"It's rooted in '88 but delivered 2011 style": Groove Armada talk Red Lights

The legendary Groove Armada bring their Red Light show to Leeds this weekend for Coloursound's indoor festival style closing party with We Love...

Opening a new chapter in Groove Armada's story. The Red Light show is a four deck, multi F-X, audiovisual DJ experience rooted in the warehouse,  'delivered stadium style'.  

Over the past decade, Groove Armada have become established as one of the planet's most-loved and biggest selling dance acts. The duo, Tom Findlay and Andy Cato, have stormed the charts and headlined stages at the world's biggest festivals. 

Then, in 2010, they redefined the GA sound. Black Light, their 6th studio album, achieved massive critical acclaim, and a year headlining festivals from Australia to Moscow ended in Los Angeles and a Grammy nomination. 

Also playing on the night are DJ Fresh, Kenny Dope, Dariius Syrossian, Johhny Cade, Waifs & Strays, DC Breaks, Heidi and many more…

Hi guys thanks for your time. 2011 saw the launch of Red Light. How has the year been so far? Any particular highlights?

We've had another great year on the Space Terrace. We took care of every detail in that room - from where the podiums are to the brightness of the bar lights. The result was electric.  There have been some super sized Ibizan free parties we've done on the beach as well. Alongside Europe's usual festivals and weekends from Kazakstan to Korea, it's been a good summer.

So what is Red Light? How does it differ from your old live show?

It's a whole new experience. The last live show was just that - live. We spent a long time working out how a band could play electronic music that was happening there and then, but which sounded properly heavy. Once we got that system nailed, we had eight years of amazing gigs.

The Black Light album saw us record that onstage sound and with it, make our best record. The tour that followed was the high point of the whole GA Live experience. So we decided to leave it there - at the top. Red Light is the opposite of all that. A return to the warehouse. To the decks and fx where it all started. So it's a DJ thing, a warehouse vibe, but delivered stadium style.

Judging by Trax Vol 1 you guys have revisited your deeper, more underground electronic roots. Quite a shift from the large 'dance' records of the past, not to mention albums like Black Light and Soundboy Rock. Why the shift back to more traditional house and techno?

The sound has always been there. We've been in DJ booths all over the world for a long time. But when the band was on the road and there were those kind of albums to be made, we didn't get the chance to make the kind of music we love to play as DJs. That and being stuck on a major label where tunes take two years to come out. When we stopped the band, we also finally fulfilled our original record contract and now we're free to do what we want, go deeper, make the tunes we feel like.

Do you guys pay a lot of attention to what's happening in the electronic scenes at the moment? Who are you feeling?

Yes we get out there, stay on top of it. We're DJing all the time and we run a festival so we're in amongst it all. There's a return to the basement vibe all round. What happens in the basement is a free for all at the moment. There's the jacked up return to the old house sound - something we're right into - but there's also a harder take on the Berlin scene, NYC disco antics, good time Hip Hop stuff - whatever, whenever, and loads of it is sounding great.

You're known for your collaborations. Of those you have yet to work with, which artist would you most like to do something with and why? (Any genre)

Bob Dylan. Anyone who can make Blonde on Blonde is worth having a beer with.

Number 1 albums, headline slots across the globe, grammy nominations... What else do you want to achieve with Groove Armada?

What we've always tried to achieve. Music and gigs we're proud of, spreading good music as far as we can.

You're headlining the big Coloursound event in Leeds in December. What can the crowd expect from your headline show?

Leeds is always a special one for me as it's where I was brought up and where my house music experience began. The opening night of Basics remains one of the all time top nights out. Kaos, Soak, The Gallery, seeing the Stone Roses in the Warehouse. Good times. Our gigs there have always been some of the best. The Red Light experience is now in full swing. It's an audio-visual, decks and fx journey, rooted in '88 but delivered 2011 style. See you there!

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