Legendary Status #02 – Rob Haigh AKA Omni Trio (UK)
Few producers have left their mark on drum and bass quite like Robert Haigh AKA Omni Trio.
He bought a soulful musicality to the genre rarely seen before or since, and his style remains instantly recognisable nearly 30 years on from his first output.
Releasing initially on his own label Candidate Records back in 1993, then catching the ear of Si Colebrooke from Moving Shadow, his music rapidly gained a cult following and the rest is history.
The quality of his productions and the ear catching melodies and refrains he used to make his music are unparalleled in many ways, and there is no question at all that Omni Trio has gone down in history as one of the all time best drum and bass acts. Ask anyone with a pedigree and they will tell you the same.
We are immensely pleased to have been able grab a conversation with this highly respected producer about his early days, his previous releases, and the recent surprise release of a brand new 10 track LP of previously lost material.
Written around the same time as Rogue Satellites and forming what would have been a ‘lost 7th album’, Rob explains a bit more about the music and the reasons behind deciding to release it now.
Rob, welcome INSIDE!
Hello, nice to be here.
Not everybody will know this, but you have a musical history prior to Omni Trio, right?
Yes, in the early ’80s I was in a couple of post-punk groups producing a sound that was almost an early prototype of drum and bass, with tight funky drum loops and repetitive bass lines, but with a top line of scratchy guitars, random noise, spaced out clarinets and vocals. It was mainly a live thing – we supported The Associates, This Heat, Cabaret Voltaire and Clock DVA amongst others.
A couple of years later I went solo and started to experiment with industrial and atmospheric music under the name of SEMA and guested on records by Nurse with Wound.
So how did the transition from your previous styles to UK Hardcore come about? I’m guessing you caught the vibe when you moved to London from your home county of Yorkshire?
Actually, I was doing the industrial/ambient stuff in London. It was when I moved out to Hertfordshire to open a record shop that I discovered the emerging rave scene.
We opened our shop, Parliament Music, in the summer of ’89 and I became exposed to a whole new world of obscure house, rave imports and hardcore white labels, and this is where it all started. By late ’89/’90 some of it was really connecting. The newly formed WARP, R&S Records and Mute were releasing material that, for me, made a direct connection with certain post punk outfits such as Cabaret Voltaire, 23 Skidoo, Daniel Miller etc.
Tracks by the Forgemasters, LFO, Renegade Soundwave, Joey Beltram and later Orbital, and the Nu Groove label were giving me the sort of buzz that I’d known in the post punk era.
You set up your own label in 1993 and this is where the first incarnations of Omni Trio were formed. Your sound was almost totally unique, and still stands out now as being some of the most intricately produced drum and bass out there. What do you think it was about your style that made your work so different?
I’m not really sure. Maybe it was because I was coming from a slightly different background, not just hip-hop and rave. I was bringing some ambient, minimalism, jazz and post-punk to the mix. Also I didn’t just rely on samples. I liked to construct my pieces from scratch and keep the use of samples to a minimum.
We have to talk about Renegade Snares. It’s an absolute all time classic and is still getting absolutely rinsed in DJ sets all over the internet and in clubs around the world. How do you feel about the track now nearly 30 years on?
Yeah, sometimes I’m going about my business and I hear that nine note piano refrain coming from somewhere and for a minute I think, ‘I know that…’ then I realise it’s my tune. It’s incredible that it’s still around. People seem to have have a great fondness for it. And of course, its enduring success on the dancefloor owes a great deal to Foul Play’s blistering remix.
Nobody really used the piano in drum and bass like you did. There was a lot of looped samples quite early on, and later happy hardcore plundered a lot of riffs from Italo house to great effect, but in terms of ‘playing’ the piano and inventing melodies, you were pretty much on your own.
Do you think this has something to do with the longevity of the music you made back then?
Possibly, as I said earlier, although I did use samples, I liked to keep them to a minimum. I liked the Italo style but wanted to experiment with other ways of using the piano. Sometimes a bit jazzy, sometimes a nod to classical and sometimes just reflecting my love of ambient and minimal. The juxtaposition of a melodic refrain, deep bass and accelerated breaks can be quite hypnotic and powerful. It’s not just about hands in the air.
While jungle was all about the drums (and still is), you were using drums in a completely different way. It wasn’t just about looping and ‘choppage’, the editing was in a different league really, and the focus on melody was huge for you too. Was this something that kind of evolved naturally, or was it a conscious decision?
It evolved naturally. I was just trying so many different things with breaks – from sparse and minimal to multiple layers etc, but the key for me was to not rely on software algorithms that do most of the work for you. I painstakingly chopped up all my breaks longhand and that gave me a lot more control and versatility. Break components are like a language, once you get to know it, it becomes just a matter of experimentation.
Melodies and musical phrases mainly come out of improvising. So I’m always inventing riffs and refrains and putting them to one side. Then I try combinations and different keys and so on until I get that moment where it feels just right for the track.
So, this new LP, it’s a 10 track collection of un-released and ‘lost’ material from around the Rogue Satellite era of 2003. Where’s this stuff been hiding, and why choose to release it now?
Yeah, this stuff roughly dates from between 1998 to 2004.
At the start of this year I started to painstakingly go through a pile of boxes of DATs, old floppy discs and mini disks that had been sitting around in my garage. Amongst the debris I discovered a bunch of really decent tracks in various stages of completeness. A couple were completely finished (apart from some tweaking here and there.) I had to rebuild six of them from stems – and a couple were basically reconstructed from scratch. Most of them were in progress at the time I delivered Rogue Satellite and in that sense they would have formed the basis of a follow-up album.
It’s been great fun rediscovering them and bringing them back to life.
This LP is released on Blueskinbadger records, which is a new project you’re involved in, is that correct?
It’s actually a self-release. It was just going to quietly slip out on Bandcamp and the digital platforms, but the interest has been far greater than anticipated so we decided to do a CD – which is technically on my Candidate label. Then Mike from Bluebadger suggested a four track vinyl EP release – so that’s due out later in the year, with the likelihood of a second one to follow.
So, you’re still actively involved with underground dance music? Yeah, I like to keep my hand in it. I’m still a fan. And I never stopped listening to Drum & Bass despite exploring other avenues.
And of course, the million-dollar question: Is there any more material lurking anywhere, and are is there any chance of an Omni Trio comeback?
Categorically I can say that there is nothing left in the vaults – I’ve gone through everything. This is it! There won’t be a volume two or anything else like that.
That’s not to say that I won’t be working with breaks again but definitely not under the guise of Omni Trio.
Since you retired as Omni Trio 18 years ago you’ve been releasing lots of music under your own name of Robert Haigh, and there is still a trace of Omni Trio coming through in some of it. I guess you and the Piano are paired for life?
Yes. Atmospherically and melodically my post Omni stuff is very close to Omni Trio in places. Especially on albums like Creatures Of The Deep, Black Sarabande and Human Remains.
In fact – and I can’t say too much at this stage – a couple of artists from the Over/Shadow stable have remixed tracks from Creatures of the Deep and these will surface on O/S later in the year. They’ve done a wonderful job and I’m really excited about it.
FIND OUT MORE HERE:
https://omnitrio.bandcamp.com/
https://roberthaigh.bandcamp.com/
https://store.2badmice.co.uk/product/omni-trio-above-the-treeline-cd
Editors note: This one is for Catch 22.
