Current UK beat-boxing champ, Beardyman, recently kept impatient crowds entertained between sets at London’s Lovebox Weekender. We spoke to the Brighton resident about his offbeat style: ‘I’ve been doing it since I was a baby, but I never knew it was called beat-boxing. I thought it was just a habit, like biting your nails, and people were always telling me to stop. Being a good beat-boxer is a mixture between being a good DJ, a cheesy street magician and a vocal athlete’.

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Sydney-based artist, James Jirat Patradoon on his career defining moment: ‘If I could trace my artistic inspiration back to one event, it would have to be the Neo Tokyo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in 2001. I had never seen art like that before; I didn’t know you could be so playful with it. I vividly remember the Yoshitomo Nara sculptures made out of bandages, and Kenji Yanobe’s atom suit and Godzilla/Astro Boy sculptures that blew bubbles. It was just so fun. I think because a lot of Japanese art contains references to pop culture, it’s more accessible for audiences. They aren’t so intimidated by it because it can be quite light-hearted but still have a serious undertone to it’.

A haven for all things creative, London’s Southbank Centre recently collaborated with AOC Architecture to produce Operation Soapbox. Residing at the Royal Festival Hall until the end of last month, the maze of wooden boxes opened up a platform for expression for the young (and not so young) to leave behind opinions, questions and concerns on just about any subject, as Lucy and Anne from the Learning and Participation team behind the project explain: ‘Operation Soapbox affirms Southbank Centre’s commitment to the landscape of the imagination and to the making of participatory art. The maze itself is a space that asks to be interpreted. It invites every reader to make an imaginative and personal response’. In September, the soapboxes will be sent off to schools and youth groups around the UK. They will work with their boxes over the course of a year, receiving regular prompts, ideas, artistic interventions and questions from the project team and from each other. Next summer, they will send back their discoveries — and we’ll build a second structure, celebrating their ideas and creativity’.

With distribution as far-reaching as Japan, Australia, Spain and the UK, bi-monthly magazine FACT has been covering the best in music and art since 2003 – and best of all, it’s free. We spoke to editor, Sean Bidder: ‘We were, and still are, in love with magazines — and looked back to two particular periods for inspiration – what we considered to be the “golden age” of magazine publishing in the 1930s, when art and lifestyle magazines were beautifully produced products, and to the thrilling, vital and independent DIY fanzine culture that first sprung up in the 1960s’. ‘Unlike the mass of PR-led, celebrity-orientated news-stand titles, these magazines felt, and still feel, genuinely special, a mix of opinionated and informed writing about the broader margins of popular culture, and great, original artwork, with high production values: things you want to keep and collect rather than dispose. Our remit is simple enough, we want to champion great new music and those artists who are making it’.

The DVD release of Daft Punk’s film, Electroma, recently hit the UK. In an interview with The Guardian’s Guide, the guys said: ‘the film is experimental and inaccessible; however, it’s a movie that does not require your brain to function. It’s a film without dialogue, almost without actors’. Sweet.

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Talented illustrator, Olivier Blanc, who recently made the move from France to the UK, describes his style as being ‘a sexy, detailed, organised mess’. So where did the initial motivation come from? ‘Drawing came naturally. The work of my dad was a great inspiration. It’s a big part of me and I think I could not live without it’. What process does each piece go through? ‘Each piece is started by hand with sketches. It helps me to organise my thoughts towards a concept. Once I know exactly what I want and I am satisfied with it, I translate my work onto Illustrator and Photoshop. I use these to finalise my compositions’. Any exciting projects in the pipeline? ‘At the moment, my work is being exhibited in Middlesbrough in England. One of my images has also been short listed by the Wanted project, to be exhibited in Barcelona in July’. Who or what inspires you? ‘A lot of different things. What influences me the most is music – from Air to Doc Gyneco. I need it to think and work. It puts me in the right mood, as it provides the inspiration for both the colours and the graphics’.

