NEWS CHANNEL
Published: 29/09/2009 00:00 -
Updated: 23/02/2010 13:35
Drum roll, please. A supermarket worker from Bletchley has become the latest on-stage, online sensation in the field of beatboxing. Reporter JESSICA CUNNIFFE met up with the man of a thousand sounds to find out more.
(media 1897)
As a one-man band reduces the personnel of an ensemble to a single musician, Anthony Ashfield can compress the sounds of a drum kit to his mouth.
From an arm chair in his living room, flanked by shelves containing Disney videos and Harry Potter books, the 21-year-old broadcasts tutorials on the coolest skill of the moment: beatboxing.
Part party trick, part musical genre, beatboxing is like a percussive form of scatting - where 'do-re-mi-fa' is more like 'um-cha-tsk-cha'.
"I got into beatboxing by saying peek-a-boo to a baby," said Anthony, also known as Fat Tony.
"Peek-a-boo became 'pkab' and made a beat. Now I beatbox all day, every day. I annoy everyone. I'm not very popular on public transport. I beatbox walking down the street or on my bike on the way to work."
Work for Anthony is on the Tesco checkout in Oxley Park. But with tutorials, gigs and worldwide acclaim, the former Royal Latin School pupil is on his way from the supermarket to superstardom.
He has been making all the right noises for such an ascent.
Over the past three years he has perfected a repertoire of several hundred tones.
For example, he effortlessly reels off a ripple of sounds, near-perfectly replicating the rumble of a double peddle on a bass drum - difficult enough to do with a drum and two feet, like alone your tongue and lips.
"The first sounds I learnt were kick drum and rim shot. From there I learnt hi-hat and that was really the starting point. After that I started trying to learn on my own, listening to different sounds and trying to mimic them."
The craze-turned-discipline - you can even beatbox in your music GCSE performance exams now - has seen a revival since its inception in the early 1980s - before Anthony was born.
He feels he is carving a niche by pushing the sound boundaries.
"I like doing sounds no-one does, like the whistle snare and water drop. It makes me feel original."
In fact, with his girlfriend, Florida-based Luckey Monkey, they have pioneered the 'human pan pipes' act, beatboxing into each other's mouths (which has to be YouTubed to be believed).
It is Anthony's YouTube tutorials which have secured him international recognition.
More than 300,000 hits on his website attest to the success of the 'Beatbox With Me' series, made on a small video camera and laptop.
For him, beatboxing is less about showing off and more about sharing.
"If you can say the word biscuit - bsss-kt - then you can beatbox. Anyone can do it, and I love teaching them."
So why, when he is intent on uniqueness, does Anthony want to reveal his secrets?
"I was against teaching beatboxing at first. I thought, if you can do it, you should keep it yourself. But I just like spreading the love, teaching people and seeing them smile."
Beatboxing can be both serious and silly. Anthony explains the intricacies of the sheet music system, Standard Beatbox Notation - before bursting into a hip-hop rendition of the Thomas the Tank Engine theme.
After being dubbed 'Fat Tony' at school for his slender physique, he has turned the insult into a cool pseudonym.
Now he wants beatboxing to change other people's lives, the way it has his.
"I saw one guy doing workshops with kids, people who got picked on a lot. It really hit home because I got picked on. So doing tutorials felt right. I thought, I can really make a difference to people. I used to be shy and embarrassed. But beatboxing has become a way of life for me. The amount it has changed me is unbelievable."
Now he has hit the big time, appearing alongside heroes such as Beardy Man, Faith SFX and Killer Kela on YouTube's 'Featured Music' front page.
But he remains flattered by his Milton Keynes groupies, who go to check out the checkout boy with the extraordinary talent.
The hip-hop master reveals his favourite artist is, strangely, the softly-sung woman behind the Juno soundtrack, Kimya Dawson.
So, does this mean that the man of a thousand sounds give us a tune as well?
"I have to admit, I can't sing," he added. "My singing voice is awful."
To see more, go to www.youtube.com/user/FatTonyBBX
(media 1897)
As a one-man band reduces the personnel of an ensemble to a single musician, Anthony Ashfield can compress the sounds of a drum kit to his mouth.
From an arm chair in his living room, flanked by shelves containing Disney videos and Harry Potter books, the 21-year-old broadcasts tutorials on the coolest skill of the moment: beatboxing.
Part party trick, part musical genre, beatboxing is like a percussive form of scatting - where 'do-re-mi-fa' is more like 'um-cha-tsk-cha'.
"I got into beatboxing by saying peek-a-boo to a baby," said Anthony, also known as Fat Tony.
"Peek-a-boo became 'pkab' and made a beat. Now I beatbox all day, every day. I annoy everyone. I'm not very popular on public transport. I beatbox walking down the street or on my bike on the way to work."
Work for Anthony is on the Tesco checkout in Oxley Park. But with tutorials, gigs and worldwide acclaim, the former Royal Latin School pupil is on his way from the supermarket to superstardom.
He has been making all the right noises for such an ascent.
Over the past three years he has perfected a repertoire of several hundred tones.
For example, he effortlessly reels off a ripple of sounds, near-perfectly replicating the rumble of a double peddle on a bass drum - difficult enough to do with a drum and two feet, like alone your tongue and lips.
"The first sounds I learnt were kick drum and rim shot. From there I learnt hi-hat and that was really the starting point. After that I started trying to learn on my own, listening to different sounds and trying to mimic them."
The craze-turned-discipline - you can even beatbox in your music GCSE performance exams now - has seen a revival since its inception in the early 1980s - before Anthony was born.
He feels he is carving a niche by pushing the sound boundaries.
"I like doing sounds no-one does, like the whistle snare and water drop. It makes me feel original."
In fact, with his girlfriend, Florida-based Luckey Monkey, they have pioneered the 'human pan pipes' act, beatboxing into each other's mouths (which has to be YouTubed to be believed).
It is Anthony's YouTube tutorials which have secured him international recognition.
More than 300,000 hits on his website attest to the success of the 'Beatbox With Me' series, made on a small video camera and laptop.
For him, beatboxing is less about showing off and more about sharing.
"If you can say the word biscuit - bsss-kt - then you can beatbox. Anyone can do it, and I love teaching them."
So why, when he is intent on uniqueness, does Anthony want to reveal his secrets?
"I was against teaching beatboxing at first. I thought, if you can do it, you should keep it yourself. But I just like spreading the love, teaching people and seeing them smile."
Beatboxing can be both serious and silly. Anthony explains the intricacies of the sheet music system, Standard Beatbox Notation - before bursting into a hip-hop rendition of the Thomas the Tank Engine theme.
After being dubbed 'Fat Tony' at school for his slender physique, he has turned the insult into a cool pseudonym.
Now he wants beatboxing to change other people's lives, the way it has his.
"I saw one guy doing workshops with kids, people who got picked on a lot. It really hit home because I got picked on. So doing tutorials felt right. I thought, I can really make a difference to people. I used to be shy and embarrassed. But beatboxing has become a way of life for me. The amount it has changed me is unbelievable."
Now he has hit the big time, appearing alongside heroes such as Beardy Man, Faith SFX and Killer Kela on YouTube's 'Featured Music' front page.
But he remains flattered by his Milton Keynes groupies, who go to check out the checkout boy with the extraordinary talent.
The hip-hop master reveals his favourite artist is, strangely, the softly-sung woman behind the Juno soundtrack, Kimya Dawson.
So, does this mean that the man of a thousand sounds give us a tune as well?
"I have to admit, I can't sing," he added. "My singing voice is awful."
To see more, go to www.youtube.com/user/FatTonyBBX
