Andy Cato

Groove Armada, Defected, Strictly Rhythm

2008.07.31 ::: Words by Andrew Reid

Never in the history of dance music has someone with so much talent so successfully avoided the media’s avid attentions. Of course, if you study generations of pop music, you’ll see that behind every spotlight shining full beam into the lives of A-list singers, there’s a bevy of affluent songwriters lurking anonymously in the background. Yet not only has Andy Cato written ten years worth of Groove Armada anthems – alongside the band’s co-founder Tom Findlay – he also stands centre stage at their breathtaking live shows, raising his trombone to the skies, showcasing the dozens of hits that have led the band to phenomenal, international success. Add the fact that he’s a much sought after remixer – working with the Kylies, Amys and Roisins of this world – and given his conspicuous size (he’s 6ft 8), you’ve got to applaud the gifted giant for keeping it real, keeping a low profile and keeping focused on entertaining his global army of fans…

Andy never wasted his youth second-guessing the truly great heights he might reach, not even physically (for while his parents both measure in at 6ft, Andy says that his inherent eight inches remain a mystery). With basketball not exactly an option in 1980s Yorkshire, where he lived until he was 18, Andy turned his attentions to music. From the moment he could stand up without falling down (and he learned quickly, he had a long way to fall) his jazz musician father introduced him to the piano and trombone. His talent was obvious, his parents supportive. Andy was soon attending as many gigs as possible, practicing with all his heart and soul. One of his earliest achievements was playing for a colliery brass band. He remembers, “I was just the little kid in the corner opposite the pit, but I got to play with the band because I had trombone lessons with one of the old guys who said I was up to the job. They were the most talented set of musicians I've ever known.” Then, in 1987, he won Yorkshire’s Young Jazz Musician Of The Year award. His future path jingle jangled invitingly before him, so with one of his size-12 feet he stepped onto the first rung of a career in music…

Outside of playing music, Andy made it through school excelling in “talking about things I know nothing about” and afterwards, playing on skateboards until it was too dark to see. At home he listened to ‘spirituals’, blues, the Quo and the Stones and in his teenage years, Level 42 and Tangerine Dream. He credits his cousin Digs (a member of the cult, excellent house collective DIY and now a regular guest at the Lovebox bi-monthly club nights at The End, London) for his induction into the acid house explosion that swept the length and breadth of Britain. “We crossed the country in my Hillman, stopping at service stations and waiting for the phone call with the final location. Whatever you do when you're 17 or 18 seems pretty special, but even allowing for that, or trying to, the DIY parties; Basics [Leeds], Hacienda [Manchester], Kaos...1989-95 were like nothing I've seen anywhere in the world. A lot of factors came together in the UK which made it a unique moment in time, just as had happened in the 60's.”

Without doubt this late-80s/early-90s house music bubble subconsciously programmed Andy’s musical brain to later churn out the most defining musical moments of the last decade. The scene’s sunrise joie de vivre is always reignited with Groove Armada’s best ‘chill out’ melodies; the beauty of their music is it gets better with every listen, with every gig, so that no one need ever forget the spirit of those amazing, unifying party years.

In 1991, Andy moved to London. “I was in Brixton on the dole, with a bedroom studio bought with a bank loan, teaching myself all aspects of the business, playing cocktail piano in a ‘No Jacket Required’ Phil Collins theme bar to pay back the debt. During this time I went through every music business cliché of management sharks, record company politics and missed opportunities. Success? In the end, it's just like your Gran always said. Stick at it.”

One opportunity he didn’t miss was to hook up with Cambridge man Tom Findlay. Together they launched a club night, which led to a series of parties, a band and eventually a festival. All of these grew from strength to strength and thrive in their individual rights to this day. If you live in London, you’ll have heard of the Lovebox Weekender event that takes place every July in Victoria Park, Hackney. London’s premier festival started life as a live concert six years ago, expanding to embrace culture, art, family entertainment, gastronomy, cabaret and performance art. If you don’t live in London, you’ll be seeing Lovebox in a city near you very soon (if Andy has his way, Lovebox New York City will be high up on that list!). Otherwise, you’ll almost certainly own one of Groove Armada’s seven artist albums or countless compilations. With an ear for a fine dancefloor tune demonstrated through his increasing DJ bookings, Andy set up his first label Skinnymalinky. Anyone who had their arms in the air between 1991 and 1995 will have heard Beat Foundation, Mothers Pride or JourneyMan on a dancefloor. More recently he launched the PackUpandDance imprint, releasing the likes of the Ibiza classic, ‘The 7am Drop’, followed by a succession of grooves that “returned to the house sound of my ‘Hillman Imp’ days”.

Andy’s a formidable DJ (he’s spun in all the best clubs in England, Australia, Russia, NYC, Spain and beyond), a committed A&R scout (the band’s live shows feature the best support artists in any dance act), a keen snowboarder and like Tom, a football fanatic. He’s also a Sagittarian. If you believe in horoscopes you’ll be pleased to hear that he exudes all the sign’s positive DNA: he loves travelling (“although since I was 15, I’ve only ever got round to it with a box of records, a trombone or on a tour bus”); integrity is important and has been a key element to the continuing global domination of the good ship Groove Armada. And as for being optimistic, he readily admits to being “a pint half full’” kind of man. A few years ago, Andy moved his family to Barcelona, lured by the Catalan “humane pace of life with its fewer rules and regulations”. Small, ice-cold lagers also feature highly among his lifestyle priorities, along with beaches and mountains. Throwing out everything he was familiar with and starting all over again was no mean feat. But like all true Brits living in the sun, family, friends and their cups of tea are all he really misses. While his aspirations remain relatively normal for a musician “to get out the music that's in my head that's been there for years” he’d like to welcome a future full of less talk, more music and perhaps more ambitiously, he’d like to reconcile making a living and not destroying the planet. “Any suggestions,” he adds, “are welcome”.

