Shlomo
Shlomo is back on the UK touring scene this Autumn following his sold out tours Mouthtronica and Ministry of Mouth.
The world record holding beatboxer's new show is called 'Human Geekbox', and we got the chance to chat to him about the show, his past and what's next for Shlomo.
How did you get into the trade of beatboxing?
I grew up in a very musical family and got my first drumkit aged 8 years old. All I wanted to do was play my drums on Top Of The Pops. Only problem was it was on at 7pm, and I wasn’t allowed to practise my drums after 6, so I instinctively started making noises with my mouth. I didn’t know it was called beatboxing until much later.
What challenges did you face paving your way into this career?
The biggest challenge for me has been to stay grounded. It's can be easy to believe your own hype and start to forget that even when you're a touring artist with people cheering your name each night, you are still just a human being who has to wash the dishes and take out the bins when you get home!
How do you balance your career and your personal life?
My single biggest struggle is constantly juggling my home life with all the exciting projects I have going on at work. I have a young family so I am strict about making sure I don't work on weekends and if I have to, I can take time out in the week. The last thing I want is to miss my little one's childhood.
Your Autumn tour follows a 'geek' theme - why did you go down this route?
#HumanGeekbox is a one man theatre show, so I'm mixing my beatboxing with a storyline from my own life. I was born into a line of certified geeks - my grandfather, Professor Kahn, was an astronomer and they named a planet after him, called Planet Kahnia. When I was a kid I thought I was going to go and live there. So #HumanGeekbox kind of tells the story of 4 generations of space obsessed boys from my grandfather, my dad, me, then down to my own son, all mashed up with plenty of beatboxing, live looping and audience interaction.
Tell us about your Charity Collaborator Challenge.
I've given myself a slightly ridiculous and totally terrifying challenge: to co-write, perform and release a new song in 2 hours with a different local artist in each town on the tour. After each show, the music will be released digitally in aid of War Child. So far we've done 4 of the 15 tracks and I'm really fond of all them. You can listen to them on my website and choose how much to donate if you want to download them. http://shlo.co.uk/charity
You've worked with big names - Bjork, Bill Bailey and Jarvis Cocker to name a few - how has that experience been?
Being asked to record with Bjork was a big shock, as it was my first major break. I was working in a call centre typing out lonely hearts ads when I got a voicemail from her asking me to come to London to record my beats. After that collaboration I got really inspired about my music and took it a lot more seriously, and since then I’ve got to work with amazing people like Jarvis, Imogen Heap and the Mighty Boosh.
Who would you like to join forces with in the future?
Stevie Wonder! Ha. I also really want to create a show bringing together beatboxers and dancers.
What's next for Shlomo?
Working on my new album which will come out in a year or so, and in the meantime I'm doing lots of composing - including writing a vocal score for Bristol Old Vic's Christmas production of The Little Mermaid which opens in November, and I'm going to write a choral beatbox piece next year for the National Youth Choir. Very exciting times!
Catch the trailer for #HumanGeekbox below.