Groove Armada Work Madonna's Ass

Groove Armada are currently in London shakin' their asses to Madonna.

Indeed the Material-turned-electro girl herself has personally contacted the jet-setting duo of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay to remix a song off her already milked to death Ray Of Light album.

It certainly is no "American Pie," but as Findlay puts me on hold to change phones, I get a phat sample of the remix, which would probably Ebay nicely for some spare change. [Editor's Note: We wanted to provide an MP3 sample, but didn't want to piss them off.]

"It's just this little part that we're going to get some strings for," explains the amicable Findlay coming on the line. "It's going to sound really nice actually, quite soulful when it's done. It's quite a pleasure for us to embark on something of that scale."

Madonna's remix is just one little ditty that is currently occupying the hectic lives of Groove Armada. With the rising success of the dancefloor calling, sexed-up, Fatboy Slim remixed anthem "I See You Baby," the band continues to build a global reputation as a duo who are able to DJ, produce and remix with the best of 'em and are preparing to take to North America again, this time with an eight-piece band.

The last time the duo hit Toronto, they destroyed the dolled-up, sassy candy stripers that populate the house at Electric Circus.

"Bizarre. Bizarre," remembers Findlay of the EC experience. "Kind of a teeny crowd that reminded me of Top Of The Pops in the U.K. Girls were screaming at us like we're in the Beatles, that sort of thing. All those things are fun. They make great stories at the pub when you're drunk."

In all seriousness though, the duo is currently facing a dilemma. With just a couple days before they are scheduled to depart for our shores, the guys are rushing to finish the Madonna remix as well as preparing the full band which Findlay and Cato have been working with for only six days. It's a lot trickier then throwing some records in a bag for a DJ set, but the excitement of taking on a new project cannot hide itself in Findlay's voice.

"It's a much more liberating, more worthy form of doing it," explains Findlay of playing live as compared to DJ'ing.

"The live stuff is incredibly intense and exhausting whereas a DJ set just goes on and on."

In terms of Groove Armada, it's a much better representation of who we are.

"Those heading to the show can expect a cornucopia of sounds ranging from the jazzy, soulful material of Vertigo to new stuff the band is readying for an album expected to be released in January.

They have already completed 14 tracks and are currently in the remix stage, which is bringing to light new ideas and even more material.

"It's just a matter of actually working through it and being patient about it," says Findlay of their recording process. "It's about pushing yourself the extra nine yards and saying, 'I'm really going to worry about whether this tune is coming out of the left speaker or the right speaker, or whether we should record these strings with a compressor mic...'.

"It's actually getting obsessive about that kind of thing that we need to do. It makes such a difference. You get all those small parts right and the big parts sound wonderful."

With already ten days spent in Wales recording with a band, they will head down to Brazil in a couple of weeks to put some Latin flavour into vocal and percussive tracks, before heading back to London to record again, in between beginning a residency at the famed Twilo club in New York.

And they don't really mind if you call them those "Shakin' that ass boys."

"People in North America know us for 'Shakin' that ass' and in Britain they know us for 'Down to the river,' so we've come up with two songs that have hit home," said Findlay. "As long as that moniker doesn't stay with us for the rest of our lives that's fine. We've only done one album and people are talking about two tunes so we'll make sure the next album has a couple of tunes people can talk about again."

The conversation soon turns to DJ'ing and I express my envy about getting the chance to see Aphex Twin and Squarepusher spin every month around London, while at the same time informing Findlay on the current rave politics that are happening in Toronto.

"It's sad," said Findlay noting that the parents complaining are more likely to die from alcohol than kids from ecstasy. "The whole rave scene was knocked out in Britain 10 years ago by Thatcher. She brought in the criminal justice bill, which basically shut down the rave scene.

"It's moved into clubs and there are some great clubs in London."

See, everything will work its way out.

Groove Armada in Canada:
June 3 Vancouver, BC @ Sonar (DJ set)
June 15 Toronto, ON @ The Guvernment
June 16 Montreal, QC @ Metropolis