Hell, I'd be lying if I claimed to know, for a fact, anything at all about Rob, besides his gracious nature that I have personally witnessed.  But, based on the accounts of his musical tastes and his inspirations, and the soul that oozes out of his musical performances, we learn more about Rob the person.  We hear Rob the soulful musician that is now rumored to be too scared to pursue music further for fear of "cheesing it out" like the plethora of other actor/musicians in Hollywood.  Damn shame too because unlike those pre-packaged studio pop-tarts, our guy has actual talent for writing and performing music.  Read on to learn more about what makes Rob tick off-screen. 

Even though I've only "met" Rob once, for about 2 minutes in Vancouver in April 2009, and even though I may or may not have pounded 5 crown n' cokes in the 30 minutes prior to said "meeting," I feel that I got a glimpse into the guy that we don't get to see, the Rob that isn't a regular feature on celebrity gossip sites and magazine covers.  Yes, Rob is a multi-talented superstar... but you already knew that.  You already know his height, weight, shoe size, ciggy brand, fave beer.  You know it all when it comes to Rob Exterior.  But maybe what you don't know much about is Rob Interior; Rob's music and his musical inspirations. 

 

Official Music Bio

Pattinson plays guitar and piano, and composes his own music. He also appears as the singer of two songs on the Twilight movie soundtrack, "Never Think," which he co-wrote with Sam Bradley, and "Let Me Sign," which was written by Marcus Foster and Bobby Long. The songs were included in the film after director Catherine Hardwicke added Pattinson's recordings into an early cut without his knowledge, and he agreed that "one of them specifically, it really made the scene better. It was like it was supposed to be there." The soundtrack for the film How To Be features three original songs performed by Pattinson and written by composer Joe Hastings.

Aside from recording for the soundtracks, Pattinson has said, "I've never really recorded anything - I just played in pubs and stuff", and when asked about a professional music career, he said, "Music is my back-up plan if acting fails."

In early 2008, he performed with his first girlfriend's current boyfriend's band, called Bad Girls. 

In June 2008, Rob's secret MySpace account, registered under his stage name, Bobby Dupea, was discovered and broadcast to the world via Twilight Lexicon fan site.  On his MySpace were some of his live recordings.  The account has since been set to private and seemingly abandoned.

Instruments

  • Acoustic guitar

  • Piano

Musical Inspirations

Van Morrison

"I don’t know much about contemporary music. I do have an iPod but I listen to a lot of old blues. I listen to John Lee Hooker and Elmore James. I have been listening to them for years. I was obsessed with Van Morrison for years. I went to see him recently where he performed Astral Weeks. I just spent the entire night crying, but I was really obsessed with Van Morrison."

Jay Z

What does a newly minted British movie star do when he hits New York? He heads straight to Brooklyn to visit Bedford-Stuyvesant, apparently. “I visited the Marcy projects this afternoon,” said Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward Cullen, the handsome vegetarian vampire in the film “Twilight,” which opens Nov. 21. “It was great. Nobody noticed me at all.” Mr. Pattinson, 22, said that visiting the old stamping ground of one of his musical idols, Jay-Z, brought back memories of his own earlier artistic endeavors.


Acting Inspirations

Jack Nicholson

"I aspire to be Jack Nicholson. I love his every single mannerism. I used to try and be him in virtually everything I did, I don't know why. I watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest when I was about 13, and I dressed like him. I tried to do his accent. I did everything like him. I think it kind of stuck with me."

Rob has performed under the name Bobby Dupea, (in tribute to his favorite actor, Jack Nicholson, and the character Jack played in Five Easy Pieces.)


Other Inspirations

Ian Wright

"I really liked Ian Wright when I was younger. I used to always try and get the double of his sticker for my sticker album."


Quotes On His Musical Past

"When I was 14, I fronted a rap trio.  Pretty hard-core for three private school kids from suburban London.  And my mum’s, like, cramping our style, popping her head in to ask, ‘You boys want a sandwich?’"

"I have been playing the piano for my entire life - since I was three or four. And the guitar - I used to play classical guitar from when I was about five to 12 years of age. Then I didn't play guitar for like years. About four or five years ago, I got out the guitar again and just started playing blues and stuff. I am not very good at the guitar, but I am all right. I am in a band in London as well."

"I am in a band at the moment called Bad Girls. The band belongs to my first girlfriend’s current boyfriend and he was having an open mic night. He invited me to sing, but it was just a bit of fun – that was about six months ago. I don’t know where that’s going to go."

"[The band] is kind of like rocky Led Zeppelin type stuff. We only have done a couple of gigs. We are still trying to figure out its style. It is just a couple of friends of mine and some other people that I have met fairly recently. We just wanted to start a band for something to do. A lot of my friends are actors and we have so little to do all the time, so instead of just being bored, we were like, ‘Why not start a band?’ So we did!"

