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British beatboxing artist Shlomo is in the country to find a vocal percussionist that will form India's first beatbox orchestra. Do you feel the beat?
Could you tell us about the genesis of Voctronica? The idea for a beatboxing group, the workshop, the auditionsu00a0-- how did it come together?
I toured India last year. While I was there I was collaborating with different Indian artists and met a lot of beatboxers. At the British Council, I had a conversation about creating a vocal group. That's where the idea was born. I have a vocal group in the UK that I've been working with for nearly five years and this was a great opportunity to expand that idea to India.
An informal manifestation of beatboxing has been a part of Indian Classical music and is especially popular amongst classical percussionists in India. In your trip to the country did you get an opportunity to explore it?
Yeah I'm familiar with baul and Indian vocal percussion tradition. I've learned about it before from working with Indian artistes in the UK.
A member of Lip Factory will be conducting the workshop in India. How exactly will the training be conducted?
It's going to be an intensive course in beatboxing along with group development that they can learn more about. We'll work with the group and find out what the talent in the group is, what skills they have and how to bring them together. It's going to be a really intensive workshop, leaning to beatbox, and then training and developing those skills and also to start creating group music which should be a lot of fun.
What are you looking for in Voctronica's potential band members?
I haven't got to see any of the samples so far, but I'm really looking forward to watching them. We're just looking for vocal power -- range is what's key for us. We need to have people who are comfortable to sing and hopefully beatbox. It doesn't necessarily have to be people that beatbox, they just have to have a powerful voice, a unique voice of their own. We are looking for any kind of vocal talent -- whether they are singers, rappers, beatboxers, yodellers, Indian classical vocalists or any other form of vocal skills. As long as you have the power to move people with your voice, we want to hear from you.
Voctronica tours UK and India in 2012. What happens thereafter?
We're hoping this is the beginning of a beatbox revolution like it's happening in the UK and other parts of the world. I hope that the Indian vocalists that are part of the workshops will go forward and create their own styles and groups, and also that Voctronica will continue to write music and tour.
Do you see beatboxing blending with the existing contemporary styles of music in India (Bollywood etc.)?
Yes, it will find a place, I'm positive.
Applications close by December 16. To apply, upload your audition video of less than 5 minutes onto YouTube and then fill out the registration form here -https://soundpad.britishcouncil.org.in. For any queries, email: bcsoundpad@gmail.com.
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