Robin Hawkins, commonly known as Rob is the primary vocalist and bassist for Welsh band The Automatic.
Education
Rob studied at Cowbridge Comprehensive School, completing his A-levels and going on to take a chance with The Automatic in his gap year. He has graduated from Cardiff University with a Bachelor of Science 1st class degree in Computer Science.
Career
Originally Rob was more interested with 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, self-teaching himself and then eventually saving enough money to afford his Fender United States of America Jazz Bass. Hawkins speaks Esperanto as a hobby. His final year project was an investigation of musicality perception in an evolutionary context, the results of which were published in ICMC"14.
Lead vocalist and bassist, Robin 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".
Notable appearances
On 9 January 2007, he and former band-mate Alex Pennie stood in for Zane Lowe on British Broadcasting Corporation 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.
Equipment
Rob predominantly uses a Fender United States of America Jazz Bass which he saved and purchased before the band were signed in 2002, he has however used and purchased various bases, however prefers his Jazz bass to other models he has used. Ashdown bass amps
Fender United States of America Jazz Bass
Boss Bass Overdrive
Boss Chromatic Tuner
SansAmp Bass DI (x2)
Dunlop.73mm Plectrums
Musicman Stingray Electric Bass.