Beardyman Interview Ahead of Boom! In Brixton

Beardyman is awesome. . . . After winning the well renowned Lyric Pad Beatbox Battle twice in 2004, he went on to win the title of London champion and UK runner up in the 2005 Championships and the following year became UK Beatbox Champion 2006. He successfully defended his title in June 2007 to become the first beatboxer in UK history to win the national championships twice in a row. In 2009 he won the award for Best Mc/Vocalist at the World renowned breakbeat awards ceremony Breakspoll.

We caught up with him ahead of Boom! in Brixton...

Well just let's say an interesting start to your career, after seeing Rahzel performing live for the first time - a performer known as 'The Godfather of Noize' and a former member of The Roots, an amazing beat boxer in his own right. You then decided to take up beat boxing yourself christened with the name Beardyman because of your then beard. What caught your imagination back then that made you want to take up the mic?
"I was fascinated by Rahzel's ability to keep a crowd rocking with just a mic and the occasional blast of a DJ. It was a full hour's show and the structure of it was really interesting to me. The DJ plays a song - Rahzel mimics it. I'd never seen anything like it, and it didn't seem possible that a human could be able to make those noises. I later found out that it isn't. He uses a sub-harmonic synthesizer, a machine which synthesizes bass notes lower than any human can reach. I was already doing beatbox but nothing serious, seeing Rahzel just made me hungry for a stage to do it on, but it wasn't 'till much later that I ended up being given those stages."

What are...
The Best 10 Hip Hop Albums ever made (in no particular order)
Dre '2001'
Eminem - 'The Slim Shady LP'
A Tribe Called Quest 'People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm'
A Tribe Called Quest 'Beats Rhymes and Life'
A Tribe Called Quest 'The Love Movement'
De La Soul '3 Feet High and Rising'
De La Soul 'Stakes is High'
The Roots 'Things Fall Apart'
Foreign Beggars 'Assylum Speakers'
Skinnyman 'Council Estate of Mind'

The Biggest Hip Hop star of all time - and why?
"Eminem, 'cos he sold the most records. Or Busta Rhymes 'cos he's the illest. Then there's Q-Tip 'cos he's the sickest, also Biggy 'cos he's the most legendary."

The Best DMC Turntablist of all time - and why?
"JFB 'cos he's got mad skillz and everyone else is wack. He can levitate whilst doing a baby scratch and then sets himself on fire. Its sick."

You have won an array of some very impressive Beatbox awards, the Lyric Pad Beatbox Battle twice, smashing the shit out of the UK Beatbox Championships - becoming the first beat-boxer to win the national championship twice. Then saw everyone off in 2009 winning the Best MC/Vocalist at the world renowned breakbeat awards ceremony - Breakspoll. What was your proudest moment up on stage?
"Beat boxing in a monkey costume at 'Bestival' in front of 15,000 people."

How is England going to cure knife culture, what's the answer? Is it down to parents or teachers?
"Pass. I have no idea what's wrong with this country that suddenly knives are considered cool, its a self perpetuating cycle. There's no one solution."

What other MCs out there do you rate? Today and yesteryear? Who is your hero?
"Orifice Vulgatron, Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes, Timmy Mallet..."

So going right back, you wrote a symphony at the age of ten at school - how the hell did you get into music that early in your life? Family, what sort of grooves were bouncing around your home?
"Abba was a staple unfortunately. The Beatles. A lot of classical. My parents had a very patchy music taste."

When you were 15 you started getting into the world of Drum n' Bass - who were your early heroes?
"Adam F got me into Drum n Bass, then I started listening to the Moondance mix CDs and it all went from there.

You are truly a human music machine - the sounds that erupt from your body just sees people on the dancefloor looking at each other and shaking their heads in disbelief. What have been the best BIG events you've sent the crowd crazy over the years?
"Rise was good - 40,000 people, Bestival without a shadow of a doubt the best, Get Loaded in the Park brilliant too."

Living in Brighton. Bit of a shit hole eh? Too many students about?
"Brighton is amazing. Go there and tell me its not the best place in the UK."

Err, no.

You appeared on many, many radio shows for the likes of Radio 1, Kiss, Kerrang etc - how was that vibe, did you enjoy it?
"I like being on radio, Ive got a good face for radio."

You are performing live over the summer months at many festivals including Glastonbury, Bestival, Glade to name but a few. Your're also at the launch of the new night Boom! at Jamm on July 4th. How does performing at a festival in front of thousands compare with a personal and intimate venue such as Jamm?
"I was looking forward to Sonar in Barcelona which Ive just done, it was sick . I played to 10,000 people and made them all go berserk and loved it. I'm hosting the main stage at Bestival which will be crazy, booya."


Catch Beardyman performing at new club night Boom! @ Jamm in Brixton on Saturday 4th July alongside DJ Yoda, Urban Nerds, Super Milkmen and more. For tickets and info www.brixtonjamm.org / www.ticketweb.co.uk