Rob St John profile picture

Rob St John

not a stage name

About Me

i was brought up in lancashire, and now live in edinburgh. i play a bit of music, and have been doing properly for just over a year now. hope you like it.
i like to think i have a more than healthy disregard for jack johnson .
i have a brand new ep nearly finished, to be released in the late autumn. in the meantime, my home recorded ep (featuring the one-off national geographic cover art) can now be bought through paypal, so it saves hassles with cheques and post and all that. as before, its £3 only (including postage, and the 20p paypal charge me...bastards), and features these tracks: 1) a red heron 2) paper ships 3) domino 4) i remember when this was all fields 5) there will 6) the acid test 7) tipping in 8) the wicker basket 9) the tinderstruck fields: all wrapped up safe and sound and sent out asap. click on this button:
im luckly enough to play with a lot of talented and inspiring people. i play banjo and melodica in the great bear and play/ruin a few other edinburgh act's live shows with off key warblings. there's a lot of good stuff going on in edinburgh currently, have a look at fife kills and tracer trails

The tracks here are all first takes, all the first or second recording immediately after writing the song, or live stuff. I like that best, it's the essence of the song, even if they are scratchy and have a few slips in them. I think it's important not to lose that initial spark, to package and rejig the new ideas you have, and so these are the recordings I'm most proud of.

I also have a couple of older and live(r) tracks here:
little lamp records
and here:
fife kills
and videos of 'a red heron' and 'which time to see her' (a great bear cover), recorded live at the penicuik arts centre on the 31st march 2007 here:
a red heron
and here
which time to see her
Please download, share, burn, upload, rip....all those great amercianisms.... my music...im not precious about it. If you've bought a cd...copy it ...im just happy for people to hear it.
Things people have said after seeing recent gigs:
"Post folk as fuck!!"
"He goes from quiet to quieter over an extended period of time!"
"He wears a black shirt well!"


Myspace Layouts - Myspace Editor - Image Hosting

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 1/18/2006
Band Website: [email protected]
Band Members: RM St John and these misfits who turn up as and when needed/they feel like it:
*RW Waters - Harmonium Pandemonium
*Jess Burnett-Wain - Double Bass
*Bill Pierce - Assorted Child's Instruments
*Sten House - More Children's Instruments, Piano, Recording...lots and lots of schemes and plans
*Bart Owl - glockenspiel, beard
*My Pablo Roots - wheezes and grumbles, sideburns.
Influences: Sleep. Rivers. Tea. Trees. Building fires (not in an arson sort of way).

It's hard to objectively say what influences you, I guess..here's some people what i like:

Syd Barrett, 'Atom Heart Mother', Joanna Newsom, Tom Waterhouse, My Kappa Roots, The Wah Bandits and The Deputy of Funk, Bert Jansch, Bill Callahan, Nina Nastasia, Yann Tiersen, Jeffrey Lewis, Cat Power, Ivor Cutler, Adrian Crowley, 'A Sand County Almanac',

Alfred Wainwright, a notable and lovable radge.
Sounds Like: librarian pop for the leafy gent
Record Label: Little Lamp Records / Fife Kills:
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

away..away..no reply

hello am in the interweb blackspot...cornwall. hence, no replying to anyone...anything really, im very very sorry.  hope you're all well, emily tom and eagleowl...i will send cd's as soon as they...
Posted by Rob St John on Wed, 08 Aug 2007 03:54:00 PST

peru, festivals and an administrative backlog

firstly, im sorry to those of you who have ordered cd's...and havent got them yet...ive been in deepest darkest peru for 6 weeks, then busy playing festivals.  today is the first day i am doing n...
Posted by Rob St John on Tue, 17 Jul 2007 05:47:00 PST

i am looking for gigs in cornwall..can you help?

well, all is pretty hectic at the moment, the next few weeks will mean a lot of juggling of university and music, but it'll all work out ok...it always does..that's what i tell myself.  on wednes...
Posted by Rob St John on Sun, 25 Feb 2007 07:59:00 PST

this is new /swap me your cd/art/whatever for mine.......

i have put up a new demo today. it was recorded yesterday in one take, with one microphone and features pablo clark on other vocals.  im really proud of it.  its a bit rough, but w...
Posted by Rob St John on Sun, 28 Jan 2007 08:42:00 PST

Review in The List

Published in issue 565, December 13th 2006. Five stars!! "A rare Edinburgh appearance from Irish singer songwriter Adrian Crowley always promised to be special, particularly in combination with an eve...
Posted by Rob St John on Thu, 14 Dec 2006 10:52:00 PST

Is This Music? review

Adrian Crowley/Doogie Paul/Rob St John - Bedlam Theatre (Edinburgh) While the comparisons come from a narrow and predictable field of acoustic troubadours, that should not suggest Rob St John is anyt...
Posted by Rob St John on Thu, 07 Dec 2006 09:16:00 PST

a red heron

after exhaustive research, i have finally tracked down a real life red heron.  unfortunately, the 'red' heron does not strictly exist.  it is a local term for the well known Purple Heron (A...
Posted by Rob St John on Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:03:00 PST

live songs

Today I've put up two songs that were recorded at a gig at the Bedlam Theatre a week or so ago.  Have a look at the tracer trails promoter site for the review of the gig.  Jeez it was cold.&...
Posted by Rob St John on Sun, 19 Nov 2006 08:47:00 PST

The Smoke & The City, and recording...

The Smoke and The City is the provisional title (it changes daily) of a new sound I'm very proud of, I'm going to upload it this week hopefully.  It's pretty long, at least double the length of u...
Posted by Rob St John on Sun, 08 Oct 2006 11:06:00 PST

Syd Barrett

This all seems a bit insincere posting condolences in a blog...but a huge loss... he remains a huge influence on me....the musical and sonic expermentation, a pioneer, such poetic and whimsical l...
Posted by Rob St John on Wed, 12 Jul 2006 08:11:00 PST