Groove Armada's voyage to the big time

By STEPHEN JEWELL

Since releasing their debut album, Northern Star, in 1997, Groove Armada's Tom Findlay and Andy Cato have had a meteoric rise to popular acclaim. At the River appeared on Northern Star before featuring on the pair's second album, Vertigo, the first on a major label, and becoming one of 1999's stand-out tunes.

Groove Armada's third album, Goodbye Country Hello Nightclub, was released last year but, while it contained some memorable tracks, it will surely be At the River - which has had a local revival in a Telecom advertisement - that the crowd will be calling for when Findlay and Cato play in Auckland this week.

"At the River was an odd one, because we did it in three or four hours," says Findlay. "It came about by accident. Andy and I were on holiday and we'd taken a little studio with us. We were getting some food from the local shop and this record called Best of the 50s was sitting on the counter.

"It was where we took the vocal sample from, a track called Old Cape Cod by Patty Page. We just looped it up, shadowed these lovely 50s chords and Andy started playing his trombone. That's the record really, simple as that.

Groove Armada have been embraced by everyone from Fatboy Slim, who asked Findlay and Cato to DJ at his wedding, to Sir Elton John, who famously bought 200 copies of Vertigo to give to his mates.

"That was also very odd, because we were only a year into our recording contract [with Jive Records] and we both kind of had indie-label mindsets," says Findlay.

"We were still worrying about how to make ends meet, then suddenly you get this adulation and you don't know how to deal with it.

"You're in their world and the whole thing is surreal. We were taken aback by things like Elton John. It's very bizarre."

Despite boasting some fine tunes, Vertigo never quite added up to the sum of its parts, but Goodbye Country Hello Nightclub is very much the finished article.

"Goodbye Country hasn't reached the commercial heights of Vertigo, says Findlay. "Our record company found it much easier to get tracks like I See You Baby on to radio than they did with this last album, but overall, as a listening experience, it hangs together a lot better.

"It just took a hell of a longer time than the previous two records, as we spent about nine months on the whole thing. I'm incredibly proud of the album but, if anything, we perhaps spent two months too long and maybe got to the point where we started deconstructing things towards the end.

"When you spend so long on something, you tend to focus more on the core elements and throw out all the thrills. In its own way, it's quite a stripped-back record."

And after Vertigo's runaway success, Findlay and Cato were able to call on the services of some stellar guests, including veteran American soul-folk artist Richie Havens and former Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers.

"We're still working with Richie Havens on re-working Back to my Roots, a disco track he did," says Findlay.

"Nile Rodgers was amazing, because he and Bernard Edwards were the most important rhythm section and writing team in disco music, so he's a bit of a legend in his field. We never actually met him, but he's one of those people you feel completely in awe of. He and Richie were very sound."

Groove Armada also almost collaborated with R'n'B vocalist Brandy, who they inadvertently sampled on their latest single, My Friend.

"We had an Acapellas Anonymous record and we found this vocal loop. We had no idea who it was, but towards the end of making the album we wanted to make a quick tune, using some loops, just to see what would happen.

"We'd been recording so many vocals and spending hours and hours recording drums that we thought we'd knock out a tune in the old style. But the loop turned out to be Brandy, which was a bit of a blow, because then you have to start dealing with major record labels and major stars.

"We never managed to clear the sample, but I don't think she even heard it. The greatest irony is that a week ago someone from Atlantic Records rang up and asked us if we wanted to re-mix Brandy's first single from her new album.

"It's a bit maddening because I feel that someone didn't try hard enough to get hold of Brandy. We spent a long time trying to replace that vocal, trying to get a different human being to sound like her and have the same inflections and mood."

Findlay, who has some distant relations in New Zealand, is looking forward to visiting Auckland. What can we expect to hear from Groove Armada on stage?

"Live is an evolving process," he claims. "We got to a point a year-and-a-half ago where we wanted everything you hear to be played live. That worked to some extent, but the whole band got a bit jazz-funky.

"We've got a band now that is 80 per cent live and 20 per cent technology. If you're producing dance music, you can't deny that.

"There's a couple of computers on stage, but the main interest is generated by musicianship. There's a bass player, guitar, percussion, drums, keys and a couple of vocalists. We started about six months ago with this new line-up and we've added a drummer. The reception we've had in Britain was positive."

Interestingly, Goodbye Country's credits also list a contributor called Kiwi, who could perhaps be a previously unheard of New Zealand electronic artist.

"That was a cat," laughs Findlay. "It was a bit random. There isn't a massive New Zealand link. We were away for a long time recording in the country. We spent a lot of time with cats because there was only me and Andy and a couple of other people in the studio. I think we went a bit mad."

* Groove Armada play the St James this Wednesday.