Robert John Gorham (born 24 June 1973 in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

, Hampshire), known by the pseudonym Rob da Bank, is an English DJ and co-founder of music festivals

Bestival Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festival relocated to the Lulworth Estate in Dorset. The event was organ ...

, originally on the Isle of Wight and now moved to

Lulworth Lulworth is the popular name for an area on the coast of Dorset, South West England notable for its castle and cove. However, there is no actual place or feature called simply "Lulworth", the villages are East and West Lulworth and the coastal f ...

, Dorset and

Camp Bestival Camp Bestival is a British music festival, the "little sister" of Bestival, both organised by BBC Radio 1 DJ Rob Da Bank. It is held annually, in July, at Lulworth Castle in Dorset and is targeted at families with small children. In 2019 it ha ...

, also in Lulworth. He presented a show on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance ...

which focused on promoting new left field music. Examples of artists featured on his show include

Tipper Tipper can refer to: People * Alfred Tipper (1867–1944), Australian showman, competitive and endurance cyclist and outsider artist * Benjamin Tipper (1896–1970), English cricketer * Constance Tipper (1894–1995), English metallurgist and cr ...

Moloko Moloko () were an Irish-English electronic music duo formed in Sheffield, England, consisting of vocalist Róisín Murphy and producer Mark Brydon. Blending elements of electronica and dance music, they are best known for their UK top 10 sin ...

and a host of unsigned acts. Until September 2006, he and Chris Coco were the presenters of the Blue Room on Radio 1. He hosted the Radio One Music Show on Thursday nights, the content of which was more similar to the music played on his current show. Rob da Bank filled in for

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

's show for several weeks following his death in 2004. In 2007, he produced the ''Together in Electric Dreams'' EP. In 2009, he gave BBC Blast an exclusive look behind the scenes of his show. Until 2014, he hosted a Friday-night/Saturday-morning BBC Radio 1 show focused on left-field electronica. He is also the owner of a number of business ventures under the name Sunday Best, which originated as a Sunday night event in a

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batt ...

tea-room. The music played by Rob da Bank on Sunday Best helped launch the "bar culture" (as opposed to "club culture"), which features more relaxed activities than dancing. Sunday Best has grown to incorporate a record label and two offshoot music festivals,

on the Isle of Wight and in 2008,

, which is more family orientated and held in the grounds of

Lulworth Castle Lulworth Castle, in East Lulworth, Dorset, England, situated south of the village of Wool, is an early 17th-century hunting lodge erected in the style of a revival fortified castle, one of only five extant Elizabethan or Jacobean buildings of ...

in Dorset. In 2018 Bestival went into administration, leaving many workers unpaid. However, a festival of the same name, curated by Gorham and his wife Josie, was announced for 2019, at the same site and on the equivalent weekend. Gorham has also compiled a mix LP for the

Fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not ...

night club's series of mix compilations, entitled ''

Fabric 24 From November 2001 to November 2018, the London nightclub fabric ran a monthly mix compilation series. Mixed by a variety of emerging and established DJs, the two series were entitled ''fabric'' and ''FABRICLIVE'' respectively. The compilation m ...

'' (2006). In June 2014, it was announced that in September 2014, da Bank would leave BBC Radio 1 and that he would join the 6 Music family. His last show was on Saturday 30 August 2014. Da Bank hosts a weekly radio show on Evolution I Heart Radio in America. In 2014, alongside Graphite Media he set up the company 'Earworm', a Music Supervision, Original Composition and Talent Procurement service for Film, TV, Video Games and Advertising. Recent work includes the music supervision for BBC Drama – From There To Here, original compositions for the new HBO show 'The Left Overs', the title music for Annie Mac's 'Superstar DJs' on Channel 4 and music supervision for forthcoming Xbox One game – Forza Horizon 2. Da Bank was awarded The Outstanding Contribution Award at the 2014 AIF Festival Congress Awards.

Personal life

Rob da Bank divides his time between London and the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

with his illustrator wife Josie and their four sons.

References

External links

* * * *
Sunday Best Website
*
Behind the scenes with Rob at Radio 1

Rob da Bank Tracklistings and Downloads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rob D Banka 1973 births English radio DJs English record producers Club DJs BBC Radio 1 presenters Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Musicians from Portsmouth Living people Mass media people from Portsmouth