Beatbox Jake Interview Sept. 2024 by Alicks Wargood
We here at Dosed had the opportunity to sit down with a man who has skyrocketed in the last couple of years. He is a beatboxer at the heart and soul ... but an absolute shredder on the guitar as well. He has coined his very own genre of music called "beatbox metal". With many influences, a sound as tight as dolphin ass, and a stacked schedule we were very privileged to have some of his time to talk about his very unique craft.
Q - 1 : Ok, well... first and foremost, introduce yourself and tell us about Shattered Dreams. Specifically how you and the killaz got acquainted.
A : I'm Beatbox Jake. I am a guitarist and beatboxer and a founding member of Shattered Dreams Entertainment. I actually met Bio Killaz and the whole Hillsdale scene by a fluke. Some woman I've never heard of messaged me out of nowhere one day asking if I wanted to play a show in Hillsdale (which I also had never heard of). I googled it and was pretty floored. I had never performed an hour and a half away from home before, and I had no idea how she heard of me. So I said yes because it's always good to check out new places. She put me in a group chat with several other people, and Bio Killaz was 2 of them. I was pretty quiet in the group chat and only really asked if they needed me to bring anything extra. The woman said she was dropping the show due to some dispute or something, and Chad Ha decided to re-purpose the show to 55 Below in Hillsdale. I went down there and we all got along to the point where any school classroom would have had to separate us. Klep sort of singled me out in a way. Announced he wanted to form something called "Shattered Dreams" as a collective. I was aprehensive, because I am a SOLO act for many reasons. Klep told me specifically he wanted me to be a part of it a few times, but my drifter attitude got in the way. I REALLY did not want to be locked down with any group of people. One night, at a show we played at the Angry Inch over in Morenci, he explained more of what the collective was about, and I was in. I had talked with Klep and Saint before here and there, but after joining, we got REAL close. Klep and I talk every single day throughout the day, sharing ideas, progress, etc. I still can't remember the name of the woman, and when I bring her up to anyone who was on that first bill, no one seems to remember that anyone else was involved with it besides Chad running it. It's bizarre.
Q - 2 : Maybe she was never actually real... just a ghostly presence simply there to connect some great minds! Hahaha. I guess I never knew that the official idea started blossoming at The Angry Inch. That's pretty radd to know. Always really radd to me when I hear that connections were truly made at those shitty little back yard parties.
I know you have some collaborative with with them as well. Talk about that a little... working in the studio, spending time with them, pros & cons (if there even are any cons) being dedicated to one group. I personally see you guys staying a team for a long time.
A : Well, the idea actually was started a long time ago, apparently. Klep could elaborate on that a lot more, honestly. It was just explained to me at the Inch better, and made me decide to join. Honestly, the way we do it, there really aren't any cons. We work together because we like each other. We realized quite a while ago that none of us actually NEED anyone else to be successful. We can make our own path, which is what we've been doing. The big pro for me is that it doesn't affect my individuality as an artist. I'm not part of a band, or a lable that tells me what to do. It's just different artists in different circles sharing information, and growth ideas for the most part. We did do a song a while ago called "The Train" which features me on guitar, and Bio Killaz spitting verses. Hize was also on that song, and we all did the chorus together. I did a remix of a Bio Killaz song called "Descent". Klep renamed it to the "Beat Down Remix". Basically I had them send me the vocals, and I re-wrote all the music and had it composed differently as well.
Q - 3 : I can truly appreciate that as well. I've seen you GROW as an artist since joining forces with them... but I haven't seen you sacrifice anything that makes beatbox jake BEATBOX JAKE, ya know? Yalls collaborations have simply been you as an artist, and each of them as an artist just coming together individually.
How about you as a beatbox metal musician. I'm sure you get asked about 50 times a night how you figured out beatboxing and guitar playing, not only simultaneously but separately. I know you're a theory geek and know much more than I do. What inspired you, what techniques are you most proud of incorporating, and what was it like the "day" that it all "clicked" for you as a beatboxer/guitar player?
