I spent parts of four days visiting Roxorloops, one of my early beatbox idols, in Liedekerke, Belgium. If you had to categorize, Roxorloops is the epitome of 'European-style' beatbox. He doesn't really have ties to a hip-hop scene, nor does he make much of an effort to look hiphop. His beatboxing focuses on incredibly precise sounds that don't sound like anything that could possibly come from a human throat. Roxor explained that his aim is to push the limits as far from organic 'boom-chicka-pah' beatbox as he possibly can. As for his progress towards this goal, I'll just say that he's probably the only beatboxer I've ever seen who can make my jaw drop with how realistic he sounds without the aid of a microphone.
He's a full-time professional beatboxer, though he reaches that coveted status by splitting his time between several different projects. He does solo shows (I saw him perform at a frighteningly lavish birthday party), provides vocal drums for an a cappella group and a band, and is part of a three-man beatbox theatre ensemble called Les Daltoniens. I spent a couple of days helping the Daltoniens build the set for their current show and watching a performance.
The idea behind Les Daltoniens is to use beatbox to fill in the rhythms and music inherent in everyday life. Each actor's character has a rhythmic beatbox motif, and they add vocal sound effects (dogs, curtains opening and closing, sirens, etc.) to create a full soundscape. There is very little spoken dialogue, but physical acting, a full set, and the beatbox sounds fill in exactly what is going on.
The show has a clear plot, featuring three characters-- a noise-averse, crotchety old man, a musically inclined homeless man, and a friendly postman. The homeless man finds a temporary home in a pile of construction equipment left next to the old man's house. The postman walks by and gives him a coat to keep his feet warm, and eventually comes to befriend him, based around a common interest in music. They quickly run afoul of the old man with their beatboxing ways, and he comes up with various ways to drive them away.
The plot resolves itself in magical fashion with the aid of an invisible, supernaturally gifted fly. It's been sprayed nearly to death after buzzing around the old man's flowers, and the postman nurses it back to health. It's then that they discover that the fly has the incredible ability to turn people into breakdancers by flying into their mouths. Eventually, this happens to the angry old man, he realizes that he enjoys dancing & beatboxing, and the three of them live happily ever after.
The story itself is fairly formulaic, but the way sounds are used to tell it is pure brilliance. When the homeless man is tidying up his new living quarters, the sound effect of him brushing off some dirty street barriers meshes right into his beatbox motif. The same magic happens with the 'sounds' of the old man's security systems, the postman's letter deliveries, the fly (and a can of insect repellent), and even a session of graffiti tagging (aided by a computer projector screen).
It's a show that brings a sense of wonder and imagination to the sounds of urban life, and the kids in the audience lapped it up. They participated in the drama of the plot, shouting from their seats to tell the old man who had painted his wall. They also asked tons of questions afterwards, apparently including, "Was there a real dog in the house?"
I'm really excited to see beatbox used in this way. Beatbox often feels like magic when people hear it for the first time, and harnessing this magic to highlight the beauty of the mundane is a noble goal.
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