We chat with Rob Green about music, musicals, and the value of the grassroots

In just the space of a year, Rob Green has achieved so much: performing at intimate, immersive and unconventional venues for his Undercover Tour, writing and developing his first musical, producing three new singles for imminent release (to name a few!)... Not holding anything back, this feels like an artist evolution for Rob, and we caught up with him to get all the juicy details. 

What a year you’ve had Rob! Thank you so much for taking the time to chat to us at LeftLion, we appreciate how busy you are preparing for your upcoming tour! Let’s get right into it. What can we expect differently for your Jungle Child UK Tour, and could you tell us about your tour’s namesake inspiration? 

THE NEXT DAY. I get an email from Sam Heaton (from Eyre Llew) who was working at Saltbox at the time, asking if I was ever interested in doing another tour, they were looking to book more headline shows for artists from Nottingham. And I was like: “SAM! YOU WON’T BELIEVE THIS! But just yesterday we were having this conversation.” And being honest, I had never even been to Saltbox at this point. I had not seen it before, I had not seen a gig there. But I trust Sam with all my soul. 

Grassroots venues are really fighting for survival. To play a grassroots venue, and really establish Jungle Child in this way, that just felt like a natural evolution from The Undercover Tour, which had obviously taken place in non-traditional venues entirely.  

And Saltbox’s capacity is quite interesting. It does go up to 350, but it can also be re-arranged to feel more intimate. And sometimes in life you just have to go with your instinct, and the timing of it, my heart just went “yeah let’s do it, I think that would be great.” 

Jungle Child is coming out 14th March. It will be pre-order the week before on 7th March. The rock vocal is something I have always loved to use as I sing, like in ‘Belief,’ which came out in 2017, was probably the first time I did a full raspy more rocky sound of my vocal, and now it’s back again in Jungle Child. The single’s produced by esteemed Cassell the Beatmaker (the genius behind Plan B’s Defamation of Strickland Banks).

It's been a very organic process. I had just become Ivor Novello’s In the Making Artist, a groundbreaking scheme that is run by Cassell for breaking new artists without signing them to a record deal, putting them into a publishing stream, or a distribution lock.

We got together, wrote a bunch of songs and over a week, Jungle Child had gone from a voice note, (with me and Eric Akapolye on the guitar, and Liam Bailey jamming with us in the background,) to a fully produced track. We were only in the studio for five days, writing lyrics producing harmonies, all the backing – everything. That first day, we wrote so many ideas, and I think for both of us, me and Cass, we were like: “there’s something visceral about this sound.” 

I think, although I’ve always been quite open about my sexuality, I think I have also been quite open (certainly on the Manhood EP) about my experiences being “bi-racial” or “mixed-race”. For me I think my message has been that these are not the things that we should be separating ourselves from each other with. That we should be able to recognize these things within each other, and of each other, and still be able to embrace each other. Because we’re all intersectional all the time.

I think my message to the queer community and to the people of colour who listen to the music, and to the artists who make music is (and I think Beyonce is a primary example of this at the moment) let people figure out what to do with you later – let that be their problem. If they can’t categorise you, and if they can’t label you, and they want you to define what your genre is, what your sexuality is and what your gender identity is, and “where were you from exactly,” and all this stuff – let that be their problem. I realise that for so much of my life I’ve felt like I’ve had to explain - instead of just doing it!  

So, I hope it gives people permission to not seek permission. Just do what you want, say what you mean and be in the space as you are. I want to be in the same room as lots of people; I want us to share the moment and all the emotions, to dance and to sing, and to hold each other. I just want to really let loose and make a memorable show altogether. 

You wrote, developed and directed your first two act musical Folklore last year. How did that project materialize, and what did you love most about working with Leeds Conservatoire and Lincoln University? 

I was musically directing an actor-muso Red Riding Hood pantomime in Liverpool and got to work with so many incredibly talented actors and musicians. I came out of that process feeling really fulfilled but also thinking: “I really want to create a show that emphasises this feeling of belonging and to find your own way.” I’d kind of been milling about with an idea of taking existing fairy tale characters and playing around with the idea of “happy ever after” - the pressure of it, and what that means, which is what ‘Folklore’ is about.  

It’s my first musical that I’ve written on my own. I did some development with Leeds Conservatoire, which was amazing. The artists really poured all their hearts and souls into it! It was so beautiful to hear them singing and performing the work. At Lincoln, I got to MD it as well and work with the wonderful director Clare Chandler. It was so nice to see everybody resonate with the themes and understand the work immediately, as ‘Folklore’ really is about reiterating the values that we would like to see in our society. 

I think it’s good that if families can watch something like that together, it just brings the timeline up of those important conversations. And it makes them less scary because you know, it’s a comedy at the end of the day. It's fun, it’s silly, and has loads of Disney-style music in it. 

It’s probably a cop-out to say, but all of them! (Laughs) It’s like throwing seven birthday parties. I can’t wait to play Hare & Hounds in Birmingham, that’s a legendary venue. Edinburgh’s Voodoo Rooms - I got to do that with Tom Robinson on his tour, and I just love the space, it’s so quirky and weird and wonderful.

The Louisiana (Bristol) is nearly sold out which is crazy! I just can’t wait to do all of it. And they’re all grassroots venues again so, it’s all great relationships and excited conversations we’re having. So, yeah, I just can’t thank them enough, which is why I can’t really pick one. They’re all amazing.  

We have at least two more singles that will be coming out. There’s another single out in June, and another one out in September. I have another separate headline show in July, in Oxted.  

Me and Cassell are already talking about a project... which might be “The A Word” or it might be an EP, but we’re talking about putting a lot of our tracks together to be like a nice release and a tour together for that release. So, that’s the plan! 

Rob's tour begins at Saltbox in Nottingham on 20th March.