A - 3 : I’m really happy you dig my stuff the way you do. I’ve always been grateful for the amount of support you show me.
The guitar playing came first. WAY first. I started playing roughly around the age of nine. Didn’t really know what I was doing. Learned a Johnny Cash riff here and there, learned a Nirvana riff. Finding out how easy it is to play nirvana songs are was a huge deal for me, but it was when I heard Slayer for the first time that something clicked in my head where I realized the way I wanted to be able to play was like that. Fast and crazy. At some point that wasn’t enough anymore, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to just connect with most audiences by playing that way. Later I found Joe Satriani and learned there was a way I could play melodically and musically without giving up the craziness. I am a big fan of shred technique and crazy sounds, so seeing someone like that really made a huge positive dent in the way I play. Beatboxing came way later. Probably around 10 years later since I always say that I’ve been boxing for 10 years and playing guitar for 20. I was actually so focused on learning beatboxing that I stopped playing guitar for about a year.
Later on a couple people mentioned the idea of me mixing the two somehow, and that’s how "Beatbox Metal" was created. I started playing guitar and beatboxing at the same time. And while that creation is definitely unique to me and one of the most original things that I do, I still wanted more with the guitar. Somehow, I knew that learning the modes of the major scale was the key to being able to play that way that I wanted to in my head. Being able to go fast as I wanted, and with any crazy technique I could think of while still sounding good seemed like a complete dream to me, but seeing people like Satriani, Vai, Wylde, Abasi and others showed me that it was completely a possibility. I already knew the natural minor scale (Aeolian mode) in the key of A all across the fretboard with complete fluidity. I could play it in every position, backwards, you name it. But of course, playing just the minor scale in the same key all the time makes all your stuff sound the same, and I wanted more. I wanted the ability to express different emotional spectrums and colors with ease. Turns out learning the other six modes was exactly the way that I needed to go, and then I moved onto the modes of harmonic minor, picked up other scales along the way, learned about the chords that are involved with each of those scales and modes, and how they work together, and just kept going. I’m STILL going. It’s a big challenge writing instrumental music and telling stories that keep an audience’s attention with no lyrical content. Scale and chord theory helps immensely with that, and now I’m learning more about how time signatures work, which is helping everything I do, ESPECIALLY the beatboxing. I want to be virtuosic at both guitar AND beatboxing.
As far as a day for it clicking, it never really did. This has been a developing art form all of my own. I don’t have anyone else to learn from, because no one else does it the way I do. It took someone else telling me "that means I’m original" for me to look at that as a good thing.
I forgot to answer the technique question. For beatboxing: throat bass and 2-way-dragging are the two techniques I'm super proud to be able to do, and with guitar, all the fluid legato stuff is a big one for me. I'm also SUPER happy to be able to do pick tapping with a lot of versatility. It's a cool technique to whip out while running your fretting hand down the fretboard, but I'm glad I practiced it to the point where I can do it all over the guitar.
Q - 4 : Great stuff, man! There's a lot to learn in all of that. It's actually radd to think of it as a development with such a deep talent you always being to the table. For me, singing and playing and such I indeed did just have a dawning moment where I did it... and there it was. I was just as shocked as everyone else. Haha. I THINK it was a nirvana song as well. Heart-shaped box I wanna say.
How about these new releases that you are in the cut process with? Are there any special stories about inspiration or really anything notable you'd like people to know... maybe som le behind the scenes learning experiences?
