Rollo Armstrong And The Beginning of Faithless

It started in 1995, led by Rollo Armstrong, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz. They formed the band known as Faithless.

The first guitarist of Faithless was Dave Randall but he left Faithless to start his own solo project. “Slovo,” his first album, was released in late summer 2001. Nemo plays guitar now on the new album, “Outrospective,” and can be seen on stage. Jamie Catto, who also started at the beginning with Faithless, did vocals on “Reverence” and “Sunday 8pm.” He also wrote some tracks. He also left Faithless to do his own thing and is now touring across the world with the band 1 Giant Leap.

“Outrospective” was conceived after a lengthy break away from Faithless’ relentless touring schedule, a factor which contributed to the melancholy mood and lyrics on “Sunday 8pm.” Faithless had, after all, spent four years out of five touring since the release of their revelatory debut “Reverence” (released in 1997), as they literally took their music anyplace that showed an interest. This meant that the band found themselves in such unlikely situations as playing shows in the Arctic Circle, on golden sands in Puerto Rico and under armed guard in Turkey.

Having been largely ignored by the mainstream in the UK, they returned from their travels as veterans of the worldwide live scene, something that few bands in their domain could lay claim to. Their epic house singles such as Insomnia and Salva Mea had an unmistakable impact and influence on the sound of contemporary dance music. Often imitated, never bettered, as they say. The album’s eclectic scope (house, blues, soul, rap and folk) stood out in a time of no-risk policies.

Maxi Jazz had spent years prior to joining Faithless rapping far and wide, DJing on pirate radio in London and running his own record label. His faith (he is a Nicheren Shashu Buddhist) informs his extraordinarily powerful lyrics (“a true millennium man” — The London Times) and he is the charismatic frontman of the band’s live act. Sister Bliss, a classically trained pianist and successful house music producer in her own right, is without doubt the world’s number one female DJ. It is Bliss who has the pleasure of road-testing Faithless’ new tunes off acetate, often fresh from the mixing desk.

Rollo’s sister Dido has performed lead vocals on tracks on all three Faithless albums (including One Step Too Far on the current album) and her debut album “No Angel” (co-produced Rollo) has since topped the UK and US charts. Talent runs in the family. Rollo, who once admitted that he “can’t play an instrument, can’t dance in time, and can’t remember any melodies,” doesn’t play live with Faithless — it would be “pointless,” he reckons, as he “couldn’t play anything onstage anyway.” Sister Bliss alleges that their studio relationship is “telepathic, symbiotic.” “He gets on with the broad strokes, textures and colors — that’s how he hears music, he’s got that synesthesia (a phenomenon where sounds blend into colors), and he says ‘Make it really sad, like a rainy day, I want to hear thunder’ — and I get on with all the anal fiddly bits.”

Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz are now the public face of the band. Both fiercely intelligent, Maxi Jazz’s Buddhist worldview complements Bliss’s challenging opinions and encyclopedic house music knowledge. 1998’s “Sunday 8pm” repeated the success of “Reverence,” spawning three more hit singles (including the ecstatic, evangelic God Is A DJ), was an enormous critical success and in 1999 received nominations at The Brits, the MTV Europe Awards and was one of the 12 Mercury Prize nominations. To this date it has sold in excess of 1.2 million copies worldwide. Add to that the 1.5 million that “Reverence” sold and four million singles and you have one of Europe’s biggest dance artists.

There was more touring including a stint co-headlining across South Africa with The Prodigy, and the headline slot of the Muzik Awards tour. They are widely regarded as one of the finest live acts of our generation. Maxi says, “When I’m on stage I see couples who are at least 65. I see disco kids who scream whenever I move. I see people in their 30s who listen intently, squeezing their eyes shut and pumping their fists whenever they hear lyrics they like. There’s no such thing as a typical Faithless fan and I love that.” Bliss continues: “When people come to our gigs, we want them to be lifted. Changed. Empowered. Moved off the ground.”

Despite claims that they wouldn’t follow the panoramic heartbreak of “Sunday 8pm” with more of the same, after early listenings to certain tracks off “Outrospective” it becomes clear that, sometimes, stadium melancholy is what they do best — the sweeping melodrama of One Step Too Far (vocals by Dido) the hazy lament of Crazy English Summer which features vocals by Faithless debutante Zoe Johnston, and Maxi’s rainy Autumn rap on Not Enuff Love.

This time, however, the flipside to these swoonsome atmospheres takes the form of the rampant positivity of the Philly Soul of Muhammad Ali, Maxi Jazz’s devotional to the great boxer, and the dedication of love of the delirious single We Come 1 (“I’m the left eye, you’re the right, would it not be madness to fight?”). “Outrospective” starts with a fanfare that signifies a deep-seated confidence and ends with the gigantic soul house of Liontamer; in between it maps uncharted territory for the band, as well as redefining familiar Faithless templates. It thunders, basically.

Sister Bliss: As one of the founding members of Faithless, Sister Bliss (a.k.a. Ayalah Bentovim) became one of Britain’s most popular figures in the electronica scene. What many might not realize is her incredible history as a musician and DJ before that point. She started learning the piano at the age of five, eventually moving on to violin, saxophone, and the bass.

After touring behind the first album “Reverence,” Sister Bliss released the popular Sister Sister single and began work on her first solo album. Faithless also recorded again, releasing the “Back to Mine” mix at the start of 2001 and the original album “Outrospective” in the summer.

Her latest mix album, “Night Moves,” was out on digital and CD last July 2008. It’s really worth getting a copy of it.