In this Drooble blog interview, British musician, producer and а single father Robin Clark a.k.a Vo.iD tells a profound story about re-discovering music making thanks to his young, musically talented son. That, and creating music from the heart and mind that he hopes will make people think and enjoy while taking care of a musical garden that never looks quite the same, thanks to a diverse and far-reaching musical taste. Vo.iD’s journey is inspiring and thoughtfully, humorously shared with the Drooble audience by the man himself. Read on…

Greetings, Vo.iD! How do we find you today?

Quite happy — I am Discovering the delights of the amazing tones I can get from my new Revelation RJT Quad Guitar! I hate being unfaithful to my former guitar love of Fender, but man, these Revelation guitars are something else!

Also ‘been rediscovering the way-out-there Aussie 70’s band Spectrum’s album “Milesago ” … it’s giving me ideas which I think I will use on the current album project. I love finding obscure music that inspires me to write more!

Your music is fuelled by struggle against the “world of normality.” How does making art help you make sense of a world that seems turned against you?

I wouldn’t say that I think the world has turned against me, and most certainly, the world we live in today is far from normal. There are just too many things going on where innocent and most genuine people struggle and suffer to get by with everyday life — more so in the place we like to call civilised society, whilst a minority make and break all the rules to suit themselves and live in luxury whilst having more wealth than they will ever be able to spend and not a care for those who suffer… it’s just wrong and, hopefully, one day things will change before it’s too late for us all.

And hey, before I get too deep into all of this, I find making music is a good way of expressing my feelings and frustrations sometimes… it won’t change anything, but I feel better for writing about it, just as I do writing a song about Happy times or Sad Times. Music is often a reflection of life and emotions. I think that’s why music is so magical, and making your own music even more so when people say they like it … makes me feel glad I wrote it!

You mentioned a “mental explosion” inside your brain. Would you like to elaborate on this fateful accident?

It was nearly fatal more than fateful as I had a complete meltdown and took an overdose. I look back and know it was a cry for help from the hopeless situation I thought I was in and had buried it all deep inside me. It taught me an important lesson in life that there is always hope, no matter how bad things seem; and the most important things in life are the simple pleasures you can enjoy for free, and my children, my family and good friends… and, of course, music!

You have a huge list of musical influences. How did you cultivate such a wide and diverse musical taste?

Cultivate is a good word to explain it, really, as with time — if you have a musically intriguing mind like I have, you just want to cultivate all the different varieties into it. I think if you stay genre-specific or shut out certain types of music, it’s like only allowing roses, tulips, and daffodils in your garden … year after year, it would just become boring to look at the same flowers again and again. I like to let all varieties in — maybe some wild flowers and weeds, too, so every year is a different explosion of colour and variety but I still have the roses, tulips, and daffodils in my memories. And hey, sometimes it’s fun to get them back in my musical garden again!

On a less horticultural note, though, I think many great artists and nearly all that I admire the most have always been diverse in their musical output — mainly because they too have had many musical influences in their lives and enjoy being creative with sound! Or to finish on an artsy note, there is a vast, growing multicoloured palette of sound and genres out there… so why not try them all, rather than just sticking to black and white? In the end, all that creates is grey!

You have been playing music for over 20 years! How do you find the drive and inspiration to keep going all this time?

Well, in those 20 plus a few more years, about 10 of them were trying to be a family man and father of three most amazingly beautiful and talented children. And then 6 of those 10 years were spent raising them as a single dad, which I suppose is very good practice for developing both drive and inspiration. And my two girls are still home with me now to keep me going! Although I think the inspiration mainly came from watching my son become a most amazing musician, songwriter, and live performer — almost living my dream.

So that inspired me, 2 years ago, to rebuild my studio at home, pick up the guitar and start writing and producing my own music again. At first, I really thought my music is gonna be stale and dated, but I think the life experiences and the emotional and mental roller-coaster ride I had been on the previous few years, along with getting back into going to gigs and festivals with my eldest two kids and discovering new music and bands again with them (the garden had become very boring during the husband years!) helped for sure. I am so far happy with what I have produced and enjoyed so much getting my son in to play and record the most awesome lead guitar on “Desendance” — the first track I wrote and recorded in the rebuilt studio.

