BeardyMan

BeardyMan, also known as Beardyman and Darren Foreman, is a beatbox artist and musician from London, England. He is known for live performances built around human beatboxing, improvisation and music technology, with sets that combine layered rhythms, sound manipulation and fully formed songs created in real time from the voice alone. No pre-recorded material is used in these performances.

Early work and development

He begins composing at the age of ten, writing a symphony for his school orchestra. At fifteen, an introduction to drum and bass leads to a lasting interest in music technology, which becomes central to his later live setup and performance style.

Beatboxing career

He starts performing out in 2001 and quickly builds a reputation in UK beatboxing. In 2004 he wins the Lyric Pad Beatbox Battle twice. He then wins the London beatbox championship in 2005 and becomes UK Beatbox Champion in 2006. He is also due to represent the UK at the World Beatbox Championships in Berlin in 2007.

His work is described as combining beatbox technique with humour and musical range, and his live shows use newly developed live-sampling technology to create improvised material. Crowd participation is part of this approach, with audience sounds sampled and used in the performance.

Collaborations and live work

BeardyMan shares stages with artists including Andy C, Shy FX, Total Science, Skibadee, Conrad, Jenna G, Jungle Drummer, Grooverider, Nextmen, Jazzy Jeff, Skinnyman, Terra Firma, Wordsmith, Foreign Beggars, Phi-Life Cypher and the Freestylers. He also works as a compere for events across Europe, including performances at the basketball arena at the 2005 Earls Court Urban Music Festival, as well as large shows in London and Brighton and corporate events.

He co-presents The Freestyle Show on Get Lucky TV from 2004 to 2005 with Klum-Z-Tung. The two also perform together as the Gobfathers.

Battlejam and other projects

He co-runs the Brighton night Battlejam with JFB, the 2003 Vestax Champion. The night brings together hip hop, breaks, reggae, ragga, dancehall, jazz, funk and drum and bass, and each edition is fully improvised with guest musicians and freestyle MCs. It uses live-sampling technology and often includes crowd sounds in the performance.

Media, recordings and other work

BeardyMan appears on Radio 1 and Kerrang Radio and is featured on MTV. He completes a tour of charity concerts for the children’s cancer charity Clic Sargeant, performing in some of the largest arenas in the UK to a total audience of around 83,000 people.

He works with Groove Armada on their album and has an all-vocal breaks, drum and bass and dubstep EP with Ed Solo. He also works on an EP with Disraeli, the UK Slam Poetry Champion, and has a solo album project with producer Lee “Muddy” Baker. His later work includes voice-overs for the game Buzz on PlayStation 2 and 3, and beatbox-based music for the Sky channel Trouble.