Robin Hawkins (original) (raw)

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Rob Hawkins
Hawkins with The Automatic in 2009Hawkins with The Automatic in 2009
Background information
Birth name Robin Hawkins
Born (1986-02-11) 11 February 1986 (age 38)
Genres Indie rock, electro, pop punk
Instrument(s) Vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards/synths, flute
Website Robs livejournal

Musical artist

Robin Hawkins (born 11 February 1986) is a vocalist and bassist. He was a member of Welsh band The Automatic.

Rob studied at Cowbridge Comprehensive School, completing his A-levels and going on to take a chance with The Automatic in his gap year. Originally Rob was more interested in playing flute, joining the Cardiff and Vale Youth Orchestra, however later, at the age of 12 after buying a bass from Automatic guitarist James Frost, he taught himself to play and eventually saved enough money to afford his Fender USA Jazz Bass.[1] Hawkins speaks Esperanto as a hobby.[2] He graduated from Cardiff University with a first-class honours degree in Computer Science. His final year project was an investigation of musicality perception in an evolutionary context, the results of which were published in ICMC'14.[3]

Lead vocalist and bassist, Hawkins also has been seen playing a variety of other instruments for The Automatic, most notably the flute during the band's performances of Gold Digger and the synthesizer during performances of "This Is A Fix".[4]

Notable appearances

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On 9 January 2007, he and former band-mate Alex Pennie stood in for Zane Lowe on BBC Radio 1, in a series of stand-ins whilst Zane Lowe was on holiday. The line-up also included fellow band on B-Unique Records, Kaiser Chiefs, as well as The View, Snow Patrol, and The Zutons.[5]

Rob predominantly uses a Fender USA Jazz Bass. He has used and purchased various bases, however prefers his Jazz bass to other models he has used.[6]

  1. ^ "People ask me what it's like to have a famous son". icwales.icnetwork.co.uk (Interview with AnneMarie Hawkins, Robs Mum). 30 October 2006. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  2. ^ "The Automatic's Rob Hawkins on learning Esperanto". Bbc.co.uk. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  3. ^ "μTunes: A Study of Musicality Perception in an Evolutionary Context" (PDF). Speech.di.uoa.gr.
  4. ^ Sadler, Darren (4 January 2008). "Automatic For The People! Brit Crusaders Steeled to Kick-start UK rock". Rock Sound. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  5. ^ "Bands stand in for Lowe on Radio 1". digitalspy.co.uk (Matt Houghton). 5 December 2006. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  6. ^ "From the feature Automatic Success, Video interview with Robin Hawkins, the equipment Rob uses". Show Me How To Play. Archived from the original on 20 November 2007. Retrieved 10 June 2008.