The Voluntary Butler Scheme is the stage name for one-man band

One-man band

A one-man band is a musician who plays a number of musical instruments simultaneously using their hands, feet, limbs, and various mechanical contraptions. The simplest type of "one-man band" — a singer accompanying themselves on acoustic guitar and harmonica mounted in a metal "harp rack" below the...

 Rob Jones, based in Stourbridge

Stourbridge

Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...

 near Birmingham. 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 gig

Gig (musical performance)

Gig is slang for a musical engagement in which musicians are hired. Originally coined in the 1920s by jazz musicians, the term, short for the word "engagement", now refers to any aspect of performing such as assisting with performance and attending musical performance...

s, playing in parts on various instruments such as guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, guitar synthesizer, drums

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

, kazoo

Kazoo

The kazoo is a wind instrument which adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton, which is a membranophone, a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane."Kazoo" was the name given by...

 and ukulele

Ukulele

The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....

.

The debut album At Breakfast, Dinner, Tea was released on September 7, 2009 on Split Records. Singles from the album have been championed by the NME

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

, BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

, BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...

, BBC Radio 6, and XFM

Xfm

Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...

, 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

The Sun (newspaper)

The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...

, even Suggs has stepped out and declared himself a fan, stating in an interview that "they are a very good band".

Biography

The Voluntary Butler Scheme came about in 2008, when a chance spotting on MySpace

MySpace

Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

 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

VBS.tv

VBS.tv is an online television network owned by the Vice media conglomerate. The network produces original, short-form, documentary-style video content. Subject matter includes humanitarian issues, music, insider travel guides, and news. The creative director of the network is Spike...

 was the path he wished to follow.

Since 2008, The Voluntary Butler Scheme has toured with Duke Special

Duke Special

Duke Special, real name Peter Wilson, is a songwriter and performer based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A piano-based songwriter with a romantic style and a warm, distinctly accented voice, he has a distinctive look, with his long dreadlocks, eyeliner and outfits he describes as "hobo chic"...

, 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 Me Up Buttercup'.

Debut Album

The Voluntary Butler Scheme’s debut album At Breakfast, Dinner, Tea was recorded in a month-long stint at a studio in Stockwell with producer Charlie Francis (known for his work with REM and the High Llamas) and a handful of guest musicians.

‘At Breakfast, Dinner, Tea’ has gained much attention with regard to the unusual and quirky lyrics. Q Magazine says “The lyrics of longing about running shoes, coffee, MP3 players and turning vegetarian are clearly quite daft but utterly endearing”. A BBC Music Review states that Jones “has a wicked line in witty lyrics”, and The Daily Growl commends his “quaintly observational everyday lyrics”. The line ‘wear a De La Soul t-shirt once in a while to make you feel more hip hop than you are’ has even been put onto VBS merchandise t-shirts.

Rob states of his lyrics, "I think it's about not trying too hard…You know, I read something Phil Spector

Phil Spector

Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....

 said in some sound magazine, about the recording of 'Be My Baby', and asking, 'Is it dumb enough? Are people gonna get it?' I'm not trying to make it dumb, but there's something in that - stuff feels so much more honest when it's simple."
The single ‘Trading Things In’ contains the lyric "yes we can listen to La Bamba on your mp3 player”. Mexican folk song ‘La Bamba

La Bamba

La Bamba may refer to:*La Bamba , a 1987 film based on the life and death of Ritchie Valens*"La Bamba" , a folk song best known from a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens*"La Bomba" , a 2000 Latin pop song by King Africa...

’ is one of Rob’s all time favourites, though he states “I don't even know what the guy's singing about…it really doesn't matter. The way he sings it – it just breaks your heart. And I remember thinking, oh, I can probably just talk about whatever I've been up to that day and it'll work."

The song 'Trading Things In' was used on Grey's Anatomy in October 9.

Singles

• "Trading Things In" (2008)
• "Multiplayer" (2009)
• "Tabasco Sole" (2009)
• "Split"
• "Multiplayer"

External links

• The Voluntary Butler Scheme Myspace