Rob Russell Davies
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Rob Russell Davies: About Rob
Dividing Time
I suppose I divide up into 2 people. Or perhaps you could say that I'm one person with 2 jobs. By day I'm a songwriter, delving into the imagination and always searching for new ideas. But by night I'm out in the clubs / pubs and cabaret circuit bashing away at my keyboards and doing cover versions of other people's songs.
This website is mainly about the songwriting side... why... because that's what I love doing most of all! Here, warts and all, is my story so far...
Rob Russell Davies
For those in a bit of a rush, and just time for a quick burger and chips, here's...
The Short Story:
Now based in Leeds in the UK, Rob grew up in South Africa where he studied classical music while playing in stage shows, orchestras and military bands. After a reasonable teenage rebellion he let the hair grow and headed down the rock and pop route. Early bands include the funky Flagship, show band Wizard and the duo Anthem.
He moved back to the UK to join Wozani (also known as Jester Turtle) and later formed the duo Sample This with Tim Delaney. In 1996 he was selected as the first duelling pianist from the north of England for the new Jumpin Jaks venues springing up all over the UK. He now performs live in cabaret venues, clubs and pubs under the name Rob Russell.
Rob began song writing in earnest in the 90s and his first musical 'The Garden of Eden' was premiered at The Playhouse Theatre in Durban / South Africa in 1995.
He's the first songwriter to win the Tipperary International Song of Peace contest twice winning in 2003 and 2006. A finalist and semi-finalist in the UK Songwriting Competition 2005 he's recently had songs published in the USA and radio play in the UK, Ireland, USA, South Africa and Australia.
For those with a little more time on their hands, and time for a full 3 course meal with coffee and a mint, here's...
The Long Story:
The Bug - Durban / South Africa
It all began as a kid really. I still remember the thrill of hearing an arrangement I'd just done of Fiddler On The Roof for our kids band Peanuts. The line-up was 2 recorders, a melodica (remember them?), piano, trumpet, trombone and a snare drum. But it kind-a worked and it was something I could direct, control and expand on. The bug was there, and I knew I loved writing.
By the age of 14 life had taken many different directions. By now I was studying both piano and trumpet, but for the first time, it wasn't just practice... practice... practice. Now I was starting to get involved with different things and actually having fun with my music! There were stage shows with the Durban Opera Group, the Westville Theatre Company / trumpet with local orchestras including the Durban Symphony and even a long stint with the local military band (although marching was never my forte!).
Money was starting to trickle in too, I was getting gigs in restaurants, weddings and other functions. School work? Well I'm afraid it took a bit of a back seat... I wouldn't actually leave school for another few years, but in a sense, I'd left already. You see, I already knew my lot in life. Yep, you got it, I was a muso!
My Rock 'n' Roll - Southern Africa
My best friend at the time, Ian (the Bean) lent me a couple of records to listen to. Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Now Mr. Emerson was not only classically trained and a wonderful keyboard player but he did interesting things too... like stick knives in the keyboards, pick at the piano strings, bounce Hammond organs up and down the stage and play 'em backwards. Then there were the strange and wonderful sounds he got out of early Moog synthersizers. I wanted a bit of this, this was my rock 'n' roll - get me into a band and call me a keyboard player!
First professional band was called Flagship and was a good opportunity to work with some of South Africa's best musicians including drummer/singer Richard Pickett and guitarist Maurice Fry. As luck would have it, our style turned out to be funk, rather than progressive rock ... think Wild Cherry and Earth Wind and Fire. A great experience and an excellent grounding for the timing and feel side of music.
Taken at the 'Is American' club in Port Elizabeth. From L to R: Maurice Fry, Richard Pickett, club bouncer Dennis, yours truly and Gary Ellis
Then after a year, I joined up with one of the country's best known show bands: Wizard. For over 10 years we gigged all over South Africa and Rhodesia (as it then was) before finally settling down in Johannesburg. We played 3 or 6 month residencies in different hotels usually being accommodated in the hotel itself. These were fun times, and perhaps ex-UK prime minister Harold's words best sum it up - 'you've never had it so good'! I also found the time to revisit my classical roots, putting in a 3 year music correspondence course at the University of South Africa.
