Andy Cato
| Andy Cato | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Andrew Derek Cocup |
| Also known as | Caia, Journey Man DJ, Big C, System The, Seventh Sense |
| Born | 7 June 1969 |
| Origin | Barnsley, Yorkshire, England |
| Genres | Electronica |
| Instruments | Keyboards, sampler, trombone, piano, bass |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Columbia UK |
| Associated acts | Groove Armada, Caia, Weekend Players |
| Website | http://andycatomusic.com |
Andy Cato (born Andrew Derek Cocup; 7 June 1969) is an English musician, producer and DJ who is currently one half of the electronic music band, Groove Armada, the other half being Tom Findlay. He was also involved with Rachel Foster in Weekend Players, another electronic dance group, between 2001-04. His stage name of Cato derives from Cato Road in Clapham, where he lived.
Early life
Cato grew up in Badsworth, near Pontefract and played the trombone in a colliery brass band, as well as the Doncaster Youth Jazz Orchestra and won the Young Jazz Musician of the Year Award in 1996.
Education
Cato was educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, an independent school for boys in Wakefield, followed by the University of Oxford (Merton College), where he studied history. At school he was a prolific musician, frequently performing and leading on school shows such the Carol concert or as a pianist at school assembly. He often wrote his own songs e.g. "Christmas means to me - presents round the tree", from an early age.
Groove Armada
After the University of Oxford, he moved to London, where he began acting as a disc jockey at nightclubs such as Fabric where he started in the upstairs bar, and composing music. He set up the label Skinny Malinky, where produced records under various aliases included Big C, Mother's Pride, Vadis, Beat Foundation, Fatback Boogaloo and Qattara (with Alex Whitcombe).[1] He formed the hugely successful Groove Armada after he met Tom Findlay in 1994 in Cambridge, through a common friend who was his girlfriend (and now his wife), Jo, whom he met at Oxford. In London they had a dance night called Captain Sensual at the Helm of the Groove Armada. In 2003 they started the Lovebox Festival, named after the club night they started in London venue 93 Feet East in 2002.
Activism
He is well known as a voice on environmental concerns, sustainability and agribusiness. In 2011, he also established a new band, Days of May, with musicians he met where he now resides in France. Cato sings lead vocals and the band focuses partly on protest music relating to economic depression. In the same year he became the first musician to compose a ringtone for a specific charity, WaveLength Charity, which gives TVs and radios to isolated and vulnerable people in the UK.
References
External links
- Groove Armada
- Making ringtones for O2 in 2005
- Jazz Weekly interview
- Sydney Morning Herald 2003 article
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