Nocturnal: What does it feel like to be doing a solo project?
Andy: Pretty natural. Whilst Tom and I sometimes team up on the turntables, a lot of DJing is done solo.

Nocturnal: Why did you decide to move to Barcelona? Do you miss anything about England?
Andy: Mountains, sea, weather, food, those small cold beers, a social way of life. I miss mates, family, and sitting inside when it's raining with a cup of tea.

Nocturnal: What was life like before you formed Groove Armada?
Andy: I can't really remember. In the last ten years, we've played live to more than 6 million people around the world, put together 8 albums of different types, DJ'd in most clubs you can think of and checked out every after party we could find. I've lived on boats and in 3 different countries and worked in studios all over the world. So what happened before all that is a bit of a blur. I lived in Brixton, and things were going pretty well with another band until the van got stolen with all the gear in it.

Nocturnal: What’s you relationship with the magical island of Ibiza? Explain a little about what it means to you?
Andy: As of this year, I've been going there for 20 years. The first time I went there, it was only because it was the cheapest holiday I could find. It was an18-30 thing, though I'm not sure how that worked as I was 15 at the time. I spent my time in the West End of San An. It was a time when lads went out in crisp shirts and I remember a girl getting her iron back from some boys across the way and shouting down the hotel corridor "the f`***ers pissed in me iron".
Since then, it's got better. It's become a second home, with friends all over the island. There's nowhere else I've found that has so much variety of life and beautiful things in a such a small space. It's a special place too - as people have latched onto since the dawn of time. Did you know, for example, that the soil on ibiza can't support any plant or animal which is dangerous to mankind? Things are going on over there...

Nocturnal: We know its paradise in Ibiza, so tell me what your average day in paradise is… what’s your Ibiza routine?
Andy: Depends on the night before. If it's daylight when I get to bed, then the routine is a few hours sleep during the really hot bit, before heading off to somewhere like Es Torrent for the afternoon. A cold beer or two, fresh fish, some Rose, and bit of hierbas always gets things back on track. Then across to Mambo to DJ or listen to and watch the sunset. After that and a brush up, it's off into Ibiza port to see mates at The Rock or Match bar. I'll probably pop in on Duji's bar too - a tiny treasure in the backstreets. After that, it's off into the night. This usually involves a club or two, a lot of dirt tracks followed by a villa party, and a bit of walking about in the morning sun trying to get home.

Nocturnal: Ibiza is a crazy place if you want it to be – can you give me an experience you have had that you would not be able to have had anywhere else?
Andy: Where else can a typical night involve eating a barbeque cooked up by a local fisherman, seeing one of the world's finest sunsets, DJing at one of the world's best clubs, and ending up dancing in a villa with Kylie and Sienna.

Nocturnal: You’re used to playing at stadiums across the worlds, does that mean that small parties are very rare for you now?
Andy: They are, although whenever possible, we'll do free parties, boat parties or beach parties to keep that side of things alive.

Nocturnal: How did you get involved with Mambo?
Andy: I don't remember how I met Xavier (the boss) and his sons. Probably going down there with my mate Simeon and Djing for Pete Tong's radio one broadcasts. Anyway, they're family now and their spirit is what makes the place special.

Nocturnal: Why are you so fascinated by chillout music?
Andy: I'm not. Most of my DJing happens at 3 in the morning on the worlds biggest dancefloors. What I love is the power music has to transform an experience - to make it really special. This applies to sunsets or peaktime dancefloors.

Nocturnal: What's it like to play sunset at Mambo?
Andy: Imagine being with your best mates, playing your favourite tunes, with a cold beer and one of the world's finest views.

Nocturnal: The term Balearic gets banded about everywhere these days, but what does Balearic music mean to you?
Andy: When I go out to DJ in Ibiza, the record box will have a massive anthem alongside Chris Rea, or an up to the minute Beatport obscurity alongside dubs of Findlay Quaye. House tunes spanning twenty years. That's what it means to me.

Nocturnal: What was your plan with the Mambo compilation, how did you put it together and what tracks are the highlights?
Andy: I wanted to capture the magic of the place - that last hour when the sun falls into the sea, and the first hour after, when the night begins. That's why I needed two CDs. The sunset hour features that Balearic blend that takes in JJ Cale and Coldcut, LCD or Jose Gonzalez, alongside classics that a lot people might not have heard - Morgan King for example. Getting these things to flow takes work, and it's something that I've had a lot of practice at in the Mambo hotseat. CD2 is that kind of locked in groove which lets you move through the decades, the ups and the downs without losing that hypnotising house music core. I could keep this going all night long.

Nocturnal: Do any of the tracks included in your mix trigger any particular Ibizan memories for you? Were you there at the beginning?
Andy: Well I was there in '88, which is nearer the beginning than most. Tunes like Last Rhythm take me back to big moments on the old Terrace with the plane so close to your head you could touch the wheels.

Nocturnal: Can you see yourself spending a lot of time in Ibiza when you are old and grey?
Andy: I can't ever imagine not spending time there. There's nowhere better to be old and grey.

Nocturnal: Are there any up and coming acts or DJ’s you can give us a heads up on?
Andy: Well, joining us at our Fridays in the new Lovebox room at Eden are the like of Brodinski & Yuksek , Herve , 8 Bit Boy, Mok and Toof, Rub and Tug, and Horsemeat Disco.

::: Related Links

::: www.myspace.com/andycato

::: www.groovearmada.com

::: www.defected.com

::: www.strictly.com

::: 2008.03.25 » WMC 2008 | Defected In The House @ SET [Miami] Photos