Times change. There was new technology, money was getting tighter, there was Saturday Night Fever and, of course there was... disco. Show bands started turning into trio's and duo's. Wizard didn't so much as split up, as split into 2 duos. Georg and I formed Anthem. For just over a year we gigged around Jo'burg and Durban, before finally making a few phone calls and decisions and moving to the UK.
Wizard during our 'Holiday Inn' days. From L to R: Paul Clifford, Rob, Glen Ashford and Georg Voros Anthem was never shy of taking risks and doing different stuff - our version of 'Tainted Love' sometimes went on for over 10 minutes and included the 'Pink Panther Theme' and Georg's 'wandering about the stage' drum solo! Home From Home - UK Two of our old musician friends from SA had relocated to Leeds in the UK. George Van Dyk and Graham Clifford were getting a big following as Jester Turtle and had signed a publishing deal with Lorimar. It was decided to expand the duo to a full band. Perfect for Georg and myself, and with the addition of 2 Leeds lads and some occasional help from London based percussionists and ethnic dancers the band Wozani was born. (Wozani, by the way is Zulu for 'come and join'). This was no cover-version band, we had some great tunes penned by George and Graham in what's best described as a kind of African rock meets British pop. Wozani did well for a few years, cutting an album in London, gigging in some of the best venues around the country and building up a good following, especially in Leeds. But the big break we all hoped for and half expected never came. Why? Well that could fill another website, and believe me we're all still debating it! But personally I think that the main reason was politics and a bit of bad luck. Keep in mind we were a mainly white South African band in the late 80s. Of course, no-one ever tells you why their initial interest suddenly goes cold - they just suddenly become unavailable, tied up in meetings and secretaries say things like 'don't phone us... just leave us your telephone!'. I find the political thing particularly annoying as Wozani's lyrics were full of stories of black Africa, were very critical of the apartheid regime and totally positive towards the idea of change and the rainbow nation soon to come. Wozani's UK album cover. Full Circle Wozani later reformed in South Africa with some success and a few chart hits. But by now I had put down a few roots in the UK, was starting to get a broad Yorkshire accent (well.... not really!), and was quite content to keep pluggin' away this side of the water. Tim Delaney and I formed the duo Sample This which played clubs, pubs and cabaret venues all over the north of England. We were sometimes billed as an 'award-winning' duo, although we never actually got the clocks to prove it! (Another long story for another website!). Sample This turned out to be quite a milestone for me. For the first time I was arranging all the music side of things and programming everything on computer. I was starting to get those same feelings I had as a kid when I did my first arrangements. Once again I could bend and control ideas and turn the songs into something 'original'. I had gone full circle and now it felt right to take the next step and write my own stuff. Very much the Sample This club photo look! Never was a good idea to spend 10 days in the Ford Transit Tim (!) My first projects were musicals (yeah, I know... nothing like diving in the deep end!). The Garden Of Eden was set on a drugs farm in South America, was full of Latin rhythms, melodies and dances and was great fun to write and record. During a month over in South Africa I managed to generate some interest with local people which led to the musical being premiered at The Durban Playhouse in 1995. This production was sponsored by the Volkswagen car company and featured a cast of teenagers from the KwaZulu-Natal area. I was flown over as the musical director and I'm sure you can imagine the thrill of seeing something you've written come to life before your own eyes, especially in Durbs where I grew up! Just about the full cast of The Garden Of Eden. Quite a challenge to try and control this lot! Great kids and I'm sure quite a few of you have gone on to do well. Jumpin Jaks Returning to the UK I gigged around with Rock 'n' Roll band Blondin for a few months and then started going out solo under the name Rob Russell. In case you're wondering, I didn't use Rob Davies as there's already a famous Rob Davis who used to be in 70s band Mud and who later co-wrote Kylie's 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' amongst other things. So I went with the middle name Russell for the live stuff and write under the name Rob Russell Davies. In the mid nineties a friendly agent told me to go and do an audition in Bradford for a new concept that was being launched around the country. This turned out to be for the new Jumpin Jaks chain of night-clubs springing up around the UK. The new concept?... Jumpin Jaks' duelling pianos! I'll do my best to explain: 2 