Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean, a didgeridoo, a mournful trumpet solo and a hi-NRG remix of that trumpet solo. This is just a fraction of the sounds the Australian beatboxer Tom Thum, armed with nothing but a microphone, can emulate. In an era of vocoder-heavy, synthesised pop, he is a compelling reminder of the extreme limits to which the human body can be pushed.
His prodigious skills in mimicry have earned him a swag of awards at the Adelaide fringe festival, Australian hip-hop awards and 2010’s best noise and sound effects at the World Beatbox Convention in Berlin. His taped 2013 performance at TEDxSydney has ratcheted up more than 48m views.
Now the Brisbane musician/living sound effects library is starring on the bill of BBC Proms. The classical music concert series has been loved by the British public for more than 120 years and comes to Melbourne’s Hamer Hall this year – the first time it has ever been held outside the UK – pitching classics of the past with new Australian commissions.
Thum’s show, Thum Prints, is a collaboration with the Australian composer and conductor Gordon Hamilton and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Audiences can expect an electrifying performance incorporating jazz, hip-hop and an off-the-wall version of the Igor Stravinsky classic The Rite of Spring.
Guardian Australia: How did you fall into beatboxing?
Tom Thum: I fell into beat boxing with a cacophonous fury, which was the bane of my parents’ peace for a good many years. I needed nothing except for my face to practise, which very much appealed to my hyperactive streak and budding love of music.
Run us through a list of the sounds you can imitate.
Oh gee, I’ll rattle off some I can think of now: trumpets, trombone, tuba, double bass, synth bass, bass, a lot of different drums (obviously), guiro, electric tom toms, 808 claps, distorted guitars, turntables, crackling vinyl, low pass and high pass filters, sitar, tuvan throat singing (to a degree), sirens, car alarms, traffic crossing signals, chainsaws ... the list goes on!
Which are the most difficult? Which are the most fun?
The ones where you have to imitate an instrument to a perfect point in order to distinguish what the instrument is are the hardest. Emulating turntables is the most fun for me because I love scratching.
How do you go about devising a sound?
I start with one sound that I know I can already do, then try and think of ways to warp that sound to make it new. For example, inhaling during a certain sound or mouth shape can create a vastly different sound to when you exhale with the same shape.
Have any sounds proved impossible?
Sounds with many different harmonic frequencies happening at once are hard. For example, a good glass breaking sound is exceptionally hard. I’m sure someone out there will prove me wrong though!
How was working with composer and conductor Gordon Hamilton for BBC Proms different from the hip-hop world where your career originated?
It was the biggest learning curve of my life! Everything in the hip-hop world is very laid back, and things tend to get finished not adhering to any strict schedule or sense of urgency. With the orchestra, everything is meticulously planned and it’s like clockwork down to the second, so having to teach myself to be efficient was hard. But it’s so great to be playing with such professionals that I’m willing to restructure my processes as much as I need to.
How do live beatboxers such as yourself view superstar hip-hop producers?
Just like any other musical innovators who are repurposing and repackaging something old and making it fresh. I have a lot of respect for producers. It was making beats that led me to analyse the samples and exposed me to a world of music I would have never discovered without hip-hop.
In your work are you aiming for imitation, emulation or interpretation?
All three. I think it would be too limiting creatively just to aim for one. Out of the three “interpretation” is the most satisfying though.
How do your mouth and throat feel after a gig?
It really depends on how long and what type of gig it is. I noticed a new click in my jaw after our show yesterday, which concerned me. I’m sure that somewhere in the world a tongue massage is a thing and I’m sure it would help. I just don’t know if I’m ready for that kind of commitment yet.
Is the lyrebird your spirit animal?
I saw a lyrebird in Kangaroo Valley about a month back. I tried to start up a conversation with it but it totally snubbed me. Feathery little wanker.
• Thum Prints (BBC Proms) is at Hamer Hall, Melbourne, on 14 April, 7.30pm
