Robert Owens: Vocalising

Born in Ohio, 1961, Robert Owens grew up betwixt two cities in America, which became the breeding grounds for his talent: "Each environment I grew up in moulded me as a person, as I would constantly go between LA and Chicago to see my family.

"It has helped in shaping me as a human being, growing up in these different environments; growing up in the urban ghetto where life was a constant struggle with different situations - overcoming adversities - and coming out the other side a stronger person."

Speaking of ghetto life, Owens is also known for his involvement with the legendary Crips and Black Panthers. He performed at parties with them and witnessed them put aside their political and social differences to celebrate music together. "A lot of my family members were involved with the gangs around both Chicago and LA so I never felt threatened. Being an insider in the gangs and younger than a lot of people in it, I felt protected by them, and they also seemed to like me, and saw something in me that I had not seen in myself yet. We used to have block parties and basement parties... we charged five dollars to get in and gangs from all around the area would put their differences aside and unite under the spirit of music. This was before the days of house and I would be playing RnB, ballads and soulful things."

By luck, he met with producer Harri Dennis and ended up working on a track called Donny with Harri and Chip E, which soon became hot property on dancefloors. His winning streak was just beginning, and the next week he found himself working with Larry Heard aka Mr Fingers, supplying vocals for Mysteries of Love. They went on to form their own group called Fingers Inc, touring the UK with Marshall Jefferson and releasing Another Side, arguably one of the first albums of the burgeoning house scene, in 1988.

Although the coalition did not last ("circumstances at the time forced us to take different avenues"), Owens was invited to work with Satoshi Tomiie, Frankie Knuckles and David Morales, operating under the Def Mix guise, and produced the legendary Tears. More hits followed, and they featured on Owens' own album in 1990, Rhythm in Me. Later down the line Owens started moving into newer territory, and sought to combine house music with live instrumentation. He is playing with Larry Heard in Japan soon, and he has been asked to sing on a new track by Heard: "It's not over till the fat lady sings... he is part of my origins and my humble beginnings."

We move on to the subject of the music industry, and Owens remains positive: "The best thing you can acquire is your communicative skills and being open and flexible to working with new people and within new genres... this reflects in some of the paths I have taken with my music - downtempo, drum and bass, and house... even a bit rock when I worked with the bass player from Pink Floyd." One thing that has remained fairly constant is the themes that crop up in his vocals. Human relationships and interactions feature prominently, which Owens puts down to his writing being a "reflection of past experiences". He explains: "I meet a lot of people and I'm influenced by conversations I have with them. I feel it is important that if you can convey some of your experiences then you may be able to touch someone or help them with the same experiences."

How does Owens think the Chicago house scene would have evolved or survived without the vocal aspect? "It probably would have survived. If you look at the present day with the minimal thing going on now it has a lot of similarities to the old rhythmic house from Chicago. It has just evolved into a new format; it is like another extension of the early house rhythms. But I think vocals are the heart of the situation, the emotional part of the song, but music and rhythms can move you in the same way as vocals can do. But where would we be without a song! A song is vitally important to keep the whole genre of house alive."

Owens recently performed at a number of Bacardi events, including T in the Park and Oxegen Festival, and describes them as amazing experiences: "You are getting mainstream people, families and perhaps even your doctor all coming together and descending on the Bacardi tent!" Even if you managed to miss out on the Chicago house scene in its heyday and his material released every year since 1986, you've probably heard Robert Owens' silky emotive voice on more recent tracks; Walk a Mile in My Shoes with Coldcut for example. Does he ever see his workload slowing down in the future? "I hope not! I think you have to keep going on everything, trying to keep giving from your soul as long as you are able to. I feel lucky that people are still receptive to my thoughts and my music."