ABOUT THE CONVERSATION
Dr Robert has spent more than four decades writing, recording and performing music as the frontman of The Blow Monkeys.
Recorded during the band’s visit to Barnoldswick, this conversation goes back to his formative years: discovering soul music in King’s Lynn, moving to Australia as a teenager, picking up a guitar and eventually returning to London determined to form a band.
Robert reflects on the persistence behind The Blow Monkeys’ early years, the sudden success of Digging Your Scene, and the political and social ideas that found their way into his songwriting. He also talks candidly about fame, what happens when the attention disappears, and why a genuine love of making music has sustained him through the decades.
With The Blow Monkeys still making new records, the conversation comes right up to the present: why nostalgia alone has never interested him, the band’s forthcoming album, and why recording musicians together in a room — imperfections and all — feels increasingly important in the age of AI.
“It has to come from the music first, and that’s what’ll get you through.”
IN THIS CONVERSATION
01
Finding Music in Australia
Moving to Sydney at 15, discovering punk and live music, picking up his sister’s guitar and realising that music might become more than an interest.
02
Starting The Blow Monkeys
Returning to London in 1981, meeting the musicians who would become his long-term bandmates, and the years of writing, rehearsing and persistence before the record industry took notice.
03
When “Digging Your Scene” Changed Everything
How soul music began reshaping Robert’s songwriting — and how one song suddenly took the band from audiences of hundreds to thousands, Top of the Pops and international success.
04
Politics, Soul Music & SONGWriting
The story behind Digging Your Scene, living in Brixton during the Thatcher years, and the influence of artists such as Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye on combining social ideas with great songs.
05
What Remains When Fame Disappears
Robert reflects on success, returning to small rooms in the 1990s and why, when the attention and record deals disappear, a love of the music itself has to remain.
06
Keeping Music Human in the Age of AI
Why The Blow Monkeys recorded their forthcoming album largely live in the studio — embracing first takes, changing tempos and imperfections as an antidote to increasingly polished and artificial production.
