Features
Who's the 'Daddy?
Sugardaddy is the new project from Groove Armada's Tom Findlay and Tim Hutton.
And as the duo's debut album 'It's Good To Get High With The Wife' demonstrates, this particular aging sexual lothario is one with a massive record collection and an ear for a killer hook. Dan Carney caught up with them at the Cobden where they were performing a special Xmas gig for Red Stripe...
With 'It's Good To Get High With The Wife', Sugardaddy - aka Groove Armada's Tom Findlay and renowned multi-instrumentalist Tim Hutto - have proved that, musically speaking, it's possible to tip everything into the blender and still sound as sharp and focused as a ninja taking an exam.
For theirs is a debut album which harks back to the disco of Studio 54, the freakazoid P-funk of Clinton and Collins, early '80s block-juddering electro beats, soul, R&B, Miami bass and just about everything else that's ever caused anyone in the developed world to nod their head or shake a leg.
It seems that Tom's experience as part of a leading dance act has been put to good use, but perhaps its Hutton's input that gives the album the edge over most other dance projects through its songs. He is, after all, regularly spotted on stage with singers Ian Brown or Lily Allen. More to the point though, he also released a wonderful album entitled 'Everything' in 2000, which pre-dated much of the singer-songwriter material of today.
With the help of collaborators such as Plantlife's Jack Splash and Nottingham MC C-Mone, these seemingly disparate influences have all been tied together into one glorious booty-shaking whole. But while 'It's Good To Get High With The Wife' - available in MP3 format - is a confident, hook-laden celebration of dance music, it's also a record which never sounds anything other than totally fresh, unique and modern. Tim gave us his take on things...
How did Sugardaddy come about - did it come from just messing about or did you get together with Tom and say '"let's form a band"...
"We started doing the odd remix for people, and it's kind of gone from there and culminated in doing the album."
Did it take long to record the album - were the songs written before you went in to record them?
"A lot of it came from just trying stuff out... altogether it probably took about eight or nine months to make, but that wasn't every day. It was easy and really enjoyable, and there was no angst involved in making it at all. We just did something that we could get off on ourselves. A rather joyous experience I think."
How do you think your and Tom's influences differ and how is this reflected in the Sugardaddy sound?
"We differ a lot in that I'm more musical in a way, and Tom's more practical. Generally, I play the parts in and Tom deals with the arrangements and sounds, he makes the tunes up."
How would you say Sugardaddy differs from anything either of you have been involved with before?
"This is very much more of a party record than anything I've done before; it's not looking to be too deep or anything. It's a good time record. For Tom, its something that he feels is more 'his' project, where he can play and compose stuff. He does do that with Groove Armada too, but it's a different thing. I'm not Andy Cato, although I do provide that in the sense of being a player. It's a lot more funk-orientated than Groove Armada."
For those who have yet to see it, can you describe the Sugardaddy live experience?
"There's me, MC C-Mone, and a live band. We aim to do it with a bit of style!"
Where did the album title 'It's Good To Get High With The Wife' come from?
"It was a title that Tom had - when he originally pulled it out it was 'It's Good To Get High With Your Wife', but I think 'The Wife' just rolls off the tongue a little bit better. It's kind of humorous - that's important I think. We don't want to be too poker-faced about it - it ends up being a little bit cheesy."
What's your favourite song on the album and why?
"That's a tough one! I like 'Love On The Attack' - I think it's got just the right soulful approach. I like 'Treat Me Like A Dog' because it's a Funkadelic-style tune with big, huge guitar solos. 'Nothing' is a song that I completely crafted myself at home, and did a lot of the initial work on, so I'm happy with that as well."
Tell us about the old Sugardaddy guy on the album cover - who is he?
"We wanted to recreate this famous picture of a guy called Swifty Lazar, who was a Hollywood agent in the '30s and '40s. There's a picture of him and he's wearing those big glasses... he's about 80-something but he looks like a complete player. So we just wanted to recreate the photo so we could use it as an image. The guy we found runs a cockle stall near Aldgate East. He's 84 and is called John!"
What was it like working with Jack Splash?
"It was really easy. He came over every night - we'd start late - and neither myself nor Tom ever saw his eyes. He had a pair of shades clamped to his head at all times. He was vibing on it and had various ideas - we stuck some of them down and built on them. Really enjoyable."
Who would be your dream special guest to feature on a Sugardaddy album?
"I'd like to get Bootsy - a complete hero of mine, always has been. Maybe thinking a bit more obliquely than that, it might be good to get someone whose kind of up and coming in a different field, and make it work. Somebody from a band or something, maybe the guy from Maximo Park... something really oblique."
Search Site
Win Tickets & Gear
Don't miss out on secret gig tickets, signed merchandise and red stripe offers