"Rob started djing at 18 and did his first club in 1983 whilst studying politics at leeds university, clubterranean mixed the new rock and electro sounds of that time , new order , jesus and mary chain etc.. with modern hip hop and 70s funk and northern soul,in 86 he started the infamous thursday nights at le phonographique which soon mutated into an almost exclusively house night airing the sounds coming out of chicago and new york at that time mainly on trax and dj international and was attented by a mix of black n white, student and locals and became leeds first house music night with ques around the block.
His girlfriend at the time lived in brighton and with mixed feelings " i loved the vibe in leeds during that period " , he now says, rob relocated to the south coast where he ran the escape and zap clubs and by early 88 had his own club , downbeat.With norman cook and carl cox as residents this was a place of frenetic acid house activity." i was so lucky to experience the incredible, but quite different energies in the north in 86 and 87 and then in the south in 88 first hand."Stringent backward over zealous licensing laws and perhaps too much of a good time had by all meant downbeat only ran for just over a year although its leeds counterpart that rob left behind with george from nightmares on wax to run was thriving up in yorkshire.
During 88 rob and some pals had begun designing t shirts for fun ridiculing the establishment and corporate business in particular and " mau mau " was born.BY 1990 mau mau were wholesaling their trademark quirky t shirts and a full mens casual clothing range all over the world and had shops in brighton and covent garden.
But the desire to get back to music burned and the medicine bar in islington opened in 1994 to compliment the booming club scene , " our twenties were over, we were the market, we needed somewhere to go that was slightly more laid back but still had djs playing cutting edge sounds", the bar was an instant success and is still heralded as londons first dj bar.medicine bar birmingham soon followed and in 2001, medicine shoreditch.Last year saw rob team up with steve blonde of fabric fame and the result was the newly revamped old queens head on the essex road and the queen bodecea." music has always been and still is the priority in my places" ...
carol- anne dexter,may 2007