"I won’t consider it [an album] until I quit acting. I’ve only played in pubs. I had never recorded anything or made money with music. Maybe just 60 Euros for playing here and there. I don’t want to become a franchise like the Disney kids."

"I think if I did it [record an album], I’d do it under a different name and not promote it. Maybe I could just do it under Edward Cullen, and we’ll see what happens. That would be pretty obvious. But, maybe? I don’t like to look like I’m cashing in on stuff, so I probably won’t do it for a while. I’m not really interested in having a music career. I don’t care if people buy my stuff or not."

"I think Nikki [Reed] gave a CD of stuff I had recorded on my computer to Catherine Hardwicke and I recorded it years ago. I think Catherine just put it into a cut and then said ‘Look at this’ and she played it and it kind of worked. I hadn’t even realized what it was at first and it kind of fit really well. I did not really think about it other than that. I didn’t know it was going to be on the soundtrack or anything. I wanted to do it under another name because I thought it would be distracting, which it has been. So it’s probably all been a big mistake but I like the idea of it and I just think the song fit and I did not think it sounded like me. So I thought it would just work but I don’t know I’m not trying to get a music career out of it or anything."

"I was in a band years ago. Not like a proper band but I had kind of roll-on, roll-off musicians. I still try and play but it’s weird now since when I’m trying to do it as an actor, it always seems kind of cheesy. I liked playing at open mikes in bars and stuff because it was the only time I really felt free. I did a couple of gigs in LA and people filmed and put them on the Internet. It just ruins the whole experience. You’re like ‘Oh, that wasn’t the point.’ So I stopped. I’m going to wait for all this to die down before I start doing live gigs again."

"I used to love playing live at open mics at bars. You could go nuts and be completely free. It would be a cathartic experience for me. I’ve lost a huge chunk of my life."

"Music means freedom to me. But in acting you can pretend to be someone else and I like that."

What Rob Listens To

From the Robert Pattinson Celebrity Playlist on iTunes

(click to enlarge)

"C-Jam Blues" by Oscar Peterson:

"What I learned how to play blues piano riffs from. Peterson was the best."

"Solid Sender" by John Lee Hooker:

"If I could have a song as a wife..."

"Soft" by Kings of Leon:

"I've always thought that I really relate to the lyrics of this even though I don't really know what they are. I love the singer's enunciation in all their songs. They are pretty much the only modern band I can say I am a fan of."

"Cold Sweat" by James Brown:

"This song hits me just as hard every time I've heard it since I was a little kid and I listened to James Brown on the way to school."

"Dean" by Terry Reid:

"I love Terry Reid. I love the schizophrenic decisions he makes towards the end of this song when he's choosing what notes to sing. Terry Reid was just one of those guys like James Brown who when they got into a groove, it just seemed like they'd want to keep singing the same line, let alone the same song, all night."

"Stepping Out Queen, Pt. II" by Van Morrison:

"Another guy who has such a visionary and unique take on what structure in songwriting is, what singing is, and what can be achieved emotionally and spiritually through music."

"Lengths" by The Black Keys:

"Another new band I like. This is a beautiful song. I like how it's produced. This whole album is great."

One Mo' Gin" by D'Angelo:

"I love D'Angelo. I used to always try and sing like him when I was younger and embarrassingly fail. I like his pronunciation when he sings. I think when you try and write lyrics and you think that there is no way the listener will figure out what you're saying or what you mean, you write much more honestly. I think."

"Blue Monday People" by Curtis Mayfield:

"Got inspired by putting D'Angelo on. This whole album is amazing. The production on it is incredible. A really interesting album which not a lot of people listen to. Don't know why."

"Brown Trout Blues" by Johnny Flynn:

"I grew up with some amazing musicians in London who are still my friends. Marcus Foster, Bobby Long and Sam Bradley are recording their albums now, but Johnny Flynn completed his one a while ago. I just saw him play in L.A. and he was incredible. But he's always been incredible so I can't say I was surprised. Get this album it's great and no one else does music like him at all."

"Ambulance Blues" by Neil Young:

"One of the most moving songs ever written or recorded. I used to listen to the line 'I guess I'll call it sickness gone' on repeat for hours when I wanted to try and write something."

"A Whiter Shade of Pale" by King Curtis:

"Just a beautiful song. Reminds me of the end of Withnail and I."

"Ruby's Arms" by Tom Waits:

"My favorite Tom Waits song. I cry almost every time I hear it. Plays over an amazing scene in one of my favorite movies too - Prenom Carmen."

"(First) Essay for Orchestra, Op. 12" by Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Yoel Levi:

"This song just hurts, it's so beautiful."

"T.B. Sheets" by Van Morrison:

"Only Van Morrison can do a performance like this. No one else has come close."

 

 

 

 

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