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Andy Cato

Andy Cato and Tom Findlay are the hugely successful dance music producers Groove Armada, who release their eagerly anticipated new studio album Black Light in February 2010. Celeste Neill-Duvoisin caught up with Andy, who lives in a château in the French countryside, just outside Toulouse, with his wife and two children

When we were living in London I couldn’t afford anywhere for my studio.

So I ended up using a Dutch barge, taking my skipper exams and then sailing on the barge around France for a while. During this time I realised I didn’t want to ever move back to London.

Before living in France we lived in Barcelona, where our two children were born.

It’s an amazing place and I can imagine returning there again later in life. It has the best café and small bar culture scene, all set in a genuine, lived-in medieval city centre.

If you start speaking Spanish or Catalan in Barcelona then a whole world of hidden doors opens up.

Heading north from Passieg del Born up Calle Montcada, knock on the first wooden door on the left any time after midnight. Look confident, nod at the doorman and walk in. You won’t be disappointed!

When I go into Toulouse, I head towards an area called Beaux Arts.

It has great record shops, clothes boutiques and all kinds of eateries. The Café des Beaux Arts is the classic French brassiere experience, on the banks of the river. You can find it right next to Pont Neuf.

This last year in France has coincided with us writing a new Groove Armada album.

It’s been a very intense process and I’ve spent a lot of time in London with Tom. Nights here are properly dark, so it must be a strange sight to see all the studio lights blinking like an Apollo mission in the cowshed that is now my studio.

We devote a lot of energy to preparing the live shows.

These have built up a reputation for being one of the best live dance music shows around. It’s a rock ’n’ roll set-up – bass, drums, guitar – with an electronic twist. That spirit is now in the new album, which sounds somewhere between Gary Numan, David Bowie and Groove Armada live.

We recently launched our ‘Warsaw’ track.

It’s from the forthcoming album. We played it to 70,000 people at a gig in Warsaw city centre. The track has a bit of Warsaw’s spirit in it. I’ve DJ-ed there quite a lot and it’s an addictive place. To look at it’s an interesting blend of real grandeur and soviet bleakness. But the locals will give you the warmest of welcomes.

On our new album we decided to work with new and undiscovered talent.

In fact, our live show is now based around SaintSaviour, who is becoming the best performer of her generation. There is one legend on the record, however. We finally persuaded Bryan Ferry to collaborate with another artist for the very first time. He’s an icon both of music and style, and a lovely guy.

The new record has taken on much more of a band sound.

But our roots are still with dance music, DJ-ing all over the world. Recently, though, the most exciting sound for us has been the wave of dance music bands that are both making great records and playing great live gigs. This movement persuaded us to get the live band into the studio and capture the vibe of a Groove Armada live experience.

As a DJ you work with promoters who live and breathe the undercurrent of the city.

If you ask them to show you their favourite places, you really get a flavour of a place. One of the best places I did that was in Naples. The food in its simple street-corner restaurants is something else.

We’ll be DJ-ing this New Year’s Eve at the Piazza Vittorio Veneto in Turin and New Year’s Day in Madrid at the Telefónica Arena.

I’ve DJ-ed every New Year’s Eve for the last 15 years, so it would feel strange not to. But if I didn’t, I would go to Chamonix. I’m a keen snowboarder and I’ve found a real hidden gem up there. It’s called The Clubhouse (www.clubhouse.fr) Great staff, great music, bar and fireplace. It’s the perfect spot for a party. Maybe one day I’ll make it.