Boxing Clever

Lovebox is the brainchild of English dance act Groove Armada, who originally ran it as a club night, only to see it grow into a fully-fledged festival, first held in London five years ago. Just how much of Groove Armada’s time is taken up with organising Lovebox?

“Well, we’ve got a great team now,” says Andy Cato, one half of the electro duo. “There’s a core of six or seven people, everything from specialists working on the tent and sign designs, to the website and visuals, etc. So there are definitely people who help us out, but we’re very hands-on with it. The festival that we just did in London was a sell-out for the first time, and we got over 40,000 people through the site. So it’s become a big operation, and inevitably with something that size, it takes up a lot of the year.”
Do Andy and his cohort in Groove Armada, Tom Findlay, select the line-ups themselves?
“The whole team is involved in the curation of it,” Andy explains. “It’s a combination of ideas coming from everyone. Tom and I are travelling to festivals around the world all the time, so we’re seeing a lot of bands, and finding out whether they can deliver or not. There might be bands you haven’t heard of who’ve been rocking it consistently in Japan or whatever, and we can bring them back with us. It’s sort of a committee process in which Tom and I play a big part.”
Undoubtedly one of the main attractions at Lovebox Dublin are N*E*R*D. Of course, two thirds of the group, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, also enjoy a phenomenally successful production career as The Neptunes. Is Andy a fan of the duo’s production work?
“Yeah, some of it,” he replies. “When you’re running a festival that’s as big and diverse as Lovebox, it’s not just about ‘Do I like it or don’t I like it?’ It’s just ‘Is it good or is it bad?’ Not everything has to be our own cup of tea, it just has to be quality music, well delivered. And we’ve played enough festivals to know that’s exactly what it is.”
Another intriguing act on the bill are Kid Creole and the Coconuts, who received considerable acclaim in the early ’80s thanks to their inventive mix of jazz, disco and salsa.
“Both Tom and I have got fairly extensive ’80s vinyl collections,” says Andy. “So there’s a bit of that in there. But more importantly with them, we have a recent history at Lovebox London of doing, if you like, heritage slots. We had Human League this year, for example. But again, we would never book anyone like that unless we’d seen them recently. Otherwise, it can just be a band where the only surviving member is a tambourine player, and it’s a bit of a pisstake. Kid Creole and the Coconuts are absolutely brilliant live; it’s block-rocking party music.”
In addition to the music, there will also be plenty of other activities on offer at Lovebox, including the Stockade Arena (a fortress-style rotunda in the woods), a traditional organic farmers market, a fun fair and the NYC Downlow 3-Storey film set. How involved are Andy and Tom in selecting these elements?
“Well, that stuff is one of the key reasons why Lovebox grew from being just a gig in a field in Clapham Common. We’re both devout Glastonbury goers; we’re there either playing or camping every year. We wanted to bring something into cities that distils a bit of that diversity, which Glastonbury is the mother of.
“It consists of people making nice, interesting food, and it also consists of mad monsters coming out of the bushes at you when you least expect it. With festivals, there has to be a bit of cabaret in there; it can’t just be standing in front of the stage waiting for the changeover.”
Interestingly, in a Q&A on the Groove Armada website, Tom remarks that the biggest achievement of Lovebox London last year was “getting Sly Stone onstage”. Was the soul legend being a bit difficult?
“Well, you’re not communicating with him on a traditional level, shall we say,” Andy smiles. “He actually did three songs in the end, and his band are amazing. When he performed those songs, they were so completely sublime, and you’re so acutely aware that this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience – ’cos he’s not getting any younger – that, actually, it made all the bullshit worthwhile.”
Finally, what would Andy say has been his favourite festival experience, either as a performer or punter?
“Well, walking onstage at the last couple of Lovebox festivals, and getting that kind of reception, it was really spine-tingling. So that’s starting to challenge for the title. But I’ve been going to Glastonbury since I was 16, and it’s been the scene of more adventures than I’ll ever remember. Also, when you get to play there, as a British musician, it’s very special.
“This year, we closed the Sunday night on the second stage, which for an electronic artist in the UK is the holy grail. We got 60,000 people to watch it, and complaints from the Civil Aviation Authority about the strength of our lasers, so it was a good night at the office.”

Lovebox takes place at Marlay Park on August 23