Darren Alexander Foreman (born 14 May 1982), better known as Beardyman, is a British multivocalist,

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

and comedian from London known for his

beatboxing Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.

skills and use of

live looping Live looping is the recording and playback of a piece of music in real-time using either dedicated hardware devices, called loopers or phrase samplers, or software running on a computer with an audio interface. Musicians can loop with either loop ...

Early life

After studying at

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Boys Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet is a boys' grammar school in Barnet, northern Greater London, which was founded in 1573 by Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, and others, in the name of Queen Elizabeth I. It is consistently ranked as one o ...

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

, Foreman moved to

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

in 2001 to study at the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

. Although he started making noises at the age of three by imitating

Michael Winslow Michael Leslie Winslow (born September 6, 1958) is an American actor, comedian and beatboxer billed as The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects for his ability to make realistic sounds using only his voice. He is best known for his roles in all seven '' ...

from the ''

Police Academy A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or othe ...

'' movie series, it was seeing

Rahzel Rozell Manely Brown (born October 6, 1964) is an American beatboxer and rapper, formerly a member of the Roots. Rahzel is known for an ability to sing or rap while simultaneously beatboxing, as evidenced in his performances of "Iron Man" and his ...

perform live that convinced Foreman that beatboxing could sustain a whole show rather than simply provide interludes within the context of a broader presentation. Beardyman's first musical venture was composing a symphony for his school orchestra at the age of ten. At fifteen, an introduction to

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

led to his long-standing obsession with music technology. Darren was given the nickname "Beardyman" because a name was quickly needed for a flyer for an early show, and he had a

beard A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, usually pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. Throughout the course of history, societal at ...

at the time. He is the brother of comedian and YouTuber Jay Foreman, with whom he sometimes collaborates onstage.

Career

Musical style

In 2006 Beardyman battled to become UK Beatbox Champion and retained his title in 2007 making him the first beatboxer in UK history to win two championships in a row. He was on the 2008 judging panel. Already an accomplished solo beatboxer in the modern tradition, Beardyman was further inspired by MC Xander to use music technology such as the Korg

Kaoss Pad The Kaoss Pad is an audio sampling instrument and multi-effects processor originally launched by Korg in 1999. It allows users to record and process audio samples and apply various effects using an X-Y touchscreen. Features Kaoss Pads allow use ...

3 to loop and sample his vocals. Through his use of loop pedals and effects tools, he effectively produces whole DJ sets via live production—entire sets where the songs (both covers of well-known hits and his own original material) are constructed, live, from his vocalizations. His music frequently contains elements of

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

and other associated forms of electronic dance music. He also incorporates other forms of music into his live sets, including but not limited to

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

, often purely for the purpose of providing a comedic counterpoint to his beatboxing. Virtually all of his music is created using only his

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

and

vocal cords In humans, vocal cords, also known as vocal folds or voice reeds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through vocalization. The size of vocal cords affects the pitch of voice. Open when breathing and vibrating for speech ...

to produce sounds, and incorporating music technology such as vocoders and software synthesis to alter the pitch of his voice, or to add various kinds of audio effects such as delays, reverbs or modulation effects. In various

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

videos various pieces of electronic equipment can be spotted, notably the Korg Kaossilator Pro, the

3 (also known as the KP3), a Korg Wavedrum, a microKORG, a Boss GT-8 and a Boss RC-50. In a departure from his prior live work, Beardyman released his debut album '' I Done a Album'' on 21 March 2011. As of 2012 he has foregone the usage of Kaoss Pads in favour of proprietary software he has been developing, currently known as the Beardytron 5000 MkII. "Over the past 3 years I have worked tirelessly on the system, overseeing its development and testing, improving and configuring it. I had no choice really, as the shows I want to do are simply not possible using any existing off the shelf gear, existing software or even cobbled together patches using freeware. The system is essentially my life's work and will continue to be what I use for all my future endeavours. The Beardytron 5000 mkII is a work in progress and at some point you'll be able to buy some form of looper/production-system based on the innovations developed to make my shows possible." Beardyman further states: "The system is built from the ground up in

