Next to join our mixtape series is Daddy Squad, the new project of Andrew Armstrong, a diverse and prolific creative. Daddy Squad brings together Andrew’s career in music: from rave, big beat, breaks, electro, disco, French touch, italo, synthwave and synthpop, all given a dusting of disco powder and a moustache to finish it off.
Andrew is well known as being part of the now defunct synth-pop duo Monarchy. Now he’s launching on his own as Daddy Squad, an italo disco project which is off to a flying start with super star collaborations with Ru Paul’s star Violet Chachki, burlesque superstar Dita Von Teese, italo disco bears HardTon. House legend S’Express, and most recently cult group Zoot Woman. The project has been remixed by Lauer, HiFi Sean, Chinaski, Club Domani, David Jackson, Boys’ Shorts, Panthera Krause, Reznik and Mikesh, and played on BBC Radio1 with Pete Tong, KISS FM, and supported by DJs such as Perel, Terr, Gorgon City, The Magician, Catz n Dogz and many more.
The mix has a lot of my own stuff in there, since I just released my album so I’m really enjoying being able to play that stuff out. Normally when I DJ I put loads of Daddy Squad in there, I guess I get inspired in a circle by DJing, and producing, imagining playing it. There’s a few lesser known tracks in there that I love, and a few classics. I love finishing on a classic hands in the air moment, and it’s my favourite New Order track, somehow it felt right.
Separately, over the years Andrew has collaborated with a plethora of artists, including Dita Von Teese, Violet Chachki, SIA, Charli XCX, Blondie and more. As well as Monarchy, Andrew is half of ‘swamp pop’ outfit Horixon, with releases on Kitsune and Belgium’s Eskimo Records. He has also written music for Paris’s famous Crazy Horse burlesque club. On the writing front, Blondie singled out a track Andrew wrote with Charli XCX for the Blondie comeback album released in 2017. On the remix front, he has remixed everyone from Sebastien Tellier, through to Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, Jamiroquai, OMD, Kelis, Ellie Goulding, and Kieza. His remix of Lady Gaga was the most downloaded from her remix album.
From writing, producing, remixing, DJing, playing live, writing for films and theatre, anything music related is appealing to him. A restless soul that keeps on creating.
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All Day All Night Automatic is out now