A - 4 : Oh absolutely. One reason this album ("Dichotomy") has taken SO LONG to complete, is because I keep finding better ways to mix, and edit along the way. There was a long time where I wasn't happy with the guitar tone I was using, but couldn't figure out how to fix it. Then I found a better tone that sounded more like it did in my head. There are 3 singles out currently for "Dichotomy" and the guitar tone has changed twice since those singles came out. The single "Vybin'" for example has been completely re-recorded 2 or 3 times since the single came out. It will sound a lot tighter and easier on the ear in the album version. The album itself is an exploration of the balance of my identity between the guitarist and the beatboxer. Trying to get them to live together in harmony. I will say this album is extremely guitar focused though. There are a couple moments where the beatboxing gets to shine, but this album is definitely me trying to prove myself as a guitarist and instrumental artist. Showcasing the technical capabilities I have while also proving that I'm good enough to just play a note without adding slides or vibrato, and still have that note sound good. Different songs have imaginative inspirations though. While "Vybin'" is more of an abstract song to me, there is another song I will have called "Dream Shift" which is written to live out the on-stage fantasy of many aspiring musicians. Especially ones who haven't played a gig yet. They have their guitar and imagine themselves making a bunch of suspenseful noise, coming on stage and hitting some big chord, before playing a simple, great riff and then shredding away. "Dream Shift" was written specifically to capture my version of that fantasy. It starts off with a Mixolydian flavor for that fun, positive feel, before switching to Phrygian for a darker, more intense shred (also marking the SHIFT in the dream). You've probably heard me start many sets with that song because of the loud, rising noise in the beginnning. Another song called "Malign" was built off of a dark Phrygian riff I had that sounded stereotypically badass to me, but the whole point of it is the build up to a series of flashy, tricky, and somewhat difficult techniques I had learned recently. One thing I can say is that showing off is great and even essential to a good live show, but when you're writing, it's very good to know that those things need to be highlighted, and it's hard to do that if you have a 5 minute song of you just blowing the lines and going nuts. For a guitarist, shredding the whole time and for a vocalist, hitting tons of notes and not really saying anything or adding feeling to any of said notes. There absolutely are times for those types of things. But from a storytelling standpoint, arguments don't typically start at 100%. They start off on one place and build until the top bursts. If a rollercoaster starts at the top and goes straight the whole time without dipping or rising or twisting, it's just a train. And if a song starts off high octane, angry, fast and aggressive and stays there the whole time, to some people that's just complete noise. That's one of the main reasons certain people can't stand metal music for example. It just sounds like chaos with no explanation of how it got to be absolute chaos. For someone like me however, I can't get enough of it.
Q - 5 : I feel that 100% we have recorded and re-recorded the new agatha album 3 times now! Haha... and a lot of them are songs from Yankee Crow as well... so they are a 4th recording. It's crazy how much you learn by just doing it and I agree 100% if there's not some sort of personal restraint you just start making chaos that (at times) is bad for an audience. Even your target one.
I know that you are a big fan of industrial music, as am I. Are there any of those elements incorporated, or is it just an interest? I could go on all day about great industrial artists. What are some of your main suggestions?
A - 6 : I would consider "Malign" to have some Industrial elements. Mostly the bitcrushing effects I have on the bass and guitar. I always loved the sound of the guitar in certain songs by Kidneythieves, and I accidentally found that sound by playing around with a bitcrusher. I've also found you can get a similar sound by running a heavily distorted guitar signal to a speaker or output without any amp processing. Like running a guitar through a distortion pedal into an amp cabinet and removing the amp head from the equation. I would pick a bitcrusher myself though. I am a fan of Industrial music actually. It's a fairly versatile genre that doesn't get a whole lot of attention in my opinion. Of course there are acts like Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Naile, Rob Zombie, Fear Factory, and the works that have been often considered "mainstream" by many. I'm a fan of those for sure (especially Fear Factory), but when I found out about Industrial music, I got very curious. In high school, I went down the rabbit hole learning about artists like Skinny Puppy, Cyanotic, Acucrack, Rabbit Junk, Psyclon Nine, and Suicide Commando. Electro Industrial acts like X-RX and Eisenfunk, and other bands that use heavy Industrial elements in their sound like Kidneythieves, I:Scintilla, Self Injury Inc., Infrared Nine, RTPN, Faderhead, Aim To Head, Rein, Omnimar, and of course the incredibly innovative group a lot of people think started the whole Industrial genre: Throbbing Gristle
I can't leave out KMFDM though. Hard electonic beats with GREAT metal riffs? Come ON!
And as far as the Agatha album is concerned, that is DEFINITELY part of the process. DIY and figure it out as you go.
