Birth name Andrew Derek Cocup Role Musician Name Andy Cato | Years active 1996–present Genres Electronica | |
 | ||
Also known as Caia, Journey Man DJ, Big C, System The, Seventh Sense Born June 7, 1969 (age 55) ( 1969-06-07 ) Albums Times & Places, Back to Mine: Groove A, Goodbye Country (Hello Ni, Late Night Tales: Groove A, AnotherLateNight: Groove Armada Similar Richard Archer, Tony Rich, Ed Starink Profiles | ||
Andy cato south downs mix
Andy Cato (born Andrew Derek Cocup; 7 June 1971) is an English musician, record 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 to 2004. His stage name of Cato derives from Cato Road in Clapham, South London, where he lived.
Contents
Andy cato at cafe mambo
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. He was educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, an independent school for boys in Wakefield, followed by Merton College, Oxford, where he read Modern 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 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).
He formed the 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.
