Robbie's singing career peaked in 1982 when he played the Cowardly Lion in his school's production of The Wizard of Oz. Though Robbie narrowly missed out on a Tony award for that performance, it stimulated him to ever grander performances and into opera and choral work. The next thirty years of singing in bands was spent trying to forget how to sing like a classical artist and develop a rock rasp. Born to Be Wild doesn't sound great coming from opera pipes. A front man guaranteed to overstep the taste line with his off-the-cuff crowd conversations, Robbie has sung in a number of bands over the years in such prestigious venues as Cresswell Miner's Welfare, the Red Bull pub in Cambridge and Banja Luka Metal Factory in Bosnia. Now the lead singer and self-declared bad boy of Primary Scream, Robbie and his bandmates have taken up a Vegas-like residency in the Magpie and Crown in Brentford. Robbie's musical influences are Joe Cocker, Todd Rundgren and William Shatner.
Dave first learnt to drum at school as a teenager, taking lessons during the lunch break simply to avoid the terrible school dinners. After being taught to play some weird versions of songs by The Black Crowes, Guns ’n’ Roses & The Scorpions by a Jazz drummer, he soon formed a ‘band’ consisting of his younger brother and ‘the girl from across the road' who played bass guitar. Following some successful ‘gigs’ in the spare bedroom, the fledgling band broke up due to neighbours complaints and bass girl emigrating to Singapore. Dave sold his drum kit as he moved to Liverpool, because it wouldn’t fit in his university bed-sit hovel. The Rock ’n’ Roll dream was over.
But then amazingly, 30 years later, he was approached by a strange man in a leopard skin jacket at a parent’s school disco (yes, you read that correctly…) It was no less than than now Primary Scream lead vocalist Robbie King, and weirdly he seemed to know all about Dave’s drumming pedigree. An invitation was made, and as the dance floor emptied to a bizarre back drop of AC/DC & Iron Maiden songs, Dave knew that the Rock Gods had come calling once again!
Reverting to his teenage years, he locked himself away in his bedroom to practise by himself……..before re-emerging a newly self-taught tub-thumper ready to hit the rehearsal studio with is new found band mates, attributing his drumming style influences to John Bonham, Chad Smith and all 18 deceased drummers of Spinal Tap.
And the rest, as they say, is history……….
Paul is our awesome sax player. With amazing solos and lots of playing on the bars, tables and anywhere he can stand he shows his rocking and rolling whilst embarrassing his children!
Khalid lives in a caravan with his trusty pup Stella who never leaves his side. His favourite colour is Blue and his team is Leeds United. He's never had a music lesson in his life.
Paul’s upbringing was very limited, things were scarce. As a result he never learned to count beyond four. But that’s all you need for rock and roll right? And for BASS. Four letters. Four strings. In the words of the great Joey Ramone, ‘1, 2, 3, 4…’.
Fast forward many decades, and Paul’s played those four strings in dozens of bands from Manchester to London. Rockabilly, Glama-a-billy, Rock n’ Roll, Blues, Jump-Jive, Drum ‘n Bass, Ska, Folk-rock and Situationist Punktronica, on stages from the Hacienda and Hyde Park to Glastonbury and Brentford’s legendary Magpie and Crown, Paul’s clocked up hundreds of hours on stage, sometimes in front of several appreciative people.
When he’s not tearing up pop and rock classics with Primary Scream, he can be seen playing double bass with his jump / rhythm n blues / ska band Jump 66, and with a whole host of old-school Chicago blues and swing bands on the London circuit. He’s got four bass guitars. And another four. And three double basses.
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Ben has been working with Primary Scream for 4 years. Having taken over the social media in December 2020, you will often find Ben at gigs snapping photos of the band as they play, he's not shy to jump up and sing a number either! Ben has trained in Amateur Musical Theatre for 5 years and is currently based in Southampton at University studying Modern History and Politics, Ben is also responsible for answering queries via the Primary Scream email address and through all the social media pages. Ben is the Company Director for BV Productions that produce this website and much more - find out more here