The Voluntary Butler Scheme is, to all intents and purposes, Rob Jones – a young man holed up in Stourbridge just outside Birmingham, writing pop songs of classic sound, vivid imagination and homemade ingenuity. A couple of years ago, Rob filled the days surfing drum stools, playing for a string of bands and relishing the low-expectations life of a jobbing musician. But then, the offer of a solo gig came up. "So I wrote four or five songs, and played the show," he explains. And? "And it wasn't all that," he laughs.

Read more about The Voluntary Butler Scheme on Last.fm.