Groove Armada pull their dance shoes on again
THEIR debut album was released over 22 years ago but dance music duo Groove Armada have since gone on to develop an enviable reputation.
The killer live act have had hits such as Superstylin’ and I See You Baby, and worked with collaborators such as Neneh Cherry, Bryan Ferry and Candi Staton.
In the five years since Andy Cato and creative partner Tom Findlay released their last album, Barnsley-born, Oxford-educated, trombone and piano-playing Andy, 46, has not been idle.
For the past 10 years, Andy, now living with his wife and two children in Gascony, south-west France, has been tending a 100-acre eco-farm.
“It has been a quest to find a new way of doing things and leave the land in a better state than we found it.
“We’re finally seeing it all come good now. We have a bakery on site that supplies local schools with their daily bread, and are getting local farms to adopt the model we’ve developed.”
Andy says that while farming has had the same intensity for him “as house music did in the late 80s”, he stresses it has been a challenging experience “far from the good life”.
Making the yet-to-betitled ninth Groove Armada album in Tom’s London basement was a back-to-basics contrast to his agrarian life.
Andy said: “We did it in a new way, with several really intense short periods in Tom’s basement studio.
“There was a kind of freshness about the madness of it all – a lot of stuff had built up and it came out as soon as we gave it a chance. It’s been great fun.”
In between ploughing (with horses) Andy has regularly DJd with Tom and last summer the pair enjoyed a typically triumphant series of festival shows.
With several boundto-be-ubiquitous bangers lined up as single releases, the new material seems fired by the experience.
“Playing live led to some hellishly uncomfortable concerts in the beginning. But once we got going, that really became our thing,” he said.
“What’s been nice about this record is there aren’t any big stars on there, just someone who lives round the corner from Tom and his girlfriend.
“We’ve been working with people who are up for it, enthusiastic and uncomplicated. You send over a tweak at three in the morning and at 3.30 they send it back because they’re up for it.
“There was timepressure intensity about the thing and a whole lot of strong songs came out of it.
“We can’t wait to get out there and play them.”
Groove Armada release their new album in June. music