Q - 7 : Yessir! I agree with every second of that. Well, that about wraps it up. Unless you have anything else you like to touch on? Correct me if you already said... but when are you planning on these upcoming releases?
A - 7 : I have the Violent Tendencies EP coming October 1st, no release date on Dichotomy yet, and I have a few other things in the works right now. I can't think of anything else at the moment. Thanks for you time and for having me!
Violent Tendencies is horror based and sounds NOTHING like Dichotomy will.
Q - 8 : I love it, man. Thank you for taking the time to kick it this evening!
A - 8 : Absolutely.
Q - 1 : Ok, well... first and foremost, introduce yourself and tell us about Shattered Dreams. Specifically how you and the killaz got acquainted.
A : I'm Beatbox Jake. I am a guitarist and beatboxer and a founding member of Shattered Dreams Entertainment. I actually met Bio Killaz and the whole Hillsdale scene by a fluke. Some woman I've never heard of messaged me out of nowhere one day asking if I wanted to play a show in Hillsdale (which I also had never heard of). I googled it and was pretty floored. I had never performed an hour and a half away from home before, and I had no idea how she heard of me. So I said yes because it's always good to check out new places. She put me in a group chat with several other people, and Bio Killaz was 2 of them. I was pretty quiet in the group chat and only really asked if they needed me to bring anything extra. The woman said she was dropping the show due to some dispute or something, and Chad Ha decided to re-purpose the show to 55 Below in Hillsdale. I went down there and we all got along to the point where any school classroom would have had to separate us. Klep sort of singled me out in a way. Announced he wanted to form something called "Shattered Dreams" as a collective. I was aprehensive, because I am a SOLO act for many reasons. Klep told me specifically he wanted me to be a part of it a few times, but my drifter attitude got in the way. I REALLY did not want to be locked down with any group of people. One night, at a show we played at the Angry Inch over in Morenci, he explained more of what the collective was about, and I was in. I had talked with Klep and Saint before here and there, but after joining, we got REAL close. Klep and I talk every single day throughout the day, sharing ideas, progress, etc. I still can't remember the name of the woman, and when I bring her up to anyone who was on that first bill, no one seems to remember that anyone else was involved with it besides Chad running it. It's bizarre.
Q - 2 : Maybe she was never actually real... just a ghostly presence simply there to connect some great minds! Hahaha. I guess I never knew that the official idea started blossoming at The Angry Inch. That's pretty radd to know. Always really radd to me when I hear that connections were truly made at those shitty little back yard parties.
I know you have some collaborative with with them as well. Talk about that a little... working in the studio, spending time with them, pros & cons (if there even are any cons) being dedicated to one group. I personally see you guys staying a team for a long time.
A : Well, the idea actually was started a long time ago, apparently. Klep could elaborate on that a lot more, honestly. It was just explained to me at the Inch better, and made me decide to join. Honestly, the way we do it, there really aren't any cons. We work together because we like each other. We realized quite a while ago that none of us actually NEED anyone else to be successful. We can make our own path, which is what we've been doing. The big pro for me is that it doesn't affect my individuality as an artist. I'm not part of a band, or a lable that tells me what to do. It's just different artists in different circles sharing information, and growth ideas for the most part. We did do a song a while ago called "The Train" which features me on guitar, and Bio Killaz spitting verses. Hize was also on that song, and we all did the chorus together. I did a remix of a Bio Killaz song called "Descent". Klep renamed it to the "Beat Down Remix". Basically I had them send me the vocals, and I re-wrote all the music and had it composed differently as well.
Q - 3 : I can truly appreciate that as well. I've seen you GROW as an artist since joining forces with them... but I haven't seen you sacrifice anything that makes beatbox jake BEATBOX JAKE, ya know? Yalls collaborations have simply been you as an artist, and each of them as an artist just coming together individually.
How about you as a beatbox metal musician. I'm sure you get asked about 50 times a night how you figured out beatboxing and guitar playing, not only simultaneously but separately. I know you're a theory geek and know much more than I do. What inspired you, what techniques are you most proud of incorporating, and what was it like the "day" that it all "clicked" for you as a beatboxer/guitar player?
