Richard Bivens & Foreign Press

Richard Bivens (born August 26, 1979) is an American musician from Orange County, CA. He has performed as a solo artist and has been the frontman for Richard Bivens & Foreign Press and Regrets and Brunettes. Up until 2003, Bivens only performed his songs in front of friends. A couple of these friends took their admiration for Bivens seriously enough that they learned how to play music just to be in Bivens' band. Consisting of high school friend Robert Pavlovich on bass guitar, Ali Ghanavat on rhythm guitar, and Richard Rizk on drums, Bivens formed Richard Bivens & Foreign Press in 2003.

Up until 2003, Bivens only performed his songs in front of friends. A couple of these friends took their admiration for Bivens seriously enough that they learned how to play music just to be in Bivens' band. Consisting of high school friend Robert Pavlovich on bass guitar, Ali Ghanavat on rhythm guitar, and Richard Rizk on drums, Bivens formed Richard Bivens & Foreign Press in 2003. This incarnation of the band was short lived however. After Rizk's departure Pavlovich's childhood friend, Dylan Kato, was recruited to play drums. With this lineup they recorded their first and only album Absolute Beginners in San Francisco, CA at Lucky Cat Recordings with producer Tony Leong. The album consisted of 7 tracks and was recorded on analog tape. It was the first official recording that Bivens ever released.

The band played about 30 gigs in and around the Orange County, Los Angeles, and San Diego area. The reception exceeded their expectations at first, but interest in the band waned when their day jobs got in the way of their musical endeavors. The band never formally broke up, but stopped playing shows altogether in late 2007.

After Bivens formed Regrets and Brunettes, guitarist Ali Ghanavat decided to reset Foreign Press, without Bivens on vocals. He recruited singer Juanita Mankuleiyo (who performed backup vocals on Absolute Beginners), bassist and childhood friend Jeff Basin, as well as Foreign Press's original drummer Richard Rizk. Foreign Press revitalizes songs that Bivens has written over the past decade, as well as performing new songs written specifically for this new incarnation of the band. Bivens also continues to write new material for himself, and plans to release demos of his upcoming solo project in the Fall of 2011.