Alexander: ”beatboxers can do so much more than just battle each other.”
Alexander Kahlman is a beatboxer and founder of the Boom Snap Clap foundation, where he wants to give beatboxers a bigger platform. We talked to him about his game changers in the beatbox scene, and why beatbox and opera go so well together.
Who was the game changer who drew you into the beatbox scene?
At one point I ended up at a beatbox workshop through school. It was very, very beginner’s work. Poffertjes crackers, you know. I was still very shy at the time, so I didn’t immediately start doing something with it. But my attention was drawn and I watched more and more movies about beatboxes. I got to know big names like Rahzel and Eazy-E and I also started making tutorials myself.
To the point that I got stuck with that. In the Netherlands it was not easy to find something such as an event or a workshop. I had heard of the Dutch Beatboxing Championships. The organiser, Matthew ‘Hurrakane tha Soundztorm’, said to me: come along, the championship is open to anyone who wants to participate. And that’s how I gained my first stage experience. From there, I also met the entire community, with whom I later went on to do jam sessions.
Do you also feel that you are real game changers with the Boom Snap Clap foundation?
That’s already starting to bubble up a little bit. We recently had our first event with the Boom Snap Clap foundation. Dancers and beatboxers were linked to each other. Everyone was excited and wanted to make it bigger. That way I want to be able to give beatboxers a stage more often.
I think a lot of beatboxers who are still a bit busy in their room don’t realize that they can also go much bigger. So far, not much has happened in terms of events either. The Dutch Championships were always the biggest, but there is so much to do with beatbox. For example, in the theater. I was at the Opera Days last year. In our show we combined beatbox with opera music. It was a big theatrical production with a whole orchestra. In music, the beatbox determined the red line of the emotions that held up the story.
That was really an eye opener for me: as beatboxers, we can do much more than just fight each other. I hope that more and more beatboxers will do that, that they will look further. My dream with the Boom Snap Clap foundation is to one day create a space where all kinds of artists can come together with beatboxers, to organize workshops and especially to get to know each other.
Want to see Boom Snap Clap in action? On Friday the 10th of September they will organize the NK Beatbox. Be there!
Where can we follow you?
Instagram: Boomsnapclap_bmx