Robert Owens
On the eleven tracks Robert takes you on an agitating and haunting journey inside his highly emotional world, living up to his reputation as man who breathed life and soul into house music. It’s just him expressing different feelings ranging from happiness to being chained: “My work is about being aware of all the different facets and feelings in life. Much of it is driven by pain, but that’s just an emotion too. I can’t stand there and be like a pop star because I need to be real – and a real person gives from their soul and won’t let anyone taint that.” (Robert Owens) The first single release ‘Merging’ (produced by Dutch duo TJ Kong & Nuno Dos Santos) is already raising the roof worldwide getting love and massive support from key players like Osunlade, Frank Roger, Fred Everything, Marcus Worgul, King Britt, Jimpster, Ashley Beedle, Peter Kruder… This overwhelming response is heralding a shift in the state of the art: people are getting weary of minimalistic tracks – they want some vocals back in – and they want some soul back in!
You are sure to get the full load of soul when Robert is performing with his Live Band. To fuse house music with real instrumentation has been a dream of Roberts for a long time. His album ‘Journeys’ which was released in Japan only in 1997 already highlighted this new new musical routes. Together with his band – which features Dan Berkson (Poker Flat) on keys and a guitarist and percussionist – he performs what is essentially live house with a jazz flavour. The tracklist is a mix of Roberts classics and new album material. To many people the amazing show was the highlight of Big Chill Festival 2006.
So there you have it. From the gritty but sublime Trax of yesteryear to the forward-looking projects of today, Robert Owens is one of dance music’s true legends, a man who has his roots in the future and his feet planted firmly on the earth – and a man who has never been afraid of sharing himself with others.
