An interview with Daddy Squad

Daddy Squad combines Andrew’s musical career: from Rave, Big Beat, Breaks, Electro, Disco, French Touch, Italo, Synthwave and Synthpop, everything with a bit of disco dust and a mustache as the culmination. The first single is a collaboration with Violet Chachki, winner of Ru Paul’s Drag Race Season 7, which was released in March 2021. You can see it here.

Now Andrew is back with a new single with longtime collaborator and burlesque superstar Dita Von Teese. Dita Von Teese, who met Andrew on Twitter, has long performed for Andrew, including songs for his Show de el and performed on a number of Monarchy tracks, including Disintegration, which was an underground hit across Europe. You can see the video for this song here.

Andrew is now completely independent and self-financed. He runs his own record label to publish his music, as well as the art director of the project, is looking for employees, coordinates sessions and remixes and produces all of the music. The result is a feast for the eyes and an impressive performance.

Andrew is probably best known as half of the Monarchy band who write the music with vocalist Ra and produce all of the tracks. Monarchy has performed all over the world, from Coachella to club gigs, touring the USA, Canada and Mexico to packed summers at festivals in Spain and Europe. Seven have five albums and were released on the French boutique label Kitsune Records, Neon Gold Records, US Ultra Records and Warners Music and Universal Records UK.

Regardless, Andrew has worked with a variety of artists over the years including Dita Von Teese, Violet Chachki (Ru Paul’s Drag Race), SIA, Charli XCX, Blondie and more. Besides Monarchy, Andrew is one half of the «swamp pop» group Horixon, with releases on Kitsune and Eskimo Records in Belgium. He has also written music for the famous Parisian burlesque club Crazy Horse for creative director Ali Mahdavi and for Dita Von Teeee’s new show, which debuted in Los Angeles on New Years Eve 2018 and features Dita on a giant lipstick. On the writing front, Blondie picked up a track boil Andrew wrote with Charli XCX for Blondie’s comeback album, which was released in 2017. On the remix front, he’s remixed everyone from Sebastien Tellier to Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, Jamiroquai, OMD and Kelis. , Ellie Goulding, Kieza and the pioneers of the S’Express house. His remix of Lady Gaga was the most downloaded one on his remix album of him.

He has been a DJ at numerous clubs and events, from the famous Plastic Club at Milan for Fashion Week for several years in a row to events with brands and fashion weeks all over the world. He has DJed for Fucking Young Magazine in London, Los Angeles and Copenhagen and closed the dance tent at the MadCool Festival in 2019.

From writing, producing, mixing, DJing, performing live, writing for film and theater, everything speaks to him when it comes to music. A restless soul that continues to draw.

We had the pleasure to interview him and that was the result.

Hi there ! Where can we find you right now? How did you start your day?

Right now I’m in Stansted Airport, waiting for my plane to Madrid. I started my day in London, with a very strong coffee. 

When did the idea of starting a project start to take shape? Has it always been something you wanted to do?

I have always had different projects going. Sometimes I have multiple projects. I think this is about my fifth career in music now. I am always restless, and always want to create and try something new. Even in my head right now I have other projects I want to do, but just don’t have time. I would love to do a proper ambient project, with field recordings. But also a rave project. So I guess it’s about the extremes! I am having to narrow my focus to my Italo-disco-whatever project of Daddy Squad for the moment though, and maybe I’ll mix a bit of rave and field recordings in there. 

How would you define the sound of your latest work? What is the concept behind?

It’s very retro, but also modern. I use analogue synths on everything, and love using things like the LINN drum, or old loops. It’s meant to be fun, but not necessarily funny. It’s positive. I also want the message to be positive. I will never make a record that is about tearing people down, or spreading bad energy. Life is too short for that. I want to build something beautiful and a community with people, all with positivity. Back in the second summer of love in 1988, that’s what it was all about. I wasn’t there, but I feel my soul was! When I see documentaries about it, I feel nostalgic for something I didn’t experience. 

What artists are you interested in these days?

I listen to a lot of other synthy – analogue groups or producers. I had LAUER remix my last track, and I love his sound. I listen to a huge amount of music, but a few names: Corine, Jake Shears, Lauer, HardTon, Perel, TERR, Luke Million, Patrick Cowley, Myd, Lipps Inc, Roisin Murphy, Robyn, Chanel Tres, Honey Dijon, David Jackson, L’Imperatrice, etc.  

How do you manage to combine such disparate genres? How do you manage to give them unity and harmony? What do they have in common for you?

I always have an element of analogue or roughness in my music. If it’s all ‘in the box’ and everything just soft synth, it sounds like a place that’s not built for humans. We need mistakes to make us feel at home. As I mentioned, I always want positivity in my music too. Actually, I can’t help this. I think when I’m in the studio, I’m so happy to be there, that it just comes out positively. 

What can you tell us about the tours in places as emblematic as Coachella?

Touring can be amazing, or it can be hell. There’s lots of waiting around hotel lobbies, or at boarding gates, with a hangover. But watching a crowd go crazy to the music we’ve made is an amazing feeling. Coachella was great, because we started with an empty tent, but ended with a packed one. It was really exciting to watch. Coachella back then was quite different to now. It was more underground, and full of music lovers. 

How would you define your sound?

I would say Italo Disco with 90’s house influences, covered in disco glitter. 

Can you tell us something about your current or future projects?

I’m working hard and trying to release something pretty much every month. So you won’t have to wait long for new music. I’m collaborating with loads of people, but I think the next single will be with HardTon, from Italy. We’re working on something really special! 

DADDY SQUAD