Steve Robinson – whose music was once described as “strangled folk and mangled pop from a transplanted Englishman lost in America,” – has a new album coming in October although he’s currently set up for orders on his Bandcamp page. Produced by the award-winning songwriter and all-around nice person, Ed Woltil of The Ditchflowers, the album features a lovely cameo from Steve’s old Headlights bandmate, Steve Connelly, as well as a couple of stellar turns from guitargonaut Dave Gregory, of XTC fame.

In a case of spot the seamless segue, Steve has joined us for a detailed look at the inspiration of Dave Gregory and XTC.

Barely out of my teens, I left the UK for the US back in 1982, and I did so armed with a couple of guitars and a handful of albums I couldn’t bear to leave behind. Alongside the Echo & The Bunnymen debut, a Madness Greatest Hits compilation (still not sure there were many singles bands to touch them) and The Jam’s classic
All Mod Cons record, were XTC’s resplendent Drums & Wires, Black Sea and English Settlement records. I may have been a bit of a surly and insolent prat in those days, but on reflection, I stand by my musical tastes.

Truth be told, I’m not even sure I can cite XTC as an obvious musical influence really. I mean, I was a huge fan, but they were sort of otherworldly to me, and I couldn’t really envision creating the sort of rabid musical friction that they did. Musically, they just intimidated me. They were the sort of band whose albums I’d have to listen to in increments; I’d barely make it through an album side without having to have a nice lie down and ask myself, “How the hell can pop music be this good? “

As a musician and songwriter, listening to them could be a little dispiriting. The sheer imagination, droll wit and musical athleticism of their recordings would just leave me awestruck. The musicianship was obvious, of course, but never in that clever and wanky “Look what I can do!” way; they just took the listener on a wild and wacky ride, and seemed to make every note count along the way. They could just as easily rattle you with spiky, city-like snarl as they could caress you with lilting pastoral harmony-laden hymns to life in the English countryside. Too bloody good.

I’ve always been drawn to guitarists who tastefully elevate a song just by showing up; the sort that never seem to put a foot wrong. George Harrison was always on that list for me, as was Richard Thompson, and any XTC fan worth their salt will acknowledge that for all the undeniable brilliance of songwriters Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding, their secret weapon was guitarist Dave Gregory. A brilliant song is a brilliant song, but when you have Dave’s unique and infectious guitar lines skipping and pirouetting across the soundstage, it just elevates them into a different stratosphere, so to speak. Dave had a way of playing the most audacious and eyebrow-raising guitar parts without ever treading on the beauty of the song. Just a fabulously sensitive musician.

Now, I was fortunate enough to meet up with like-minded musical souls upon my arrival in America, and ended up playing with a Florida-based folk-rock band called The Headlights. Although they were rooted in Byrds-like country rock when I joined them, they already had their eye on a slew of British bands riding that second British invasion wave, and would routinely throw in Costello, The Clash and Nick Lowe covers in their sets. It didn’t take me long to talk them into adding a couple of Paul Weller and Andy Partridge compositions to the pile, and we were soon playing The Jam’s Pretty Green and XTC’s Respectable Street to an assortment of confused Floridian punters. Stylistically, it was bit of an odd mix, but as we became more proficient with our own material the band created a few interesting Anglo-American musical sparks, and evolved pretty nicely as a band.

Interestingly enough, we also ended up becoming the touring band for Byrd-man Roger McGuinn for a couple of years. Like all bands though, The Headlights ran its course, and tired of endless gigging, I left the band and began to concentrate on recording solo demos at home. I’d felt a little jaded for a while, but home recording sort of opened the songwriting floodgates for me. I even sent a couple of songs to home recording guru and Greatest Living Englishman himself, Martin Newell, to get a little expert feedback. As well as being a fabulous songwriter, Martin proved to be very generous with his time and was very kind and encouraging, actually urging me to “do a short run and sell the fuckers!” So, despite me being a bit of a technological Luddite with an appropriately primitive recording set up, I took Martin’s advice and managed to cobble together something resembling a solo release, Away For The Day, which I put out in 2005 on my own Sunshine Drenchy Records label.

It was at this point that I had the audacity to share some of this music with Dave Gregory. Not sure what I was expecting from him really. it wasn’t like I was fishing for praise or anything, I think it was just a matter of simply wanting to share something of mine with someone who I greatly admired as a musician. He always came across as quite a humble bloke when I’d seen him interviewed, and I just thought I’d give it a shot. The idea that he might at least hear something I’d done was enough for me; didn’t even really need or expect any feedback from him. As it turned out, he actually responded with very kind comments and ended up offering to play on a future song or two. Mental.

Around this time I began working alongside Ed Woltil. Ed led a really cool Florida-based arty pop band called The Ditchflowers, and I’d been a long-time admirer of his talent. His songs had a little of that quirky Costello/Squeeze/XTC vibe about them, and unlike me, he knew his way around recording gear, so I was thrilled when he began producing my stuff. We then started writing songs together and decided to collaborate on a Robinson/Woltil release which we called Cycle.

Enter guitargonaut, Dave Gregory, who added thrilling guitar parts to three of the songs. On Elastic Man, he served up a flurry of typically agile fills, complementing them with swoon-worthy Harrisonesque slide guitar accents, while the overtly nostalgic The Boy From Down The Hill, (featuring Nonsuch drummer, Dave Mattacks) saw Dave sending along some snaky, crazy psychedelic backwards guitar runs that just took the song in a glorious new direction. And on Ed’s acerbic Liberty Daze, Dave delivered a jaw-dropping array of parts that bordered on the ridiculous. Layers of Brian May-style harmonised guitar riffs, a hair-raising solo and a brilliantly tasteful textural riff that sounded a little like a keyboard, but was a part that Dave informed us was actually him playing a capo’d bass! He put a capo on a bass? Who does that?

Fortuitously, Dave also lent his mighty talents to my 2021 solo record, Swallowing The Sun as well as Shadow Play the sophomore Steve Robinson & Ed Woltil collaborative effort released the following year, and continues to contribute to my musical escapades to this day. My upcoming October, 2024 release, Window Seat features another couple of fabulous Dave Gregory cameos, and he’s already contributed to the next Robinson/Woltil duo release slated for 2025. Ed and I still occasionally scratch our heads in wonderment at our good fortune.

It’s funny, when Dave first sent me guitar tracks back in 2012, I was thrilled on a couple of different levels. I mean, I’d admired him for so long and obviously was very attuned to his paying style, so when I listened, there was an immediate,“This could be nobody else” realisation. More importantly though, it was just an honest emotional reaction to something that sounded exquisite to my ears, and although I’d be lying if it wasn’t also a bit of a “pinch me” moment, it feels that way every time he works on a new song and sends over his tracks.

As well as being supportive, encouraging and just a really lovely bloke, I just love what he does with my songs on a purely musical level. Sure, he was in XTC, one of my very favorite bands, but with the thoughtfully brilliant musical finger-painting that he spoils me with, he could have been in the Barron bloody Knights for all I care. I’d still feel so fortunate that our musical paths crossed like they did. When I think about it, we’ve been collaborating for some 14 years, which is longer than I’ve been in any band. At this point, I can barely imagine doing it without him.

Our thanks to Steve for turning the spotlight on XTC – a band whose status has seemed to grow over time and don’t forget, such is the web of the musical world, that Dave Gregory was once a member of Big Big Train!

Steve Robinson online: Website / Facebook / Twitter-X / Bandcamp

You can read more from our extensive archive of Why I Love pieces from a wide array of artists on an even wider array of subjects, here.

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