By Cédric Vernet 
With his lap steel still resting on his knees, Olivier Gotti is opening a new chapter in his already varied career, this time with a band. The Robkins is a new quartet formed with Quentin Dupont, Naâman’s guitarist. Their first music video, Hollow Man, sets the tone: this band will be hard to pin down, moving deftly through blues, rock, soul and funk.
Olivier Gotti is known for his voice and his lap steel guitar, played flat across his knees. After two solo albums and his work on the stage production Black Boy, he now steps out with The Robkins. Joining him are Quentin Dupont on guitar, Elliot Andrez on bass and Pascal Carrière on drums.
Slide guitar still at the heart of the music
Olivier Gotti’s lap steel remains at the heart of the music, but it now has company. With Quentin Dupont’s guitar and the support of bass and drums, it finds new ways to express itself. The blues takes a few detours into rock, soul and funk.
With Hollow Man, The Robkins now offers a first look at the band in a music video. Watch it below to discover Olivier Gotti’s new project. The track is also on rotation on Blues Actu Radio.
Watch the music video for Hollow Man
Ain’t Nothing but the Blues: a live excerpt
To discover The Robkins on stage, here is a live excerpt of Ain’t Nothing but the Blues, offering a glimpse of what comes next for the project.
Olivier Gotti, from solo artist to band member
Before forming The Robkins, Olivier Gotti spent many years performing solo, in bars and on the streets. A former cook, he decided to devote himself to music after travels that took him to England and New Caledonia, among other places. Back in France, he settled in Aix-en-Provence and performed with equipment he carried on his back: an amplifier, a stool, a guitar and a microphone.
In 2011, he received the special prize from the Franco-Quebec Youth Office at the Blues sur Seine festival, with an invitation to Montreal’s FestiBlues the following year. He went on to release two solo albums, Little Boy Child and A Way to Win, developing his songwriting around vocals and lap steel.
He also explored other stages with Black Boy, an adaptation of Richard Wright’s autobiographical book combining theatre, blues and live drawing. He later composed the music for Construire un feu, based on Jack London’s To Build a Fire, alongside actor Jérôme Imard and illustrator Jules Stromboni.
With The Robkins, the guitar that has accompanied him since his early days now finds its place in a quartet, alongside Quentin Dupont, Elliot Andrez and Pascal Carrière.