pianos on stage painted with fiery red flames. A piano player/singer manning each one. The music?... very party orientated and in your face, the players expected to be complete showmen and women! In many venues the audience dance on stage all around the pianos and at first they were even allowed to dance on the pianos themselves! That, of course led to quite a few drunken individuals falling off, and the idea was scrapped. (Enough material there for another website too!) It was fun, crazy, sometimes out of control, but when it worked it was brilliant, the sound system could be anything from good to... well not so good! We got to play in Jaks venues all over the UK from Aberdeen, Glasgow and Carlisle to Lincoln, Wigan, Coventry, Swansea and Southampton. At the last count I think there were 25 Jumpin Jaks in the UK, but check their website because it's changing all the time. For me , the best part was meeting the other great keyboard players from all over the UK. Please guys and girls, if you read this, send me a pic to add to the Jaks section! You play on them, you jump on top of them, you do your thing at the front of the stage, and now and again you fall off it! Catch 22 Chickens and Eggs On the writing front I put together a second musical False Prophet. Loosely based on the Waco siege in Texas this was always meant to be a big project with big effects, non-stop music, dynamic singing and larger than life characters. Before I'd finished it I decided to put together a 'taster' CD of 4 songs to try and generate some interest in putting it on. And this is where I realised my fundamental problem with writing musicals. It goes like this... You send the CD to someone important and if you get a response it's something like 'quite like it, where can I see it'. So you say, 'that's why I sent you the CD - I need you to put it on, I need your help'. And of course they reply, 'unless I actually see it, I'm not really interested!' Chicken and the egg situation. Believe me, I did try quite a few different ideas, too numerous to go into here, but they usually ended up with that chicken and egg catching the 22 bus. Small is Easier A musical takes months or even years to write. It's fun but very hard work and you still end up with only one product to try and sell. Individual songs are smaller and you can say a lot in 3 or 4 minutes. In the last few years I've spent more time on writing songs in lots of different styles: pop, blues, ballads, jazz, country, boy-band songs, girl-band songs and African songs. Like most songwriters, I'm sending stuff here, there and everywhere and will soon be selling direct on the net. Please check out the 'listen' page on this website to hear some of the songs. In 2003 'Give it a Minute' won the Tipperary Song of Peace Competition and this year 'Let Me Find Peace' managed to win it again. 'Turn Around' was voted a finalist in the UK Songwriting Competition 2005 with 'Words You Didn't Say' coming in a semi-finalist. 'Haunted Eyes' was chosen to kick off the new 'Ride The Train' compilation CD. This year, 'Haunted Eyes' was a semi-finalist in the UK Songwriting competition while 'Invisible Ink' got an honorable mention in the Lyric Writing Competition of the Sept/Oct issue of American Songwriter Magazine. Rob and Aiden with the Waterford Crystal trophy in 2003. Telling Tales One person who's sang on quite a lot of my stuff, Lee Clifford, once said to me that I write in 'so many' different styles. Well in a way that's a good thing, but it did get me wondering if there was a unifying factor in the songs. Something that really makes the songs 'original'! Only a few weeks ago it hit me like the proverbial bolt of lightning, and now it just seems so obvious. All my songs have one huge thing in common - they all tell a story. Because I've always hated generalised lyrics, or using words just because they 'sound right' I've always subconsciously told tales with beginnings, middles and ends. I go from point A to point B and trust the listener to follow me on my journey. You could say I'm still writing musicals - they're just a lot shorter! If you want to pigeonhole it, then I suppose I'm a narrative songwriter. So there you go. Thanks for taking the time to read the fuller version of my story so far. Please have a listen to the song extracts and browse around the pics. You can read the song lyrics by clicking on the titles. Also drop me a line in the guest book, I'd love to hear from you. I'm particularly interested in sharing songwriting ideas, opportunities, good and bad experiences and tips with other people. Use the page as a 'forum' if you like and let's help each other out. (People keep telling me I need all the help I can get - not quite sure how they mean that though!) The first CD Telling Tales is now available at CD Baby. Please visit the buy page or click on the CD link on the right to get a copy. The album and individual songs are now also available as downloads - visit the 'buy' page for more info. The new CD 'Crossing The River' is now availabe at CD Baby. All the best... Rob.