A - 3 : I’m really happy you dig my stuff the way you do. I’ve always been grateful for the amount of support you show me.
The guitar playing came first. WAY first. I started playing roughly around the age of nine. Didn’t really know what I was doing. Learned a Johnny Cash riff here and there, learned a Nirvana riff. Finding out how easy it is to play nirvana songs are was a huge deal for me, but it was when I heard Slayer for the first time that something clicked in my head where I realized the way I wanted to be able to play was like that. Fast and crazy. At some point that wasn’t enough anymore, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to just connect with most audiences by playing that way. Later I found Joe Satriani and learned there was a way I could play melodically and musically without giving up the craziness. I am a big fan of shred technique and crazy sounds, so seeing someone like that really made a huge positive dent in the way I play. Beatboxing came way later. Probably around 10 years later since I always say that I’ve been boxing for 10 years and playing guitar for 20. I was actually so focused on learning beatboxing that I stopped playing guitar for about a year.
Later on a couple people mentioned the idea of me mixing the two somehow, and that’s how "Beatbox Metal" was created. I started playing guitar and beatboxing at the same time. And while that creation is definitely unique to me and one of the most original things that I do, I still wanted more with the guitar. Somehow, I knew that learning the modes of the major scale was the key to being able to play that way that I wanted to in my head. Being able to go fast as I wanted, and with any crazy technique I could think of while still sounding good seemed like a complete dream to me, but seeing people like Satriani, Vai, Wylde, Abasi and others showed me that it was completely a possibility. I already knew the natural minor scale (Aeolian mode) in the key of A all across the fretboard with complete fluidity. I could play it in every position, backwards, you name it. But of course, playing just the minor scale in the same key all the time makes all your stuff sound the same, and I wanted more. I wanted the ability to express different emotional spectrums and colors with ease. Turns out learning the other six modes was exactly the way that I needed to go, and then I moved onto the modes of harmonic minor, picked up other scales along the way, learned about the chords that are involved with each of those scales and modes, and how they work together, and just kept going. I’m STILL going. It’s a big challenge writing instrumental music and telling stories that keep an audience’s attention with no lyrical content. Scale and chord theory helps immensely with that, and now I’m learning more about how time signatures work, which is helping everything I do, ESPECIALLY the beatboxing. I want to be virtuosic at both guitar AND beatboxing.
As far as a day for it clicking, it never really did. This has been a developing art form all of my own. I don’t have anyone else to learn from, because no one else does it the way I do. It took someone else telling me "that means I’m original" for me to look at that as a good thing.
I forgot to answer the technique question. For beatboxing: throat bass and 2-way-dragging are the two techniques I'm super proud to be able to do, and with guitar, all the fluid legato stuff is a big one for me. I'm also SUPER happy to be able to do pick tapping with a lot of versatility. It's a cool technique to whip out while running your fretting hand down the fretboard, but I'm glad I practiced it to the point where I can do it all over the guitar.
Q - 4 : Great stuff, man! There's a lot to learn in all of that. It's actually radd to think of it as a development with such a deep talent you always being to the table. For me, singing and playing and such I indeed did just have a dawning moment where I did it... and there it was. I was just as shocked as everyone else. Haha. I THINK it was a nirvana song as well. Heart-shaped box I wanna say.
How about these new releases that you are in the cut process with? Are there any special stories about inspiration or really anything notable you'd like people to know... maybe som le behind the scenes learning experiences?
