Career
Jones records and produces the majority of his material by himself in the home studio in his bedroom. The VBS (Voluntary Butler Scheme) uses the technique of live looping at gigs, playing in parts on various instruments such as guitar, guitar synthesizer, drums, kazoo and ukulele. The debut album At Breakfast, Dinner, Tea was released on 7 September 2009 on Split Records. from the album have been championed by the NME, British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 1, British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 2, British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 6, and XFM, and The VBS has played sessions for Huw Stephens, Marc Riley, Dermot O"Leary and Jon Kennedy.
Declared "one to watch" in publications as diverse as Q magazine and The Sun, even Suggs has stepped out and declared himself a fan, stating in an interview that "they are a very good band".
The Voluntary Butler Scheme came about in 2008, when a chance spotting on MySpace led to Rob Jones being asked to play a gig in Birmingham. He went ahead, playing 6 songs to a crowd of about 12, and subsequently decided that he no longer wanted to play with bands and that The VBS was the path he wished to follow.
Since 2008, The Voluntary Butler Scheme has toured with Duke Special, Joe Lean & the Jing Jang Jong, Brakes, Jason Lytle (Grandaddy) & Adam Green. In July 2008 The Voluntary Butler Scheme did a session on the Dermot O"Leary Radio 2 show - performing "Trading Things In" & a cover of "Build Maine Up Buttercup".