It’s the final, sultry day of Barcelona’s experimental sound-fest, Sonar, and weary punters are gazing listlessly at an empty, smoke-filled stage. Before long, a vocalist, beatboxer and grand pianist stride on, and what follows is a startling and, at times, deeply melancholic cabaret-electronic hybrid, prompting jaws to drop and delighting the drowsy. Meet Khan of Finland: ‘I tell stories about my everyday life; they are songs about love, pain, party and spirituality. I would call it bionic blues’.

‘We recently played a poetry festival in Rotterdam’, he says. ‘And the soundman didn’t know how to put a microphone in front of us. It was a technical disaster but we managed okay, thanks to vodka and the audience screaming and dancing — and I think that’s the blues thing. You can make people feel and understand the moment music is created’.

Having recently hosted a successful solo exhibition, UK photographer Poppy de Villeneuve takes time to reflect on everything from murderers to roller-discos. How did the concept behind The Strangers exhibition come about? ‘It’s a project I’ve been doing for the last three years. I visited the Louisiana State Penitentiary and was struck by the place. It’s unlike anywhere else. I talked to the men held in the prison and although most were murderers or robbers, they showed me everything but. I think photography is one of the best mediums to reveal things about people and the way we are’. What initially inspired you to pick up a camera and what continues to motivate you? ‘I originally picked up a camera at Chelsea Art School. I’ve never been academic but have always had a strong sense of things visually and being dyslexic, I always struggled at school to output the mad-shuffle of ideas and thoughts in my mind. I live in New York now and that’s created another shift in ideas. At the moment New York is inspiring. I walked through Central Park yesterday and went to the roller-disco, and everyone there was being themselves, totally involved in the moment. They didn’t seem worried about what anybody else thought, they were just skating. It’s very inspiring when people are totally at ease with being themselves, whoever they may be’.

MC, producer and vocalist, Aloe Blacc, recently released his extraordinary debut, Shine Through, through respected hip-hop label, Stone’s Throw. The innovative soul-heavy sound has caused quite a stir, with Aloe being lauded as single-handedly reinventing the old-school genre. ‘When I perform, I feel it’s important to communicate with the people watching’, he says. ‘I believe in complete participation. I’m always trying to achieve a magical moment where everything on stage is a spontaneous improvisation that appears rehearsed’.

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Sydney-based photographer Tristan Still discusses the inspiration behind his raw and confronting images. ‘I started when I was sixteen; around the same time I started skateboarding. I loved how the camera could catch and freeze any moment in time’. What are you trying to achieve with each photo? ‘I’m almost always trying to engage the audience in some way, to draw them in and wonder about the who, why and where of the photo’. What is your ideal subject to shoot? ‘People. People in photographs fascinate me – we’re such bizarre creatures with weird little habits, and we’re all so infinitely different. When I see photographs of people, I can’t help but want to know all about this person, their life, what they do, who they are’. Finish this sentence: when I’m not busy photographing, I’m usually… ‘on my skateboard, travelling to skate spots around Australia and the world, playing with my band Hee Haw and teaching photography to enthusiastic students!’

UK MC/producer Ty looks back on the making of his album Closer, the follow-up to 2003′s Mercury-nominated, Upwards. ‘Generally, everything just came together really well. Everyone’s intentions, as far as getting the music done, were great. It all came together through a constant chopping of ideas. Sometimes I would leave an idea alone for a while and we would come back to it later. And some songs just happened. For example, ‘Hustle’ just happened. It was written in New York with Rich Medina. We were kicking it and it just leapt out’.

When Ty first broke onto the burgeoning hip-hop scene in the mid-90s, he found himself surrounded by only a few likeminded artists who similarly eschewed the American version of the genre, determined to put their own British stamp on things and consequently rejecting the commercial rules of the industry. These days, very little has changed. Except that Ty is not so lonely anymore. ‘Rap music is dead’, he proclaims.’Hip-hop music can be resurrected, but only in the hands of people who understand and appreciate its importance. Modern day conglomerates do not understand that at all’.

