Beedeegee

bEEdEEgEE is the performing alias of Brian DeGraw, an American artist, musician and producer who lives and works between the inner city and the Catskill region of New York state. Most commonly known in the music world for his work at the centre of the experimental electronic act Gang Gang Dance and their musical mastery, ‘SUM/ONE’ is his debut record as a solo artist. 

Brian’s immersion in art and music has covered the spectrum of performance, sound and visual mediums. Well regarded on the underground New York art scene, DeGraw has shown his paintings, sculptures and drawings around the world, both independently and as part of the James Fuentes Gallery stable in NYC, and has collaborated with the likes of Harmony Korine, Rita Ackerman and Doug Aitken. 

Best known as a core member of Gang Gang Dance, his group’s creative energy has always pointed them in a direction that’s as unpredictable as it is focused. Their kaleidoscopic back catalogue is testament to this. A proven influential force, their albums ‘God’s Money’, ‘Saint Dymphna’ - which unearthed a young Tinchy Stryder - and 4AD debut ‘Eye Contact’ have consistently seen them both defy and define, quickly breaching their native NY scene to open up a world of opportunity. Like their approach to music making, there’s no easy route taken when it comes to performing, instead prospering in adversity and playing sets as varied as a Russian tanker seven miles off the Japanese coast during the 2011 equinox to a crazed 2am summer set caught on film in a mirrored infinity room in the Oxfordshire countryside. 

With cult status assured, Brian’s new challenge is equally as diverse. Adopting the moniker bEEdEEgEE, he wrote and recorded ‘SUM/ONE’ over the course of a year in his Woodstock studio, the W0RMB1N. Calling upon the vocal talents of Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip), Lovefoxxx (CSS), Douglas Amour and Lizzi Bougatsos (Gang Gang Dance), ‘SUM/ONE’ initially began life when Brian left New York City - his home for the past twelve years - for the clouds of Woodstock. Amidst the peace of this new environment, the audio sketches he worked on gradually evolved into a project that fuses deep synth soundscapes with audacious pop moments.