Robin Brock
Bio
Robin was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She is a Pisces - born February 21.
When she was one year old, her family moved to British Columbia, Canada. She has one older sister. Her family says Robin sang before she could talk. Her dad is a logger and fire warden and her mom is an accountant and manager. As a child, Robin listened to the Eagles and Elvis. She was later introduced to Kiss’s music at an early age. She cites them as well as Pat Benatar as her earliest influences. She always wrote stories and poetry, so it was only natural she write her first song at age 11. Keith Olsen produced one of Robin’s all time favourite Pat Benatar albums, “Precious Time”. Her favourite artists: Kiss, Bryan Adams, Def Leppard, Richard Marx, Bon Jovi, Heart, and fellow Canadians Jann Arden and Tal Bachman. Robin owns every Kiss album and has an autographed Paul Stanley picture on the wall in her purple writing room.
She lies about her height. She says 5’0” (we say 4’11 ½”).
When Robin was in the tenth grade, a local rock band saw her perform a solo in the school choir. They promptly asked if she would be their lead singer – their first performance with her was two days later. She was so nervous she forgot the words to the second verse of their first song. They stayed together about two years, playing covers for dances, concerts, parties and local bars. None of the members were old enough to be in the bar legally. The band, called Live Wire, began performing some original material, with Robin writing the lyrics.
Despite the embarrassment of that live performance with the band, Robin knew she was meant to be a singer/performer. When Robin graduated, she decided to pursue a music career. Her parents supported her fully, so she moved to Calgary to work in a studio and learn about the music business. The studio went broke.
Robin was President of her graduating class. She graduated with honours.
She kept recording demos of her own music and eventually met co-writers John Capek and Danny Jacob through an agent who was shopping her demos to record labels.
Danny Jacob has played guitar for Cher, Sheena Easton, George Michael, and Bette Midler. He played on Robin’s first album, “Blame It On Rock andRoll”. John Capek wrote Rod Stewart’s hits “Rhythm Of My Heart” and “This”.
After years of “We love it, but...” and “It’s not what we’re looking for at this time, please send more material.” and other various form letters from many record companies, Robin and John Capek put together Blame It On Rock and Roll. Pre-production was done in L.A. and it was recorded in what is now known as The Greenhouse studio, in Vancouver, B.C. John Capek played keyboards on BIOR&R. Other musicians include: drummer Jorn Andersen and bass player Steve Webster, who at one time toured with Alannah Myles.
Robin vows one day to wallpaper her walls with all the rejection letters she has gotten over the years.
Every year since Music West (a seminar in Vancouver) has been put on, Robin has sent in an application to perform. She has been turned down every time. Robin and John usually write songs through fax and mail. The last track on BIOR&R - Drowning - took 15 minutes to write the lyrics. Robin says: “It was a total stream of consciousness thing… very cool.” “Just a Fantasy”, another track, was inspired by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons in an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show.
Other jobs Robin has had: Waitress, Carnival Game Attendant, House Cleaner, Infocentre Guide, Shake Block Cutter, and Logger’s helper. After taking some acting classes, Robin was cast as a nurse in a student film called “Echoes of Silence”. She collects crystals and polished stones.
Her first two videos were aired on local T.V. Video shows. Her third, for “She’s Outta Control”, was shown on Much Music’s Indy Spotlight - it aired right after Def Leppard.
Robin represented Canada when she performed at the Golden Stag Festival in Brazov, Romania. The audiences each night were in excess of 5,000 people, as well as broadcast across the country. Tom Jones, Coolio, and La Bouche were headliners. “Rockin’ On The Airwaves”, from BIOR&R, won 1st place in the Rock Category at the South Pacific International Song contest. She performed her song at the Arts Center in Surfer’s Paradise, Australia. John Capek was co-writer. She met American songwriter Alan Roy Scott in Australia. They got together in L.A. to write in May 2000. They wrote 3 songs in approximately 12 hours. Two of the songs are on Robin’s new album.
Robin met Keith Olsen at a conference in Durango, Colorado.
BIOR&R was released on her own label in Canada, in 1995. She signed a worldwide record deal with U.K. label A2 Records, in 1999.
She met Randy Bachman of The Guess Who, and BTO (Bachman Turner Overdrive) at a TAXI music seminar in L.A. They got together a year later and wrote three songs in one day. All three songs are on Hidden Power.
Robin fired a bass player because he wouldn’t bathe. One of the songs on the new album was written at a Downhill Mountain Bike race. Her boyfriend was racing.
She owns two bicycles: a Kona Kikapu, X Country bike, and a Norco VPS Six, full suspension Downhill bike. When she’s home, she loves to ride to keep her lungs in shape as well as for stress release. She says: “I love the focus you've gotta have, and the adrenalin that comes with it”. “Whether I’m riding fast downhill, or crashing into trees, it’s a beautiful thing to be so at one with Mother Nature.” “It’s very inspiring.”
Her hobbies, besides riding her bikes, are reading romance novels, new age books, and drinking coffee.
The pre-production for Hidden Power was done with Keith Olsen and Tim Pierce in Seattle. It was recorded at Goodnight L.A., produced by Keith Olsen. James Kottak of Krunk and the Scorpions was on drums, Jeff Pilson from Dokken played bass, and Tim Pierce who is on almost every album she owns, played guitar. Randy Bachman did a guest spot.