The story of ‘Insomnia’

It's charted in 17 countries, it's been remixed 16 times (officially) and sold over 800,000 copies in the UK alone. It's 'Insomnia' by Faithless. 20 years deep – to the month – and it's still relevant. After a summer of headlining festivals, Faithless's new album '2.0' went straight to No 1 in October with a clutch of heavyweight remixes: Tiësto, Prydz, Booka Shade, Axwell, High Contrast... Even Avicii flaunted with the 'can't-tamper-with-a-classic' law and gave 'Insomnia' a respectful update.

Read on for a classic tale of DIY independence, a love for Detroit and high-end studio gear, a Beatles connection, the birth of a short-lived sub-genre and an enthusiastic German with a penchant for Porsches...

1994/1995: Electronic music in the UK is booming. Cream and Ministry are sowing the superclub seeds, jungle and drum 'n' bass are born, The Prodigy, Orbital and Underworld are writing the first chapter of the rave premiership. The Chemical Brothers and Leftfield release their debut albums. The US is despatching platinum house and future-focussed techno by the truckload. Producer Rollo, composer/DJ Bliss and Buddhist rapper Maxi form for the first time – and if their original plan had stuck, it would have been the only time.

"We only meant to make the one track, 'Salva Mea'," laughs Bliss. "But straight away we knew we wanted to work with Maxi more. His spaciousness and tone of voice didn't sound anything like the screechiness of handbag house, which was huge at the time. We knew there was more to say than screamy divas could. Faithless is founded around Maxi."

Soul man Maxi had also noticed the limitations of screaming divas and empty lyrics in dance music, although he puts Faithless's success down to Sister Bliss.

"The 'Summer of Love' did a great deal to calm down the football terraces but the cause of music was not advanced very far in my view," he states. "The only reason we hooked up is because Blissy's music had an emotional quality that was entirely lacking in most of the dance music I'd heard."

On the contrary, counters Bliss: "Maxi inspired us that much. His philosophy, his style – he was the bed of the whole album and everything that followed."

Spring 1995: Having been renegotiated from original label Island, 'Salva Mea' is released on Cheeky Records, a London-based indie owned by Rollo and Champion Records founder Mel Medalie. It's a pivotal moment: Faithless would remain independent and self-managed until Cheeky was bought out by Sony BMG almost 10 years later.

"It was incredibly DIY," says Rollo. "We had no manager. And because I co-owned the label I was the one who often did the business side of things. Our musical roles were clearly demarcated, too. That's how we've managed to last so long!"

Continued...

With their first single out (and doing well, hitting No 30 in the UK chart), their debut album 'Reverence' was well underway, written in a garden shed studio in Islington. There was just one thing missing: a second banger for the album to balance the heady pizzicato grandeur of 'Salva Mea'.

"'Reverence' covered it all," says Bliss. "From r'n'b to blues to hip hop with electronic and acoustic instruments. The album was in two parts and we felt needed a club track for the second part of the album. I was DJing most nights of the week, so when we decided to write the track I said 'right, it's going to be called 'Insomnia', 'cause I can't get no sleep'."

Then the light above their heads went bang: Rollo called Maxi who turned around his most famous lyrics within minutes.

"About twenty minutes after putting the phone down," he admits. "A sketch, almost. Then twenty more minutes the following evening in the studio. Then twenty-five minutes in the booth, putting it down. Then home."

"That's the magic of Maxi," grins Bliss, who is equally as casual about the music. "I laid the chords down, worked out the bassline, Rollo added the strings and it came together quick enough for us to spend the afternoon record shopping."

That's easy for her to say. A multi-instrumentalist who's played the piano since the age of five, Bliss describes the musical process as though it's as simple as making a brew. What she's far more passionate about is the inspiration of the track, Rollo's arrangement and the track's eventual mixdown.

"'Insomnia' is actually a tribute to Detroit," she explains. "The 'Moody Mix', which was the first mix we made, is a dedication to Carl Craig. Underworld, too. They showed the world that you can run and run things, building it very slowly. It doesn't have to be 'crash bang wallop'. It's about tension and release. Like good sex. Who wants 'wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am' when you can have that lovely build and a nice bit of foreplay!"

And you wouldn't want long and lusty love-makery on a crappy cheap mattress, either. Location is key: they wrote in a garden shed but they recorded and mixed in London's long-gone Swanyard Studio, a high-tech complex where pop giants like Suede, Pulp and The Petshop Boys recorded during the day, and night sessions were a fraction of the price.

"US house and techno records had a real edge on UK music at the time because they were all recorded in the big studios at night," explains Bliss. "That's why the production sounds so crisp on those US records. So we did the same; it was important to have the sonic expansiveness and use mixing desks like an SSL. It's the difference between cooking on a camping stove or an Aga."

Continued...

Baking done, 'Insomnia' was released in December 1995. It hit a very respectable 17 in the national charts but not, as Maxi recalls, with much help from Radio 1.

"'It has no chorus/hook' – at least, that's what Radio 1 said when they refused to play it," reveals Jazz. "By that stage, none of us thought Faithless would be anything more than a hobby."

Clubland had a different idea, though. 'Insomnia' (and its myriad mix versions from Moody to Tuff to Armand Van Helden's speed garage version) became an essential 12" throughout 95/96, especially around New Year's Eve 1995 thanks to the intro's instantly recognisable clock chimes.

A Top 20 hit with heavy club representation and an imminent album; this would be the end of a release cycle for even the most successful dance singles. Not 'Insomnia', though. And it's all down to one enthusiastic German.

"Juergen Kramer. I remember him well because he had an addiction to buying Porsches. He had to buy garages on the other side of town to hide them from his wife!" Rollo laughs.

"He'd licenced 'Insomnia' to his label for German release. It got to number ninety in the national charts and he refused to let it go. He kept hassling radio DJs to play it, he kept sending it out to club DJs. He wouldn't stop. At one point 'Insomnia' got to number two in the German charts and 'Salva Mea' was at three. Only Faithless and the Beatles have had a number two and number three in the German charts at the same time!"

From here on in, its European success was meteoric. Trouncing the Top 10 in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, France, Denmark and Canada, and No 1 in both Norway and Finland, 'Insomnia' became a worldwide crossover hit.

"We had no idea about this at first," admits Rollo. "Pete Tong heard about it, he dusted it down and started playing it again and he became a champion of it, especially in Ibiza during the summer. We had no choice but to re-release it!"

This time around 'Insomnia' sucker-punched the UK charts at number three; ensuring its status as an immortal 90s-defining anthem for all music fans, not just clubbers – and launching a million copycat tunes.

The record's famous plucked string sound that they'd made their own (firstly on 'Salva Mea') was being pillaged by acts such as Brainbug, Future Breeze and DJ Quicksilver, leading to an entire genre some pundits labelled 'pizzicato house'. A high form of flattery; but the band didn't quite see it that way at the time…

"There were a lot of imitators," Bliss remembers. "I was ringing the lawyers every five minutes! I was a lot more litigious when I was younger. But because we were independent and managed ourselves we were able to make our own decisions. We weren't stuck in a stylistic corner; we could make something different. After 'Insomnia' every single had to be different. So even the rip-off tracks were a really important part of Faithless's development. We had to move on and explore new ideas, which is what the three of us were really driven by – and what's kept us here to this day."

Faithless 2.0 is out now on Ultra Records

[Photos: Hayley Madden/REX Shutterstock]