Rob St. John is an English writer, artist and musician.

Early life

Rob St. John was born in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, and spent his childhood living on

Pendle Hill Pendle Hill is in the east of Lancashire, England, near the towns of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Brierfield, Clitheroe and Padiham. Its summit is above mean sea level. It gives its name to the Borough of Pendle. It is an isolated hill in the Pe ...

Career

Music

St. John's debut album, ''Weald'', was released in November 2011, and received a positive reception from critics.Carle, Darren (2011)
Rob St. John – Weald
, '' The Skinny'', 1 November 2011, retrieved 2012-04-09Skrebels, Joe (2011)
Rob St. John – Weald
,

This Is Fake DIY ''DIY'' is a United Kingdom-based music publication, in print and online. Its free print edition is released monthly with a physical circulation of 40,000 in UK venues, clubs and shops. DIY Magazine ''DIY'' was launched in 2002 by then-editor ...

, 21 November 2011, retrieved 2012-04-09Hamilton, Billy (2011)
Rob St. John ''Weald''
", Drowned in Sound, 22 November 2011, retrieved 2012-04-09

described it as "special, surprising and utterly magnificent". Andrew Collins of

BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

named it his album of the year.Collins, Andrew (2011)
St John's Ambience
, Where Did It All Go Right, 24 November 2011, retrieved 2015-05-19 St. John wrote the original music for the

Jeremy Deller Jeremy Deller (born 30 March 1966) is an English people, English conceptual, video and installation artist. Much of Deller's work is Collaboration, collaborative; it has a strong political aspect, in the subjects dealt with and also the Idealiz ...

and Nick Abrahams film The Bruce Lacey Experience,IMDB
The Bruce Lacey Experience
, retrieved 2015-05-19 and in 2012 produced the Folklore Tapes "Pendle, 1612" compilation album with David Chatton Barker, commemorating the anniversary of the Pendle Witch Trials.Devine, Rachel (2013)
Folklore Tapes - Setting to song a dark period of English history
The List, 22 April 2013, retrieved 2015-05-19 St. John has contributed to

Modern Studies Modern Studies is a subject in the Scottish school system, currently taught at National 3 through Advanced Higher. It concerns contemporary social and political issues, and political processes, in Scottish, UK and international contexts. The ...

, Eagleowl,

Meursault Meursault () is a Communes of France, commune in the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Etymology The oldest attested form of the toponym Meursault dates from 1094, as ''Mura ...

, Woodpigeon and

Withered Hand Dan Willson (born 23 July 1974), also known by his stage name Withered Hand, is an Edinburgh-based indie rock musician. His first studio album, '' Good News'', was released in 2009 in Scotland, and re-released in 2011 on Absolutely Kosher R ...

Environmental Art

St. John has produced a number of varied artworks, with landscape, sound and the environment as common themes. ''Water of Life'' (2013), with Tommy Perman, explored water in the city of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

through visual art, writing and sound;Meighan, Nicola (2013)
Water Of Life: A Liquid Cartography Of Edinburgh In Sound, Words & Images
,

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

, 15 December 2013, retrieved 2015-05-19 the solo project ''Surface Tension'' (2015) used sound art and photography to document pollution in the

River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in the East of England and Greater London. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Cr ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and was shown at Stour Space, London and

The Lighthouse, Glasgow The Lighthouse in Glasgow is Scotland's Centre for Design and Architecture. It was opened as part of Glasgow's status as the UK City of Architecture and Design in 1999. The Lighthouse is the renamed conversion of the former offices of the ''G ...

;Mulvey, John (2015)
London Music and the River Lea
UNCUT, 31 March 2015, retrieved 2015-05-19 and a sound installation ''Concrete Antenna'' (2015), with Tommy Perman and

Simon Kirby Simon Gerard Kirby (born 22 December 1964), also known as Simon Radford-Kirby, is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Kemptown in 2010. In 2016, he was appoin ...

, exhibited at the

Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop is a facility in Edinburgh, Scotland providing artists with studios, exhibition space and workshops. History Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop (ESW) was founded by a group of sculpture graduates from Edinburgh College o ...

through 2015–16.Concrete Antenna
retrieved 2015-05-19 ''Emergent Landscapes'' (2016) was a participatory installation at Switch House,

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

, involving collaborative cairn sculpture, soundscape creation and film work using manipulated Super 8
Soundmarks
is a collaboration launched in 2019 with

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

Rose Ferraby to use sound and visual art to explore sub-surface landscapes at the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

town of Aldborough. The project uses field recordings to create an imagined sonic trail around the Roman village, which can be listened to on site or online.

Writing

St. John writes on music, art and the environment, and is a cultural geography researcher at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

Discography

Albums

*''Weald'' (2011), Song, by Toad *''Farewell, Bastard Mountain'' (2014), Song, by Toad (as part of Bastard Mountain) *''Surface Tension'' (2015) Pattern + Process *''Concrete Antenna'' (2016) Random Spectacular *''Swell to Great'' (2017)

Fire Records Fire Records was an American independent record label, set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson. Amongst others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, Buster Brown and Arthur Crudup. At one point it was thought Fire had issued the l ...

(as part of Modern Studies) *''Welcome Strangers'' (2018)

(as part of Modern Studies)

EPs

*''Tipping In'' (2007), Fife Kills: records *''Like Alchemy'' (2008), Fife Kills: records *''Young Sun , Trouble Comes'' (2015), Song, by Toad (split 10-inch EP with Woodpigeon)

Singles

*''Your Phantom Limb'' (2011), Song, by Toad (split 7-inch single with Ian Humberstone) *''The Charcoal Black and the Bonny Grey'' (2013), Song, by Toad (7-inch single) *''Water of Life'' (2013), Imagining Natural Scotland (7-inch single)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:St. John, Rob Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English writers English folk musicians English male singer-songwriters