Beardyman Talks Freestylin', Funny Gigs and Feeding off the Impromptu

Beardyman can’t perform the same act more the once. This is an inner flaw he rightly bemoans, but not for long.

This UK act is heavy on audience participation; he thrives off the impromptu audience banter while steering clear of the weighty scripted material. Well aware of the perils of the pub-crowd, Beardyman recently subbed these ineligible shouts for the clear-headed contributions of a make-shift studio audience. It’s a great improvement for his monthly Battlejam night, which now integrates an online audience. For Beardyman it’s all about the ‘interactivity element’, where an internet audience can just as easily join the party. And it’s a concept accompanying the beat-boxer on his February ‘Where are you Taking me’? Tour.

Though debut I Done A Album is released a month later, don’t expect to be hearing a preview. ‘Why would I perform tracks that nobody knows?’. ‘Neil Young did that… it was a bold move but he got boo’ed everywhere he went’. With no intention of being ‘boo’ed’ Beardyman is set to make a new record more times than one this February.

Listen to a sampler minimix of I Done A Album:

Beardyman 'I Done A Album' sampler minimix (mixed by JFB) by Beardyman

Beatboxing is all about using your mouth in ways most people cannot ever imagine. Are there any exercises you do to assist your ‘musical’ output?

You’ve got to warm your voice up before you go on stage. If you’ve been sitting down on a tour bus you’ve got to get some blood flowing through your body. It’s going into battle, isn’t it? It’s you against everyone’s expectations. You’ve got to practice beat-boxing; do some freestylin’.

You must be able to hold your breathe for a substantial length of time?

I used to be able to hold my breathe for a lot longer than I can now. I was probably fitter when I started, to be honest. When I first started beat-boxing I used to do hour long gigs with an MC. Back then when I still had a raw enthusiasm for beat-boxing as an art-form and as a way of making music I did do these marathon sessions. These days beat-box on its own is a small part of my show. I use instant sampling, looping technology, effect units and just layering and manipulating my voice to make a musical journey. When you’re doing straight-out beat-box, just one mouth and a mic, it’s not about circular breathing necessarily. Some of the sounds that sound like they’re exhalations are actually inhalations.

Do you still host the Battlejam club nights?

At the moment we are experimenting with a new format. Club nights are wicked and we may get back into doing Battlejam as a club night but we’re trying something new out. Basically we want to make it into more of a TV show experience for an online audience. I personally feel that that’s a better environment for the kind of thing we do at Battlejam. The other day we tried a small studio audience in a makeshift TV studio. We had some guests in: Jungle Drummer on drums, a couple of beat-boxers jamming on an electronic bongo and a guitarist who could turn his guitar into a bass. The reason we are doing it online is because of the interactivity element, which is what makes Battlejam unique. Usually in a club we’re dealing with drunken punters and the most useful thing we can get out of them is ineligible shouts. With a studio-like audience we’re able to riff a lot better with the suggestions people throw at us. We had people calling in on Skype and we’d sample the video that we were playing online and start scratching with it. From there we jammed to whatever we wanted. It’s about having fun, meeting randoms on the Internet and getting people involved in a party that can extend around the globe.

Will that be taking place this month?

Not this month because I’ll be on tour but we’re going to do some of the interactivity stuff that I’m talking about at my gigs as well. You’ll be able to Tweet me and suggest things. The concept of my tour this time is that I’m basically making a new album every show.

Ok. So your debut I Done A Album, out in March, won’t be showcased on the tour?

No. The album is coming out at the end of the tour and I figure why on earth would I perform songs that nobody yet knows. Neil Young once did that. He toured performing new songs - it was a bold move but he got boo’ed everywhere he went. I’ve got no intention of performing songs that I’ve written because I want to be a singer songwriter. I’m more interested in putting on a wicked show. Until people start asking me to play them I’m not going to start forcing songs onto them. Also a lot of the songs on the album are production based; it’s a challenge to recreate them and I welcome the challenge but I’m not going to do it on purpose. I prefer the idea of spontaneity and creating things on the spot.

Watch Beardyman in action: 

When you were creating your album what was the main focus? 

I had a few conflicting ideas but I basically wanted to make sure that it wasn’t too out there. Although in retrospect I wish I had made it really weird - though it’s still pretty weird… I finished it and took my head out of the studio; coming up for air and then when I went to listen to it a week later I definitely thought it was mental. I’ve been writing songs since I was five but there’s no kind of mournful singer-songwriter stuff on the album, even though I used to write that stuff when I was a teenager. You’ve got MC’ing, you’ve got singing, you’ve got the UK’s Foreign Beggers. There are impressions of rappers; joke tracks with gag elements. Some of them walk the line between novelty and not.

You’ve got quite a reputation for injecting a comedic element into your live shows. Why do you think you do that?

I think people who are overly serious for no reason look stupid. I started doing more comedy orientated shows in the last couple of years and it was just fun. It is kind of context comedy where the comedy comes from the situation; like having a laugh with your mates. When I see a comedian on stage I often think: ‘yea he’s funny but my mate Dave is funnier'. Everyone has a ridiculously funny mate. Every time you involve the audience you get brilliant suggestions and you don’t have to force gags.

Are there any scripts or do you just feed off the impromptu?

I do script some stuff but I never do the same thing in the same way because I get bored really quickly. When you come up with something that is when you should be performing it. If you write a lyric and then have to perform it when you are in a completely different mood you either have to find a place deep down where you still feel that way or you have to act it. A lot of singers are really good at acting because they act all their lyrics; they’re just very convincing. That’s the problem I’ve always had with serious song-writing and scripted comedy; if you’re having to emulate being true to the essence of the seed of the idea then for me that’s the fundamental disconnect. Maybe that’s a flaw in me as a performer. It just makes me feel uncomfortable. All of the great comedians can learn the material and deliver it in a way that they know is the funniest. Someone like Eddie Izzard appears to be improvising but he’s not. He’s just very good at being funny through delivery.

Your favourite comedian?

Reggie Watts. He’s someone who has the same attitude: why do the same thing twice when you can just talk utter bullocks and see what happens? (Laughs). Reggie is a genius.

Interview by: Jasmine Phull

Photo: PM Bryan

Twitter.com/j_fool

Catch Beardyman at Southampton's Junk on February 19th. Tickets are available here.

Beardyman will also be appearing at Kendal Calling Festival from Friday 29th July. Tickets for Kendal Calling are available below: 

Tickets are no longer available for this event