Robert is the son of actress Talia Shire and the late producer Jack Schwartzman. He is also the younger brother of actor/musician Jason Schwartzman of "Rushmore" and band, Phantom Planet, fame. Other well-known relatives include uncle Francis Ford Coppola, cousin Sophia Coppola and her husband Spike Jones, and cousin Nicholas Cage. Robert also has a strong musical career with his band Rooney where he is songwriter, guitarist, and lead vocalist. Rooney has released their debut album in May 2003 which is self-titled and features the first single "Blueside" which was partly performed in "The Princess Diaries."

His Los Angeles based band Rooney was originally called Ed Rooney after the principal in 80's cult classic "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" but later decided to shorten it to just Rooney.

Robert has taken up a name change to Robert Carmine to honor his grandfather Carmine Coppola, a musical composer. While still credited in his cinematic career as Robert Schwartzman, he uses Robert Carmine to distinguish his musical career. This is his second name change where his first was Robert Schwartzman-Cage.