Q&A: Andy cato
Shaun de Waal
Groove Armada are one of modern electronica’s most innovative and beguiling acts, with a range from the funky I See You Baby to the dreamy haze of their hit At the River both off their second album, the highly successful Vertigo. Their new album, Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub), will be out later this month. In the meantime, one half of the Groove Armada duo, Andy Cato, will play at the Play Energy Drink Ministry of Sound Spring Tour in South Africa this weekend.
What kind of set are you going to play?
Well, you have to kind of adapt, really, to the circumstances you find yourself in. Being Ministry of Sound, I imagine it’s going to be quite a large-scale affair and I think I’m on from 1am to 3am, which is peak time, so I won’t be playing At the River I can confirm that now! It’s going to be a bit more up-tempo than that, starting with the I See You Baby kind of sound and taking it from there.
What sort of styles do you lean towards?
I’m going to try to persuade people this is a housey party. It’ll be more up-and-at-’em than the album music, but I’d like to keep a bit of funk in there, a bit of soulfulness in there, some shaking party tunes, some quality funky house music and some breakbeat stuff. I may even throw in some golden oldies. It depends on the moment, really, and it varies from country to country.
It sounds like it will be quite a diverse set, like the music Groove Armada make. Tell me a bit about the new album.
Well, we decided there wasn’t any point trawling through old Seventies records for samples when there are musicians around who can all do those grooves, so we thought that with a couple of exceptions we’d just keep the whole album totally fresh.
Has that move taken you in new directions?
I think the production’s a lot heavier. The bass is a lot heavier, which led to slightly more of a dub overtone, a sort of reggae influence. For example, Superstar, the first single, is just a big bassline tune with a Jamaican toasting kind of vocal over the top, so there’s definitely a bit more dub in there.
Beyond that, it’s just the same range of styles we’ve always been interested in doing, but taken a lot further. The mellow stuff has got big, a string section and acoustic guitar, the soul music has got [Sixties folkster] Ritchie Havens on it, and the housey stuff is the kind of up-and-at-’em kind of stuff you want in your box as a DJ.
See Music Listings, page 12, for details of Play Energy Drink Ministry of Sound Spring Tour