Based in London, Neil Fitzsimon and Bee Brogan aim to produce pure pop for now people. Neil and Bee were both members of the band, Pretty Blue Gun, who were signed to an indie label, licensed to Sony. They released two albums which were critically acclaimed. Some of the guest musicians included members of The Art of Noise, Dave Bronze (Eric Clapton’s bass player), Tobias Boshell (Moody Blues) and Pip Williams, who played guitar on the Walker Brothers’ track, No Regrets. The albums were produced by Pat Collier, who produced Katrina and the Waves’ international hit, Walking on Sunshine. The band went on national tours across the UK, until disbanding.
Neil Fitzsimon, the songwriter, and Bee Brogan, the vocalist, then went on to form a songwriting/production partnership that led to placement of their songs in Film and TV. They also wrote a musical, Jack Dagger, which was showcased at the Greenwich Theatre, London for the Musical Futures Award. It was also showcased at the Bridewell and the Royal College of Music in London. They have also just had a song placed in a USA Sci-Fi Feature film. They recently had a track reach number 3 in a French national download chart.
All songs are written by Neil Fitzsimon. Vocals, keyboards, drums and engineering by Bee Brogan. All guitars played by Neil Fitzsimon. Fitzsimon and Brogan see themselves as a studio act much in the vein of Tin Tin Out and Talk Talk. Their influences range from The Beatles, Elvis Costello, Jimmy Webb,
Jacques Brel and David Bowie. New album, Big Blue World is due for release in June, with another scheduled for fall 2018 release. Check out At Ten Places below!
We managed to catch up with the duo as their talked about Big Blue World and more!
So how pumped are you for the release of Big Blue World?
We’re really excited about the album and single. We’d like to think that the album doesn’t contain one song that could be classed as a filler.
Can you tell us something about the release no one else knows?
It was produced by Pat Collier, a producer that we’d always wanted to work with. He actually produced, Katrina and the Waves’, Walking on Sunshine. He’s also worked with, The Wonderstuff, House of Love, Belinda Carlisle and Voice of the Beehive.
What’s your favourite track from the album?
Big Blue World is one of our favourites. It’s also the single that is being released on 15th June 2018, a week before the album, which is released on 22nd June 2018, through WTPL France.
If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
It would have to be The Beatles, Elvis Costllo and the Attractions or David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars.
What do you get up to in your spare time when not working on music?
We’re avid readers, we watch a lot of films and love TV and we are very interested in the history of World War Two.
Are you planning on a tour at all this year to coincide with the release?
No, we are a studio-based project. We’ve always been at our happiest in a studio environment.
What was the first ever gig you went to?
Neil: I saw Prince at the Wembley Arena, London and he was totally brilliant. Bee: I saw Morrissey at the Brixton Academy, London. I love him.
What was it like representing your country for Eurovision Semi Finals and will you try again?
I’m afraid the Eurovision Song Context has become a bit of a poisoned chalice for UK artists. The voting is now totally political and the UK, especially England, is not liked for some reason, in Europe. Thankfully, that’s not the case in the USA, which has always supported our music in the past.