Mafia has the album down as an  8.9/10 (so close to a 9 damn it!), describing it as "funny, poignant, clever and, frankly, beautiful"; Jon Robb writing in Louderthanwar said that 'Broken Heart Surgery' was "One of the most captivating albums of the year...a back from the dead triumph", Pennyblack thought " Pete Fij has a great vocal talent, which recalls in it's cheeriness Damon Albarn of Blur...while Bickers' guitar work shines like rough diamonds in the Brighton sunshine". Isolation Records said of the album "There are no weak moments here - this is about as a complete a collection as you would ever want to hear", Say It With Flowers has it down as "One of the best albums of 2014, ... With nods to Johnny Cash, Spiritualized and John Barry it’s raw, deeply personal,  melancholy and cinematic, but also has plenty of gallows humour and deadpan wit."  whilst A Musical Prioirty also marks it out  as a contender for album of the year describing it as "A Masterpiece".

On radio messers Bickers & Fij won the Roundtable Review Show 'Single of the Week' for Out Of Time, getting both the nods from the panel and the listners alike; the listeners of BB6Music also voted overwhelmingly for Out Of Time to win the Rebel Playlist, ensuring daytime plays on Shaun Keavney, Lauren Lavern, Radcliffe Maconie and Steve Lamacq, as well as plays on Gideon Coe, Janice Long (Radio 2) and Huey Morgan (Radio2). Our two downbeat mariachi's were guests on Radio 4's 'Loose Ends', and on TV the video for Out Of Time was shown on Channel Four's 'Sunday Brunch'.

The Bickers & Fij tour bus did a quick trip round 5 dates, playing to sell out shows and a great review in louderthanwar - "Reminiscent of the Bad Seeds at their most gentle and remorseful. It sounds like the Velvets brought up on the streets of a seventies British town. The sound of the Beach Boys lost at sea... Broken Heart Surgery is a gentle maudelin classic in the making", whilst brumlive said "It's easy to see why they are so successful", whilst highlighting a third member of the duo who stole the limelight.

The album is available as a CD or download from Pete & Terry's bandcamp page (and you get the envelope hand-addressed by Pete!), you can also purchase from  i-tunes, amazon,
 as well as a whole host of online stores. It is distributed in UK by Republic Of Music, who supply independent and national record stores.

More UK dates are planned for the Autumn and will be announced shortly.

Thank you for all your help and support in helping us get this far. Keep track of what is going on in Pete Fij / Terry Bickers' world by liking the Facebook page or following Pete on Twitter

Donnie Darko's rabbit to the rescue

Sometimes help comes in the most unusual of forms. It has transpired that one of the Kickstarter guardian angels who came to assist Pete & Terry is a genuine screen icon - none other than Frank - the giant 7 foot rabbit from the cult film 'Donnie Darko'.

 Actor James Duval who played the menacing rodent in the 2001 classic, was one of those who pledged money for Bickers & Fij to help make the album, and his name appears in the credits of 'Broken Heart Surgery'. 
 

Terry Bickers (6 foot 1") said "We'll try to see if we can get Frank the rabbit to appear in our next video, lurking behind us in the shadows" whilst Pete (5 foot 9") added "We knew that our music appealed to the lost and the lonely-hearted ; we can now add malevolent giant rabbits to that list"

You can now order the album from our the Pete Fij / Terry Bickers Bandcamp page. If you pre-order the album you will recieve an immediate download of the album, and the CD will be sent to your letterbox on release.

You can catch the duo, (or trio if Frank turns up) at their live UK shows in July:

 Wed 2nd Worthing, Persia Bar, Grand Victorian Hotel
Thur 3rd  Brighton Komedia, Studio Bar
Wed 16th  London St Pancras Old Church
Wed 22nd Norwich Bicycle Shop
Thur 23rd July Coventry The Tin Music & Arts Centre

Support from all shows will come from I Am Ampersand - the superb side project of Fujiya & Miyagi bassist Matt Hainsby 

Watch Pete & Terry's video for the forthcoming single 'Out Of Time' here

You can keep uptodate by liking the Pete Fij / Terry Bickers Facebook page & you can follow Pete on Twitter

Photo Credit: Michael Arvis Ocker

'Out Of Time 'BBC6Music Single of the Week + Album pre-release

Our two downbeat troubadours have received fabulous response to their upcoming single 'Out Of Time' which has won both the BBC6music Roundtable Single of the Week, (beating the likes of La Roux, Manic Street Preachers, David Byrne & Anna Calvi and getting 10.10 from the panel), and also the 6Music Rebel Playlist listener vote which means the single will be played on every show every day all of next week.

'Out of Time' will be officially released on June 30, with the album out the following week on July 7th.

You can now order the album from our the Pete Fij / Terry Bickers Bandcamp page. If you pre-order the album you will recieve an immediate download of the album, and the CD will be sent to your letterbox on release. You can also pre-order the Pete Fij version of the album that was recrded some 5 years before but never released.

 Wed 2nd Worthing, Persia Bar, Grand Victorian Hotel
Thur 3rd  Brighton Komedia, Studio Bar
Wed 16th  London St Pancras Old Church
Wed 22nd Norwich Bicycle Shop
Thur 23rd July Coventry The Tin Music & Arts Centre

Support from all shows will come from I Am Ampersand - the superb side project of Fujiya & Miyagi bassist Matt Hainsby who has been championed by the likes of Jarvis Cocker & Gideon Coe on 6Music.

You can keep uptodate by liking the Pete Fij / Terry Bickers Facebook page & you can follow Pete on Twitter

KICKSTART THIS!

Rich in sad melodies they may be, but in the cold, hard currency of cash messers Bickers and Fij are as poor as two church mice who have spent all of their meagre savings on recording a downbeat melancholic album called 'Broken Heart Surgery'. In order to rectify this, and make sure that the album comes they have launched a Kickstarter campaign.

Finance minister Pete Fij said "The album has been a labour of love, but we're completely broke and to get it over the finishing line we need to fund pressing up the album and then marketing it. We've set the bar low at £1000 beacuse the way Kickstarter works if you don't reach your funding goal you get nothing, but in order to do everything we'd like to do, we require quite a bit more in order to pay for press and radio PR, so we really need your help on this. "

Benevolent fans can get their name on the CD credits; own the rare lost Pete Fij 'Broken Heart Surgery' album made some 4 years before the Bickers & Fij recordings; own a used Terry Bickers plectrum; receive a Christmas card from Pete & Terry; or have a song written and recorded about themselves by Pete.

The way Kickstarter works, you can only make one pledge - but if you want more than one item that isn't included in one package, simply make one pledge, then in 'manage my pledge' increase the amount up to the value of the extra items you want to have and then message us with your extra requirement & we'll sort that out for you.

So start pledging... the funding project runs until Nov 27th, though some of the items are limited edition - so get in there sooner rather than later.

You can also follow Pete & Terry on their Facebook page here to get updates on the Kickstarter project.

Photo Credit: Photomatic Photo Booth, Snoopers Paradise, Brighton