true blockhouse

True Blockhouse is a small music publishing house based in Norwich, England. It represents experimental artists that specialise in electronic, synthesis or orchestral genres. Our current artist roster includes: Cellarhouse, The Urban Mods, Killian Wright, Rob Stroud

Rob Stroud: Gothic drummer, synthsmith and now soundscape artist. A true original who started his musical journey with Gothic legends Sex Gang Children and created a world of dark Musique concrète with his own band Devoid. Rob now returns with a solo album that really challenges your preconceptions of soundscape art.

Locked features 12 remarkable tracks that defy convention, a risky thing to do in a world of homogenised pop and rock, where narrow formulaic song construction rules the air waves. All too often, music that challenges the ‘norm’, is dismissed as too radical for popular approval. His follow-up album 'Unlocked' takes the abstract art of electronica even further with stunning loops and dystopian production.

Rob Stroud is a true original and that’s why true blockhouse signed him up as soon as he became free from other commitments.

Rob’s musical career is centred around synthesis and post punk electronica:

Rob Stroud: "Starting out with a Korg Monophonic MS-10 synthesizer at the age of 15 I experimented with recording and overdubbing on a Reel to Reel tape recorder along with an old borrowed acoustic guitars, mainly slowing things down using the tape speed option. Experimentation was the main goal. After 5 years of drumming in bands I moved into synth pop. With the band Pink and Black I recorded a minimal dance 12” for Illuminated records in 1984 called ‘Sometimes I Wish’ which was re-released via Emotional Rescue Records on 12" in 2014.

His next synth project was Cosmic 666 (1986 – 88) heavily influenced by Swiss electronic wizards Yello and the emerging heavier style of Depeche Mode.

Cosmic 666 turned into Technoquake releasing two records with more a edgier sound : You Say I Said on 7” & Crack Baby on 12” in ’89 & ’91

Devoid was next – Samplers had arrived and it was time to make as much noise as possible – but with no keyboards. The influential industrial album Songs of Mass Destruction (1993) (Energy Rekords) cemented this new non-conventional approach to music production”

The internet changed the landscape of music distribution and Rob successfully released and distributed a number of albums himself: The ‘Themes’ series 3 were just mainly spontaneous recordings with little to no overdubs plus old recordings rescued from tape. No PC's or software allowed.

In 2020 True Blockhouse released 'Locked' a superb compilation of Rob Stroud's electronic dystopian soundscapes, and in 2024 Rob followed up with 'Unlocked' an equally breathtaking antidote to the traditional 'commercial norm'. True Blockhouse is proud to work with such an original artist.