C++ C++ (pronounced "C plus plus") is a high-level general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, or "C with Classes". The language has expanded significan ...

and

Objective-C Objective-C is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language that adds Smalltalk-style messaging to the C programming language. Originally developed by Brad Cox and Tom Love in the early 1980s, it was selected by NeXT for its NeXTS ...

by Dave Gamble of DMGAudio and employs 15 instances and counting of a partly bespoke version of Sugarbytes' incredible linear-8-way-morph-engine controlled multi-effect 'Turnado'. Guitar rig is also used along with Rob Papen's delay. The system is controlled using two

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...

s running bespoke programs using a specially developed high definition, self-reconnecting protocol." On 29 November 2012 Beardyman posted a live gig performed in October 2012 in Pune, India, which was the first live gig audio revealed online to solely use the Beardytron 5000 MkII. He has stated that the software for the Beardytron 5000 MkII will be available to purchase by the public sometime in 2014. On 28 February 2013, Beardyman gave a talk at a TED conference, an 11-minute overview and demonstration of the Beardytron 5000 MkII. Before demonstrating the capabilities of the Beardytron 5000, he provides an example of some of the sounds he is capable of making with only his

, such as crying babies, vinyl record scratching, buzzing flies,

overtone singing Overtone singing – also known as overtone chanting, harmonic singing, polyphonic overtone singing, and diphonic singing – is a set of singing techniques in which the vocalist manipulates the resonances of the vocal tract, in order to arous ...

, various animals, a

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...

and beatboxing. He then explains that despite his ability to create sounds, the human voice is still intrinsically limited by its physical and biological characteristics. He describes his invention as a real-time music production machine. He states: "It enables me to, using nothing but my voice, create music in real time as I hear it in my head, unimpeded by any physical restrictions my body might place on me." The video was uploaded to the TED.com website, the TEDTalks YouTube channel and Beardyman's website on 2 August 2013.

Collaborators

His interest in exploring new musical technology is also evident in the innovative ''Battlejam'' club nights he hosts with 2007 DMC champion

turntablist Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA system ...

JFB. Here the live looping technology is augmented with live sampling of the audience to make the hook of instantly composed tracks and even live video sampling and scratching. He has gigged and recorded with MC Klumzy Tung as part of MC/beatbox duo The Gobfathers. Together, they presented Get Lucky TV's 'The Freestyle Show" in 2005, and also appeared as traffic wardens in a hidden camera show for E4. In 2008 he collaborated with visual artist mr hopkinson, to produce a video called ''Monkey Jazz'' which visually describes the live looping process, which has had over 1 million views on

. Since then they have worked together to produce various multi-camera videos of Beardyman's performances filmed at the

Cube Microplex The Cube Microplex is cinema and event venue in Bristol, England. It operates as a non-profit cooperative and is entirely staffed by volunteers. Since opening in 1998 it has hosted international and local artistic and cultural events including f ...

. Beardyman has also appeared on stage for improvised live shows with mr_hopkinson providing visual backdrops from images instantly searched from the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

in response to audience suggestions at Just for Laughs Montreal and

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

international comedy festivals, sourcing and manipulating images live from the internet in response to audience suggestions. Beardyman was commissioned in 2010 to produce a promotional video for

Dolby Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (often shortened to Dolby Labs and known simply as Dolby) is an American company specializing in audio noise reduction, audio encoding/compression, spatial audio, and HDR imaging. Dolby licenses its technologies to ...

Mobile, a surround sound chip for mobile devices. For this, he wrote and performed the

vide
DOLBYMAN
exhibiting a multitude of genres to showcase the chip's abilities.

Viral videos

Beardyman often incorporates humour into his act. He has impersonated

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, dressed as a monkey on stage at

Bestival Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festival relocated to the Lulworth Estate in Dorset. The event was organ ...

,Beardyman Interview
and once posed as an Austrian climate change lecturer, "Professor Bernhard Steinerhoff", before breaking into his set, with over 2 million views on

. He also features in the Funky Sage ring tones in which he plays a floating head who beatboxes and gives good advice. His video "Kitchen Diaries" which features him combining beatboxing with cooking has been viewed more than 5 million times on YouTube. "Kitchen Diaries" also makes an appearance in ''South Coast'', a Brighton-based documentary about hip hop in the UK. Beardymanparty

Vocal abilities

Beardyman is known for his eclectic array of vocal techniques, which include

beatboxing Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.

singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

rapping Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

scat singing In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...