Creating a soulful blend of funk, jazz and hip-hop delivered with a serving of thought-provoking lyrics designed to both humour and attack, Ty refused to conform to any one genre or style. From his 2001 debut, Awkward, to 2006′s Closer, he has thrown spoken-word poetry, Nigerian and afro-beat into the melting pot, a direct influence of the eclectic childhood he experienced.

Growing up in Brixton, Ty was put into fostering for a brief period before returning to his Nigerian parents. Their strict nature forbade him from playing any popular music, and he was forced to listen to what he could secretly. He would memorise the lyrics and melodies in an effort to prolong the music in his head long after the radio was furtively hidden away. The leap into music occurred after a few years of immersing himself into the spoken-word scene and being heavily involved in the Ghetto Grammar organization – a group that strongly encouraged the DIY aesthetic that remains in his work today. ‘I decided to follow my dreams when I felt confident enough to do that’, he explains. ‘It was hard and still is. But I’m glad I did it. The worst part of this decision to make music, however, was having to accept the fact that race will always play a hand in how far I can go. I wish it wasn’t true, but I can’t lie – it really seems to be!’

The Mercury-nominated Upwards, documented this very subject, with Ty tackling the topic in a honest and thoughtful way. But now with Closer having just been released, Ty says that this is an album purely crafted for the enjoyment of music, and nothing more. ‘Closer is different from the last in that it’s a different tempo, harder, more in your face and bangs on the eardrums. There is no real message. This is simply music to enjoy and to dance to’.

MC Mr J Madeiros laughs heartily down the phone line. ‘Oh yeah, we are constantly having to win people over. Trust me, it takes a lot of energy to prove people wrong about us. We’re from Colorado and we’ve got a white guy in our group. It’s tough.’ ‘But’, he concludes, with more than a hint of satisfaction in his voice, ‘we’re working hard to do something original in this industry’. The boisterous Madeiros is calling from Rhode Island where The Procussions are currently on tour supporting A Tribe Called Quest. In light of Madeiros’ obvious delight, I ask how this union came about. ‘Oh wow!’ he booms down the line, ‘we were at a Brooklyn hip-hop festival – coming from Colorado to New York, to the majesty of hip-hop was amazing. We’d gone back to our tent after our set and this guy came in and started talking to us, saying how much he dug our music and wanted to tour with us. It turned out to be Ali Shaheed Muhammed [A Tribe Called Quest's DJ]. We were blown away’.

Having formed back in 1998, the trio (fleshed out by MC Rez and producer/ multi-instrumentalist Stro the 89th Key) currently reside in Los Angeles, a far cry from their hometown of Colorado Springs in Colorado.

‘It’s a small community and there really was no hip-hop scene at the time’, Madeiros recalls. ‘It was a very military state. Very violent. It was more about gangsta rap than anything else. The three of us were part of rival b-boy crews and we were always battling each other, until one day we just decided to join forces’.

Perched unapologetically on the outskirts of hip-hop alongside the likes of RJD2, Nu-Mark and The Roots, The Procussions seem perfectly content to remain there with their new album, the percussion-driven 5 Sparrows for 2 Cents causing a stir – not least of all for the fact that it has been released through Rawkus, a label renowned for breaking underground artists.

‘It’s time for a revolution. Hip-hop is very conservative, in terms of its form and construction at the moment’, Madeiros declares. ‘It started off as this birth of a new art but now there’s a formula. You have to have Kanye guest on your album. You have to dress a certain way – there are so many things you have to follow.

‘We’ve had it with that, and the response has been good. We don’t wanna follow regiment. We’re not about a scene. We’re not about a style. We’re all about getting inside the rhythm’.

