Robert Schmidbauer, the German producer known as Rowpieces, began with hip-hop, which he encountered as a teenager. He discovered drum and bass in the mid-1990s and explored house, downtempo and other electronic music after becoming bored with hip-hop. Soul, funk and jazz also shaped his musical influences, and his music draws on those styles. The name Rowpieces combines “Row”, his nickname, with “pieces”, a reference to the variety of music he listens to and produces. Schmidbauer’s parents and uncle were multi-instrumentalists, although he did not study music traditionally and does not play an instrument.
His first productions were made with a collaborator in basements and appeared on The 90’s Productions Vol. 1 & 2 for Soul Bros. Records. Schmidbauer co-runs the label, which focuses mainly on drum and bass and issued its first release in 2010. He is also responsible for Soul Bros.’ sound and quality as its A&R. Among the labels that have released his music are V Recordings, Good Looking, Phuzion, Fokuz, Creative Wax and Jazzsticks. In a 2014 interview, he discussed a release on Fokuz, Memorable Time EP, and plans for a label dedicated to his own music.
Schmidbauer founded Rowtown Records to support and showcase his productions. The label released his 12-track album Settled Down LP. His releases also include the 2018 Liquid V EP Nothing But A Groove Thang EP, with “All The Things” featuring Elliot Chapman, alongside “Groove Thang”, “No More Sciolism” and “I've Seen Better Times”. The 2017 single How Does It Feel EP came out on Celsius Recordings, while Things I'll Never Say EP was a 2018 single on Vibration Records. His DJ sets span multiple genres.
In 2019, Schmidbauer released the single “I'm A Different Man” on SyTrac with Bubbsta. His 2025 album Between Melancholy And Confidence appeared on Rowtown Records.
