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Robin Phillips - Vocals, Keyboard
Robin started playing the piano and trumpet when he was eight years old.
In his early teens he spent some time on music courses where he discovered
his love for jazz music. It was on one of these courses that an instructor
heard him singing and decided to put him in the main show – playing
the piano and singing Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me with the small
backing group of a 35 piece jazz orchestra!
Robin started writing songs at the age of fifteen after deciding that no
one else was saying what he wanted to hear. Around this time he was
playing in a band made up of friends from the local school - the guitarist
in that band is now Dum Dums star drummer, Stuart ‘Baxter’ Wilkinson.
Robin continued to write songs whilst at college and university and recorded
a solo album. Only 25 copies were ever made and he hopes it will stay
that way! Whilst abroad in Vancouver he played major roles in two musicals
and started work writing his own – that is still happening.
Having returned from a year of frolics abroad, Robin sang in a soul band
for a while having the pleasure (yeah right?! – RP) of supporting Billie
(soon to be Mrs Evans) and Fats and Small. The gig at Oxford Uni was
going fine until Billie decided the audience of students was too drunk for
her to perform!!
Robin met Claire playing in the Big Band at university and roped her into
performing for the world debut of his material – Why Don’t We?
- at a university talent show. They have spent the last year with Graeme
putting together what is now Conmoto.
Deciding whether to put the gruelling effort into becoming a jazz musician
or following his own compositions was a tough choice. It was probably
the failure to decide on either that has led to the current merger of his
favourite music styles: funk, jazz, and pop.
“It was really surprising to put songs together that we’d written
separately to find out that they really work in the same space. I’ve
been waiting for this for a long time, I’m glad we can now show the
world what we’ve got,” said Robin.
Claire Brock - Drums, Backing Vocals
Born in the grounds of Lady Aster’s house, Claire was obviously headed
for a life full of dillusions of grandeur! Her next claim to fame was being
given her first chocolate bisciut by Ringo Starr, nice! At the age of two
she decided the big smoke was all too much for a delicate being such as herself,
and moved to the Isle of Wight. This is where she took to music (thanks mom!)
like a little fishy in a bit of H2O!!
After trying sucking, bowing and plucking various instruments, at the age
of 10, Claire discovered she had rather a penchant for banging!! Since then
she’s out classed, out manoevered and out decibelled all the competition
in all percusive fields, from funk to jazz, Sibelius to Shostakovich!
After being stalked by Robin, 4 years and several restraining orders later,
Claire finally agreed to join him in a musical venture, and bought gray along
for the ride, and here we are.
Claire now enjoys writing songs (indeed she believes the bath is the most
productive place for writing lyrics!), and having the chance to open that
loud mouth of hers on stage (oh yeah, otherwise known as singing), best of
all though, she can groove with the best of ‘em.
Graeme Howell - Bass
Graeme’s playing career started during the 1920’s when he played
tea chest bass in ‘pork belly’ Wilson’s bagpipe blues band.
After many successful years touring the workingmen’s pubs of Hull,
Graeme quit the band. Later citing the fact that no sane man could
ever classify the bagpipes as a musical instrument, he entered the phase
that history now calls the green period.
Traveling far and wide, secretly developing his theories of low resonance
weaponry, Graeme eventually stumbled upon Chu Wingle living in a small hut
in Barnsley. Chu Wingle, better known for his 48 volume autobiography
entitled ‘Fine Draft’ subtitled ‘Never try swimming up
the Amazon’, taught Graeme about the joy of more than one string as
well as warning him of the evil people who worshiped too many strings.
Graeme took his newfound knowledge and vowed one day to own an instrument
of four strings, still a holy number according to Chu Wingle. He began
working as a very little chef just west of the pig farms now known as Heathrow
Airport, still secretly developing his theories of low resonance weaponry.
After many years diligent cheffing Graeme acquired the instrument he had
long sort after and moved to Norfolk feeling the wide-open spaces better
for the somewhat violent experiments he was beginning to carry out.
Just under a year ago Graeme was discovered by his fellow members of Conmoto
who persuaded him to use his powers, not for evil, but for good.
© Pilkington Worthington
Footnote – It is believed that Graeme is still secretly developing
his theories of low resonance weaponry.
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