Exclusive interview with beatboxer Rahzel: ‘The scene today is phenomenal and it’s growing to huge proportions’, Rahzel exclaims animatedly. ‘It has always been a showstopper, but over the years as people’s musical tastes have changed and hip hop has become more commercial, it has grown even more so’. Previously referred to as the ‘forgotten’ fifth element of hip hop (sitting alongside the more prominent elements of breakdancing, DJ-ing, graff-ing and MC-ing), it is thanks to the likes of Rahzel that beatboxing is now recognised as a legitimate art form. Inspired at an early age by Grandmaster Flash (Rahzel’s cousin Rahim was one of the Furious Five) and others such as the Fat Boys and Doug E Fresh, the Bronx-native spent his childhood building up his proficiency as a vocal percussionist. ‘When I first got into imitating sounds, voices and instruments, I basically did it for attention’, he recalls with a laugh. ‘Developing your skills back then was based on catalogue and repertoire, listening to anything that made a sound. And of course, practice, practice, practice’.

Joining The Roots in the mid-1990s as their beatboxer, Rahzel’s status rose over the years until eventually he parted ways with the group. The departure was amicable, he maintains, and he has mentioned elsewhere that it was based upon a decision to further evolve his artistic vision as a beatboxer. ‘My relationship with The Roots has and will always be a great situation. God has blessed me to be a part of one of the most influential groups in music. It has been an historic journey’, he says.

Successfully going it alone was seemingly effortless for Rahzel, largely due to an interpretation of Aaliyah’s If Your Girl Only Knew. Re-naming the track, If Your Mother Only Knew, Rahzel simultaneously sang the lyrics and worked the beats. At the time, it was considered groundbreaking and propelled Rahzel into a mainstream – and much larger – audience. And whilst he maintains that these days, he harbours no ill-will towards the much-maligned genre of hip hop, from the diverse variety of projects he has attached himself to over the years – with Mike Patton and Peeping Tom, and Bjork’s Medulla – it’s clear he’s been looking further afield for creative outlets.

‘Hip hop is hip hop and rap isn’t hip hop. I’ll be in love with hip hop until the day I’m no longer here’, he proclaims, before concluding that for him, it isn’t about the number of zeros on his bank balance. For Rahzel, beatboxing is a way of life. ‘All glory be to God for giving me the insight to see the importance of what the beatbox is to the world’, he explains. ‘It’s far bigger than what some corporate executive thinks, like how it can help sell a product. ‘To me, it saves lives and I’m a prime example of it. It inspires kids to be creative and motivated. I thank God for blessing me with this gift and I’m happy that it affects people all over the world in a positive way. That’s truly a blessing any way you look at it’.

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Dengue Fever’s Senon Williams discusses the band’s sound and story. How would you describe your music? ‘A waterfall far from its source, taking in all the creeks and streams until it builds its self into a massive cascade… that you can dance to’. Can you briefly explain how Dengue Fever came together? ‘Two brothers love the old 60s Cambodian tunes…they go down to Long Beach in California to check out some Cambodian clubs. Not finding what they were looking for, they ask a Cambodian singer to join their band… and voila!’ You recently traveled to Cambodia to create a doco, ‘Sleepwalking Through the Mekong’, how did you find that experience? ‘It was beautiful. We were lucky enough to record with several Cambodian master musicians, play a gig in The Tonle Basaac Ghetto, chill with our singer Nimol’s family, play on Cambodian television and more. We saw, heard, smelled and felt almost too much for my mind to digest. A lot of Cambodians and Westerners were telling me they had been to places they had never been to in years of living in Cambodia until we showed up. That makes me feel good’.

Roots-reggae artist Joseph Israel has been rather busy of late, wowing crowds at SXSW and releasing his debut album, ‘Gone Are The Days’. We caught up with him. Is it true you became interested in reggae music as a two year old? ‘Yeah, reggae music spoke to me at a very early age. It’s the feeling, the message, the words, sounds and power that sets reggae music apart’. You then quickly developed a strong interested in Rastafarian culture, how did that come about? ‘Rasta made a lot of sense to me in many ways. As a youth, I had many questions and Rasta people inspired me to look at life with an open mind. Now I am involved with spreading this message – I love Rasta culture and Rasta people. In fact, I love all people and my hope is for the restoration of the human race!’ Gone Are the Days was recorded in Jamaica’s famed Tuff Gong Studios, how much did being in that environment influence the album’s creation? ‘I met producer/ bassist Chris Meredith and he invited me down to Kingston. Recording in this environment is ideal for the music, you feel at home and everything is natural. Lots of vibes at Tuff Gong!’

