Hugh Robert Banton (born April 1949) is a British musician and electronic organ builder, most widely known for playing organ and keyboards with the group Van der Graaf Generator.
Banton was born in April 1949 in Yeovil, Somerset, into a musical family. His father played the piano, his mother regularly sang along to music on the radio, and two uncles were church organists. He started playing the piano at age four, and began taking formal lessons at age seven. He was influenced by the family classical record collection and by music heard on Radio Luxembourg. In his teens he studied classical piano and organ while attending Silcoates School in Yorkshire under Dr Percy G. Saunders, the organist at Wakefield Cathedral. He continued to enjoy both rock 'n' roll and classical music.
After leaving school, he trained as a television engineer with the BBC in Evesham, and subsequently in London. He joined Van der Graaf Generator in May 1968 when the group (then consisting of just Peter Hammill and Judge Smith) moved from Manchester to London. In performance with this group he played Farfisa and Hammond organs, adding a wide range of effects including phasing, tape echo, distortion and overdrive.

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