Archive for “News”

Check out RJ Fernandez’s shots from the 2 hour Unconventional Means show at Glastonbury. See the full photo set here.

Shlomo will be appearing at the 2008 Big Chill Festival. The Mighty Boosh have invited him to perform in the Big Chill Nights tent where they are curating an all night jam after their headline slot on the Saturday.

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Hi, Shlo here. So you might know we are hosting our own stage for the Saturday evening at the Glastonbury Park Stage this year. The idea is that my beatbox choir (Shlomo and the Vocal Orchestra) will be the backing band for a series of guest-star collaborations.

Emily Eavis is curating the Park Stage and she has invited several of the festival’s key artists to collaborate with us.

The lineup is a secret but you can probably guess some of the names by looking at previous Unconventional Means lineups, then throw in a few of this year’s headline artists and you have yourself a show!

If you can guess the artists referred to in the following clues, email your name, phone number and answers to competition@shlo.co.uk by 5pm on Friday 20th June and you will be in with a chance of winning two free tickets to the festival.

1. Locating superhero attire
2. Preacher with creators
3. Two offspring of folk-rock dynasties

There are new ‘Shlomo and the Vocal Orchestra’ t-shirts available to buy now from the AFTM Shop, featuring specially commissioned artwork from illustrator/spy Eleanor Meredith.

For the first time, Colette McWilliams’ feature length documentary ‘The Beatbox Choir’ is now available to buy on DVD from the AFTM Shop.

Watch as Shlomo and The Vocal Orchestra create the world’s only 13-piece beatboxing choir in only 6 weeks.

Watch the trailer here:

Glastonbury and Bestival!

Shlomo’s collaborative concert series ‘Music Through Unconventional Means’ will depart from Southbank over the Summer to hit some of the UK’s festivals! Starting with a massive 2 hour collaborative show headlining the Glastonbury Park Stage, followed by a reprise of Shlomo and DJ Yoda’s collaboration on the mainstage at Bestival. Details below.

Music Through Unconventional Means @ Glastonbury

6-8PM, GLASTONBURY PARK STAGE, SAT 28 JUNE 2008

We are proud to announce that a special collaborative show will take place at this year’s Glastonbury festival, led by acclaimed British beatbox artist SHLOMO with his beatbox choir THE VOCAL ORCHESTRA. The two hour show will feature a secret list of guest acts from across the musical spectrum, with several of the festival’s key artists playing exclusive acoustic performances before collaborating and jamming with Shlomo and each other.

The emphasis of this extraordinary evening is on spontaneous collaboration and improvisation, often pushing the guest artists away from their usual performance zone to create something entirely original and unique.

The title ‘Music Through Unconventional Means’ is taken from Shlomo’s monthly concert series at the London Southbank Centre, where he is currently Artist in Residence. The series has been running since November 2007, and so far Shlomo has collaborated with Martha Wainwright, Teddy Thompson, DJ Yoda, Mad Professor and Polar Bear.

The Glastonbury show came about after discussions between Shlomo and Park Stage curator Emily Eavis. “This is one of the most anticipated shows at this year’s festival…” says Emily, “Expect special guests, unusual collaborations and amazing beatboxing for two hours…This year’s big surprise gig.”

Shlomo vs DJ Yoda @ Bestival

6.30PM, Bestival Main Stage, Sat 6 September 2008

The amazing collaboration between Shlomo and AV artist DJ Yoda will be revisited in front of 30,000 people on the Bestival mainstage in September. The show was originally created for a special show at the Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of Shlomo’s residency at Southbank Centre. It features a crazy mashup of beatboxing, scratching and video trickery, and is one hell of a party starter!

‘Shlomo and the Vocal Orchestra’ are the world’s only Human Beatbox Choir. Their show is a phenomenal blend of live music, all performed using only the voiceboxes of 8 incredible musicians!

This summer they will perform at the Southbank Choral Festival and headline the Park Stage at Glastonbury Festival. They are also planning to create the Guinness World Record for leading the World’s Largest Beatboxing Choir.

In the Autumn of 2008 they will return for a UK tour taking in some of the country’s most prestigious arts venues.

Shlomo started out as a solo beatboxer, touring the world with hip hop outfit Foreign Beggars. He went on to record with Bjork, appear on ‘Later.. with Jools Holland’, and to play at Glastonbury as a solo act.

