"Monster Bobby" is the name of Bobby Barry's one-man act.  He is signed by Unpopular Records + Remake/Remodel Records, and performs around Brighton, occasionally in London.  He also has a MySpace Music:  http://www.myspace.com/monsterbobby where you can listen to some of his songs.  His MySpace description of his sound is: "Christian Rap/2-step/Grindcore."  Although to be honest I can't hear any Christian Rap in the tracks he has on there.

 

"Monster Bobby wears striped jumpers, woollen cardigans and corduroy trousers. Monster Bobby will soundcheck quicker than you or your mate's band. Monster Bobby likes Vietnamese food. Monster Bobby really wants one of those jumpers like Evo Morales wears. Monster Bobby could DJ at your party/club night/wedding/corporate event (all styles of music catered for). Monster Bobby could be your friend (if only you'd stop doing that thing). Monster Bobby is in favour of bus and train travel but is mysteriously drawn to motorway service stations and airports."

 

This page here is where most of my information comes from.  The article was written in July 2003, and Bobby was 22 years old at the time, making his birthday somewhere in the latter half of 1981 (if I've got my Maths right, which knowing me, I haven't).  He is from Brighton, and although he has had a few acting roles, his main love appears to be music.  He was in a punk-pop band called Ice-Nine, but not any more and was reportedly with a new band called The Temperance Seven, although his CD (which consists of three short songs) is by "Monster Bobby" (a review of this can be found below the links), and all the reports of his gigs say that it was just him, his guitar, some recorded beats and apparantly some wit. 

 

He went to Vardean Sixth Form College in Brighton, and achieved A grades in Media Studies, English Literature and Psychology.

 

Mr Barry hasn't been on our screens much, but he has had small roles in Holby City, Doctors, and starred as "Posh Boy" Gary in a 35 minute long TV programme about a boy who "moves to London and is confused by racism among his new friends."  He was also in an advert for something which I can't remember, as a girl's boyfriend.  He was one of the main characters in the film "New Years Day," and appeared in the "Road to Sundance" as himself, with an awful lot of other actors who played themselves.

 

If you want to know about Monster Bobby, his music, click on this Google search that I have helpfully typed in for you, and look up some stuff.

 

Click here for Bobby's entry in the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0057942/

Click here for Bobby's entry in TVTome: http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/PersonDetail/personid-130004

Click here for Bobby's MySpace (again):

http://www.myspace.com/monsterbobby

 

An article by his old college about Bobby Barry's appearance in the film "New Years Day": http://www.varndean.ac.uk/latest/news/2000/5.html

 

About Bobby Barry's film, "New Years Day": http://www.screenselect.co.uk/visitor/product_detail.html?product_id=7318

 

Short rant by Bobby Barry himself on the most overrated recording artists of all time.  WARNING - contains strong language: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Bistro/5174/rants/monsterbobby.html

 

A Review of Bobby Barry's CD, with apologies to: http://www.dosomethingpretty.com/demoreviews.htm

 

Monster Bobby - Monster Bobby’s Dirty Protest

Sometimes you get a demo so good; you can’t understand why it isn’t on all your favourite record labels right now. At three songs and only three and a half minutes long, this is a collection of small pop diamonds, and I want them in my tiara.

Opener, ‘Government Inspector’ is a no-wave disco number that would get even the most stubborn punk-purists dancing. It’s got the angular guitar rhythms of James Chance and The Contortions and P.I.L, but whacks a pop melody over it Husker Du would be proud of, and has the best opening lyrics I think I’ve ever heard:

“I am a government inspector
From the office of standards in your personal life
An audit on your affections, is being carried out…
League tables will be published in June.”

Then the b*****d kicks in, guttural synth bass throbs to clattering disco hi-hats as tape machines malfunction rhythmically. This is a unique beast, merging no-wave, disco, funk and pop into a single ninety-second song. 

‘I Love You’ is the kind of guitar song The Strokes would write if they were in love with people apart from themselves; when they wake up in the night drenched in cold sweat because they dreamt of a beautiful song… one that would place them in the halls of musical fame and prove them not to be a one trick pony… but goddam’ it, they just can’t remember it, it’s this song. Picture Billy Bragg singing a Phil Spectre song with Hiramika Hi-Fi as his backing band. It’s pure pop, the type they should bottle so I can mainline it.

“I Wanna’ See You’ is a thirty second ditty, and pop-smithery at it’s finest. The song escalates at a frantic pace to its merry conclusion and is the definition of devastatingly simple pop.

Someone saw Monster Bobby and evidently liked him (http://www.spiritofgravity.com/march23review.htm):

"I knew it was going to be a good night almost as soon as I left the house. The sky was clear, and as I turned the corner to walk down Queens Park Road I could see Orion the hunter standing squarely in the sky above where the Free Butt would be. So with this good omen warming my heart, I raced down the hill to see Monster Bobby who did not disappoint. The last time I saw him, he'd just had all his kit nicked. On the basis of this evening’s performance that may not have been too bad a thing. He was great; absolutely the best I've seen. If you've not seen him before, Monster Bobby is a one man band who delivers a set of short, personal songs (yes, songs) that seem unusually human in the electronica machine world. So with charm in full effect, a new haircut stolen off a teddy bear, strange sampled loops and acoustic guitar, and the odd bit of on the fly programming, Bobby thrilled us, and left the group of girls sat at the front gasping for more."