Guinness World Records joy for drum and bass producer Rob FWA, from Rippingale, near Bourne

A prolific musician and producer has fulfilled a life’s ambition by becoming a Guinness World Record holder.

Hours glued to 1980s children’s TV show Record Breakers inspired drum and bass artist and producer Rob Ford - known to fans as Rob FWA - to one day get his own name in the record books.

And on Wednesday (July 31), ambition became reality as the Guinness World Records confirmed his place for ‘the most consecutive weeks to release an original digital single by a music act’.

So how does it feel to have released a single each week for 71 weeks, and be a record breaker?

“I have to say, like many big projects and goals, it’s a sense of relief!”, said Rob.

“But I did smile when the confirmation email arrived from Guinness World Records and I know my son feels proud.

“That’s the important bit for me - to inspire him about what’s possible when you dedicate yourself to something.”

Rob, from Rippingale, near Bourne, smashed the previous 54-week record which had stood for seven years, but knows his feat may not endure for quite so long.

“I do know that a karaoke singer from Japan is also targeting this, so my record could be short-lived,” he explained.

“But the achievement stands for me as a personal goal that I’ve dreamed of most of my life.”

His mission began on January 11, 2023 and 55 weeks later the record-breaking moment landed with the release of Mr Chips.

The 71-week run finally ended on May 15 this year, falling short of Rob’s intended target.

“I actually had 100 tracks queued up in distribution, but either I, or SoundCloud distribution, made an admin error,” he explained.

“After the 71st weekly release, a week was missed and then the following week two tracks were released.

“That was frustrating, but did bring things to a natural conclusion as there did seem to be no end in sight.”

Rob, who makes most of his tracks on his iPhone, can trace his love of music back to his childhood, although his initial DIY experiments with music did not end well.

“My dad bought a nice Sony record player in the 1970s and I tried the scratching technique on one of his records, but the stylus wasn’t designed to move both ways and broke off,” he recalled.

Inspired by rave culture, about 10 years ago he started making music around running the international design award platform Favourite Website Awards, which he founded in 2000.

He had tracks released on the record label Life For Music, and many played on BBC Introducing as well as a host of former pirate stations, while he was also commissioned to produce a 10-minute mix for regional BBC radio.

But frustrations over life on a label persuaded him to cut out the middle man and begin releasing his own music five years ago

“Whilst having my tracks released on the Life For Music label, I realised that the process took ages,” he said.

“It could be six months to a year before a new track would be released and I couldn’t share the tracks beforehand.

“That took the buzz away in some ways, for me, and being such a prolific producer the label manager suggested I start releasing tracks on my own label.”