Baltimore’s bad boys are back! Spank Rock recently put their stamp on the latest serving from hip London club, Fabric. Producer Alex Epton discusses the method behind the madness. Following the huge success of Yoyoyoyoyo, how has life changed? ‘The biggest change for me has been just that: I now make records for a living! A year and a half ago, I was still driving a delivery truck so I feel pretty lucky that I get to do music all the time now’. Are there plans for a new album anytime soon? ‘We’ve started on a few things. I think it’s going to be really good. The Spank Rock family has expanded this year, so we now have a big stable of artists, singers, and musicians to draw on. I think that this record will be much more complete than the last one’. How did you go about selecting tracks for FABRICLIVE.33? ‘Well, we’ve never done a properly licensed mix before, so that was a challenge. I just tried to pick tracks that I was playing out a lot, along with some stuff that people might not have heard of – like Best Fwends or KW Griff’.

Where would we be without Michel Gondry’s delightfully childlike vision and playful interpretations of the world and its occupants? The Science of Sleep, Gondry’s latest contribution to celluloid encapsulates all this and so much more. Toiling away in a job he hates, Stephane Miroux (Gael Garcia Bernal) pines for his neighbour, Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Escaping into his dreams, Stephane’s perception of reality takes a decidedly absurd turn when it all begins to collide. Logic and reason fly out the door as cardboard cities spring up, giant hands impede work productivity and his mind is a filmed television chat show. It’s quirky, it’s inspiring and it’s pure Gondry. Released May 10th in Australia, or elsewhere in the world it’s on DVD. [view trailer]

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Scoring a box of doughnuts can do strange things to a band. When Brisbane indie outfit, Operator Please, took out first place – and the doughnuts – in a local band competition, something clicked. Having only met and formed a few weeks earlier, thanks to vocalist/guitarist Amandah Wilkinson, Operator Please not only continued to play together, they went on to showcase throughout New York, sign to Australia’s EMI and UK’s Brille as well as record an EP, Cement, Cement. And all of this between school work. Bassist Ashley McConnell explains, “we were at high school together and Amandah wanted to enter the battle of the bands so she just asked people who she knew played instruments. We’re a tight family unit now. The biggest challenge has been balancing school and the band. We love what we’re doing now. We like to have fun”. [see also Winter Park]

Formed in ’96 with the intention of creating music that portrayed the ‘spirit of youth’, Beijing’s New Pants veer between punk and electro, often chaotically merging the two. They have a new album out, Dragon Tiger Panacea, and the video for the title track is definitely worth checking out. How would you describe Dragon Tiger Panacea? ‘It is full of memories of the 80s when life was simple and not so fast. The culture and fashion at the time, like disco and breakdance, influenced us a lot. Through this record we want to bring people back to that era’. How has China’s music scene evolved over the years? ‘Compared to ten years ago, the music scene here has changed a lot. Now you’ll find more and more kids play in bands and make different sorts of music’. You’re a very visual band, is that an important aspect for you? ‘We have always put a lot of effort into the visual – music isn’t the only way we want to express ourselves. We want to make things more interesting and playful’.

Meet Mickey Avalon, as famous for his delightfully rudimentary hip-hop tunes as he is for the debauched and tragic past he raps about. With a warts ‘n’ all attitude, Avalon and sometime cohort, photographer Mark the Cobra Snake, are bringing their unapologetic trash-chic to a town near you. Following a tumultuous upbringing involving drug abuse and prostitution, he gained an audience with his single, ‘Jane Fonda’ and has since risen in the ranks as a performer. ‘I was born under a bad sign in east Los Angeles. Some how it started to work’, he explains. ‘I was never interested in making music. I’m influenced by anyone who has the balls to speak what they mean. It’s all autographical in one way or another, whether speaking from the inside or the outside’.