, instrument/sound mimicry and voice impressions. Since 2020 Darren has voiced ''Love Monster'' on the show of the same name on CBeebies.

Media appearances

During November 2006 he took part in a series of children's choir charity concerts called Young Voices appearing in Manchester, Birmingham, London and Belfast. On 10 February 2007 he made an appearance on the second episode of the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

show ''When Will I Be Famous''. Despite winning over the studio audience and two of the three judges, he came second in a public vote. On the same day, he was on also on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

show ''Homemade'' where he was profiled as the weirdest beatboxer around. Beardyman supported

Groove Armada Groove Armada are an English electronic music duo, composed of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay. They achieved chart success with their singles "At the River", "I See You Baby" and "Superstylin'". The duo have released nine studio albums, four of whic ...

on their UK tour in 2007. In July 2009, he appeared at the Udderbelly during its residency at

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...

in London. This was for an ensemble comedy show called "Beardyman's Complete and Utter Shambles" featuring JFB, MC Klumzy Tung, Beardyman's comedian brother Jay Foreman, visual artist mr_hopkinson, guitarist 'J'm Black, saxophonist Hellanor and comedian

Reggie Watts Reginald Lucien Frank Roger Watts (born March 23, 1972) is an American comedian, actor, beatboxer, and musician. His improvised musical sets are created using only his voice, a keyboard, and a looping machine. Watts refers to himself as a "disinf ...

. The show took the technology based entertainment experiments of Battlejam to a more theatrical comedy club setting. A reduced cast version of the show renamed "Beardyman's Unplanned Explosion" went on to appear at the Udderbelly at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

in late August 2009, and again at

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

in October 2009. Beardyman appeared in the BBC Comedy Prom 2011 with Tim Minchin. Beardyman cites the

Lyrebird A lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds that compose the genus ''Menura'', and the family Menuridae. They are most notable for their impressive ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environ ...

as a form of inspiration, and hosted a BBC Radio 4 documentary about the bird entitled, "Beardyman and the Mimics". He regularly appears on the BBC Radio 4 '' Now Show'' and was a guest panelist on Series 18, Episode 5 of ''

The Infinite Monkey Cage ''The Infinite Monkey Cage'' is a BBC Radio 4 comedy and popular science series. Hosted by physicist Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince, ''The Independent'' described it as a "witty and irreverent look at the world according to science". The sh ...

''.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' I Done a Album'' (2011) *''Distractions'' (2014)

Live albums

*''Beardyman presents The Dream Team, Live at Electric Brixton'' (featuring Dizraeli, Bellatrix, LeeN, Rob Lewis and Emre Ramazanoglu) (2016)

Extended plays

*''Oh!/Smell the Vibe'' (2012) *''Oh!/Smell the Vibe (Remixes)'' (2012) *''Concentrations'' (2014)

Singles

;As lead artist *"Where Does Your Mind Go?" (2011) *"Mountain Side" (2015) *"6AM (Ready to Write)" (2019) (featuring

Joe Rogan Joseph James Rogan (born August 11, 1967) is an American UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly ...

) *"Shelter me from the rain" (2022) (featuring MC HyperScott) ;As featured artist *" Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat" (2013) (

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

and Riva Starr featuring Beardyman) *"Boom F**king Boom" (2017) (Fatboy Slim featuring Beardyman)

References

External links

* * * * *
George Bull interviews Beardyman
for ''Heso'' magazine in March 2008
Beardyman video interview at Hydro Connect Festival August 2008

Beardyman interview, June 2008
* ** TED Talk
The polyphonic me
(TED2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:Beardyman Alumni of the University of Sussex British beatboxers English male singers Jewish English musicians Musicians from London 1982 births Living people People educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Boys People from Stanmore Articles containing video clips 21st-century English singers 21st-century British male singers