What is it about psychedelia and psychedelic music that you really enjoy?

It’s just that I think you can lose yourself when music has a psychedelic vibe to it… like, I remember hearing “Strawberry Fields ” for the first time and thinking “Wow!” … this really is something else. It makes its own rules, it experiments with sound like tape loops, backward drums, slowed down vocals… it just sorta takes sound to a different level. i think you hear well made psychedelic songs and your ears and brain go “What was that?! I wanna hear that again!” And I love the fact that sound experimentation never goes away and sorta remains almost timeless. I love how people have compared my “Happy Tune” to Syd Barrett — it’s just an honour to be compared to such a genius. Mind you, being a Crazy Diamond too helps — madness is what keeps me sane.

Would you enjoy fame or prefer to stay in the shadows – and why?

I never was in The Shadows… couldn’t get on with Cliff! Though I still that Hank Marvin bloke could play the odd bit of lead guitar every now and then!

How is your local music scene in your perspective? Do you feel like you belong there?

It’s nearly all cover bands on the live scene here, so it just isn’t my scene at all!

What is your all-time favorite record and how did it change you as an artist?

Now that’s a BIG question with my diverse taste! So much of the music I listen to changes me as an artist. I’II Hear a little riff or guitar sound in a song I’m listening to and think “Now I could change that round a bit and use it in that song…” I would say probably hearing the Beatles as a child was what created my passion for music and inspired me to learn how to play and write my own songs. But then, so did hearing Bowie for the first time as with The Kinks, The Who, Floyd, Zeppelin, XTC, Biffy, Wolf Alice, Foals, Courtney Barnett, etc. I just love it when I hear a song and think “Wow, this is something else!” That recently happened whilst listening to Glass Animals… I suppose my all time favourite records would have to be the ones I return to constantly, so that would be anything by the Beatles after Rubber Soul, Dark Side, and WYWH — Pink Floyd, Bowie’s Ziggy, Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane, Who’s Next and Quadrophenia. Early Zeppelin albums up to Physical Graffitti, Tull’s Thick as a Brick, Biffy’s Puzzle… oh, the list is endless! I’ll stop here… oh, musn’t forget XTC, though, they don’t get the musical praise they deserve!

What are your favorite software and hardware tools for music production?

I use Cubase 7.5 with M-Audio project mixers for automation with lots of various other hardware items. It’s different on each song, really! I also use N.I. Kontakt and various VST’s for aural inspiration and textures. I tend to write mainly on the guitar, though, so I tend to use Cubase like a never ending multitrack tape machine to give it a real feel. One reviewer actually thought I used analog tape… but hey, it’s all about experimenting to get your own sorta unique sound, which I Hope I will achieve some time!

Out of all the live shows you played, which one was the most memorable, and why?

When I headlined Glastonbury with my son and his bandmates backing me with an absolute blinding set… then I woke up and realised it had all just been a dream!

What is your biggest musical goal?

To be the scorer of the winning goal for Birmingham City in the 89th Minute of the F.A. Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, then at the final whistle, I’d plug me favourite guitar into the P.A. System and burst into an ultimate version of Queen’s “We are the Champions ” with all me fellow Blue Nose supporters singing along with joy! If not that, then Sex & Drugs & Rock’n’ Roll in no particular order!

How has being on Drooble helped you as a musician?

Drooble has already re-inspired me to continue with my writing and production of my current album project. It had come to a halt… it’s just inspiring to get feedback and praise from all the lovely Drooblers out there! I’ve created an awesome Press Pack from it too… something I’ve wanted to do for ages. You guys are here to help all us unsigned and unheard of musos and all you ask from us is our time… so many other media platforms are just after grabbing money to promote our musical dreams! All you ask of us is our time to help you spread the word and get our music out to people worldwide. I really hope Drooble goes on to be a household name like Spotify and gets people into some of the fantastic music you have on here already, and also help fellow musicians collaborate and advise and promote themselves. Carry on DROOBLIN’… U ROCK!