* En anglais uniquement
Publicity-shy
Rollo is best-known as one-third of stadium dance act
Faithless and the producer behind sister
Dido's world-dominating success. Born Rowland Constantine O'Malley Armstrong in Kensington, London in 1966, to an Irish publisher father and French poet mother who restricted any access to popular culture, he went on to study philosophy at York University before deciding to pursue a career in dance music. His first production, Felix's "Do You Want Me," was released in 1992, and was followed by several club anthems by the likes of Gloworm,
Kristine W, and
the O.T. Quartet. In 1996, he teamed up with
Maxi Jazz,
Sister Bliss, and
Jamie Catto to form
Faithless, who became one of the most successful bands in U.K. dance history, with ten million sales from six studio albums, many of which were released through
Rollo's own Cheeky label, which he later sold to Sony BMG. An in-demand remixer for the likes of
U2,
Bjork, and
Robbie Williams,
Rollo also formed left-field electronic duo Dusted with
Mark Bates, wrote the World Cup themes for both ITV and the BBC, and co-produced sister
Dido's
No Angel and
Life for Rent, two of the biggest albums of the early noughties. During a break from
Faithless duties,
Rollo published a children's fantasy novel, Safe from Harm, and founded another label, Field Recordings, which is due to release new material from
Rollo under the guise of All Thieves. In 2011, he was nominated for an Oscar for his work on
Dido's "If I Rise," the closing theme from
Danny Boyle's
127 Hours. ~ Jon O'Brien