INTERVIEW: Beatboxing champion Shlomo and his amazing mouth

11:48am Thursday 24th February 2011

By Matthew Jenkin

HALFWAY through one of Shlomo’s online beatbox classes, or mouthwashes as he has coolly dubbed them, I realise I sound more like a stuttering, blocked exhaust pipe than a human drum machine and by the time I get to lesson two, my gob is buzzing like a hive of angry bees.

Beatboxing, which involves producing drum beats, rhythms and musical sounds using only the mouth, began among hip-hoppers on street corners in the US during the 1980s as a cheap alternative to pricey sound systems.

But for Shlomo — Simon Shlomo Kahn — his talent sprang from the more suburban setting of his parents’ living room, where, as a precocious eight-year-old, he would replicate the beats and rhythms of the latest Top of the Pops number one.

His seemingly mundane beginnings is one of the themes featured in his Mouthtronica tour, heading to Greenwich Theatre later this month.

The articulate, mild-mannered Shlomo is the antithesis of what people expect an international hip hop star to be.

“Everyone has got a certain preconception of what beatboxing is and I just really enjoy smashing that up,” he giddily explains.

“When I walk out onto the stage people aren’t necessarily expecting a skinny, white Jewish boy.

“I’m actually quite shy and softly spoken normally, but once I get on the microphone people are a bit taken aback.

“I really enjoy playing with expectations. For me it’s all about mixing things up.”

After collaborating with Bjork and appearing on Later with Jools Holland in 2005, his career sky rocketed.

However, Shlomo’s refusal to be pigeon-holed has meant a short-sighted music industry has been left scratching its head.

It’s one of the reasons why the world champion beatboxer has largely ignored their generous but creatively restrictive offers of major record deals.

He said: “I got signed up to a big management company and they wanted to talk to EMI about getting me signed.

“I said to them, ‘yeah, that sounds interesting, but what I’d really like to do is organise a massive international beatboxing convention at the South Bank Centre.’ The management just didn’t know what to do.

“People are just coming to terms with the fact that the music industry is no longer just a set formula and with the fact that people aren’t buying recorded music anymore.

“It’s the people who have had an open mind to it and have been prepared to try new things who are now flourishing.

Shlomo: Mouthtronica. Greenwich Theatre, Crooms Hill. March 25. Call 020 8858 7755 or visit greenwichtheatre.org.uk