Somewhere along the way, Shlomo had the idea of working with a large group of beatboxers. Together with the Southbank Centre, he set out to create the world’s first beatbox choir. Shlomo had 6 weeks to put together the initial performance, which headlined at the International Beatbox Convention in March 2007.

The original line-up featured some of the UK’s foremost vocal talent, including legendary A Cappella outfit The Swingle Singers, alongside MC Zani (UK no.2 beatboxer), Bellatrix (UK no.1 female beatboxer), Spitf’ya and jestar*.

That first performance at Southbank was a sell-out, and the choir went on to headline at the Big Chill festival in front of 10,000 people.

In May 2008 the choir will return to Southbank to lead the World’s Largest Beatboxing Choir, and in June they’ll headline the Glastonbury Park stage.

In Autumn 2008 the Vocal Orchestra reform for a UK tour of concert halls and arts venues.

With a new streamlined 8-piece lineup, the choir now features some of the UK’s top jazz and soul vocalists, including Natalie Williams (resident at Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club), Vula Malinga (front-woman of Bassment Jaxx) alongside Shlomo, MC Zani, Bellatrix, Spitf’ya, Jestar* and former Swingle Kineret Erez.

More info on the tour

Shlomo has revealed that he will be launching a new podcast on Saturday 19 April.

Entitled “Shlomo presents: the Babelbox Podcast”, the first episode will feature interviews and music from Seb Rochford of Polar Bear, Vula Malinga of Basement Jaxx, performance poet Lemn Sissay and Shlomo’s Dad!

The podcast also features an exclusive track from Vula’s new EP, “If You Want It”.

Check out the podcast!

The PRS Foundation have just announced the shortlist for their ‘New Music Award’, and I’ve made the last six from over 130 hopefuls! The winner of this prestigious award will be announced in April, and will receive £50k towards their proposed project.

My plan is to commission a ‘Concerto for Beatboxer and Orchestra’ from top composer Anna Meredith, to be performed at the Royal Festival Hall in 2009. This is no novelty piece, it will be a challenge to create a modern classical work recognising the human voicebox as a full-blown musical instrument.

More info at the PRS foundation.

Taken from AFTM Press release:

We are pleased to announce that Shlomo, the acclaimed British beatboxer, has been appointed as Artist in Residence at the Southbank Centre, Europe’s largest arts complex.

By the age of 23, Shlomo has already done much to change perceptions of the art of beatboxing - expanding the possibilities of the vocal discipline that grew out of the hip-hop scene. As well as recording music with Bjork for the Athens Olympics, and creating the UK’s first human beatbox choir, he curated the International Human Beatbox Convention, part of Southbank Centre’s annual Ether festival, in April 2007.

Shlomo was invited to become an Artist in Residence by Jude Kelly, Artistic Director at Southbank Centre, after she saw his live solo show which includes beatboxing through a loop sampler as well as beatboxing and drumming at the same time.

“I’m excited and honoured to be here” says Shlomo, “I see this Residency as an opportunity to challenge preconceptions of beatboxing, and boost its profile as a genuinely creative art-form.”

Shlomo’s residency at Southbank Centre is set to include a range of educational events, as well as a series of concerts entitled ‘Music Through Unconventional Means’. At each concert a different guest artist collaborates with Shlomo to create new and unusual ways of performing live. December 2nd sees Shlomo collaborating with folk stars Martha Wainwright and Teddy Thompson at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (see details below).

The nature of these collaborative concerts creates a unique atmosphere, as artists are forced to engage, improvise and perform away from their usual comfort zones. This creates a performance like no other - a special opportunity to see a side to artists that will not be seen anywhere else.

The series sees Shlomo set to collaborate with artists across the musical spectrum, many of whom you may not expect to see on stage with a human beatboxer. Other artists lined up for 2008 include Mercury-nominated drummer Seb Rochford, a special AV show with DJ Yoda, the return of Shlomo’s beatboxing choir The Vocal Orchestra featuring the Swingle Singers, and a whole host of world, jazz and folk music stars.

There are also plans to create the World’s Largest Beatboxing Choir for Southbank Centre’s Choral Festival in May, plus the return of the International Beatbox Convention as part of the Ether Festival in April 2008.