A - 4 : Oh absolutely. One reason this album ("Dichotomy") has taken SO LONG to complete, is because I keep finding better ways to mix, and edit along the way. There was a long time where I wasn't happy with the guitar tone I was using, but couldn't figure out how to fix it. Then I found a better tone that sounded more like it did in my head. There are 3 singles out currently for "Dichotomy" and the guitar tone has changed twice since those singles came out. The single "Vybin'" for example has been completely re-recorded 2 or 3 times since the single came out. It will sound a lot tighter and easier on the ear in the album version. The album itself is an exploration of the balance of my identity between the guitarist and the beatboxer. Trying to get them to live together in harmony. I will say this album is extremely guitar focused though. There are a couple moments where the beatboxing gets to shine, but this album is definitely me trying to prove myself as a guitarist and instrumental artist. Showcasing the technical capabilities I have while also proving that I'm good enough to just play a note without adding slides or vibrato, and still have that note sound good. Different songs have imaginative inspirations though. While "Vybin'" is more of an abstract song to me, there is another song I will have called "Dream Shift" which is written to live out the on-stage fantasy of many aspiring musicians. Especially ones who haven't played a gig yet. They have their guitar and imagine themselves making a bunch of suspenseful noise, coming on stage and hitting some big chord, before playing a simple, great riff and then shredding away. "Dream Shift" was written specifically to capture my version of that fantasy. It starts off with a Mixolydian flavor for that fun, positive feel, before switching to Phrygian for a darker, more intense shred (also marking the SHIFT in the dream). You've probably heard me start many sets with that song because of the loud, rising noise in the beginnning. Another song called "Malign" was built off of a dark Phrygian riff I had that sounded stereotypically badass to me, but the whole point of it is the build up to a series of flashy, tricky, and somewhat difficult techniques I had learned recently. One thing I can say is that showing off is great and even essential to a good live show, but when you're writing, it's very good to know that those things need to be highlighted, and it's hard to do that if you have a 5 minute song of you just blowing the lines and going nuts. For a guitarist, shredding the whole time and for a vocalist, hitting tons of notes and not really saying anything or adding feeling to any of said notes. There absolutely are times for those types of things. But from a storytelling standpoint, arguments don't typically start at 100%. They start off on one place and build until the top bursts. If a rollercoaster starts at the top and goes straight the whole time without dipping or rising or twisting, it's just a train. And if a song starts off high octane, angry, fast and aggressive and stays there the whole time, to some people that's just complete noise. That's one of the main reasons certain people can't stand metal music for example. It just sounds like chaos with no explanation of how it got to be absolute chaos. For someone like me however, I can't get enough of it.
Q - 5 : I feel that 100% we have recorded and re-recorded the new agatha album 3 times now! Haha... and a lot of them are songs from Yankee Crow as well... so they are a 4th recording. It's crazy how much you learn by just doing it and I agree 100% if there's not some sort of personal restraint you just start making chaos that (at times) is bad for an audience. Even your target one.
I know that you are a big fan of industrial music, as am I. Are there any of those elements incorporated, or is it just an interest? I could go on all day about great industrial artists. What are some of your main suggestions?
A - 6 : I would consider "Malign" to have some Industrial elements. Mostly the bitcrushing effects I have on the bass and guitar. I always loved the sound of the guitar in certain songs by Kidneythieves, and I accidentally found that sound by playing around with a bitcrusher. I've also found you can get a similar sound by running a heavily distorted guitar signal to a speaker or output without any amp processing. Like running a guitar through a distortion pedal into an amp cabinet and removing the amp head from the equation. I would pick a bitcrusher myself though. I am a fan of Industrial music actually. It's a fairly versatile genre that doesn't get a whole lot of attention in my opinion. Of course there are acts like Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Naile, Rob Zombie, Fear Factory, and the works that have been often considered "mainstream" by many. I'm a fan of those for sure (especially Fear Factory), but when I found out about Industrial music, I got very curious. In high school, I went down the rabbit hole learning about artists like Skinny Puppy, Cyanotic, Acucrack, Rabbit Junk, Psyclon Nine, and Suicide Commando. Electro Industrial acts like X-RX and Eisenfunk, and other bands that use heavy Industrial elements in their sound like Kidneythieves, I:Scintilla, Self Injury Inc., Infrared Nine, RTPN, Faderhead, Aim To Head, Rein, Omnimar, and of course the incredibly innovative group a lot of people think started the whole Industrial genre: Throbbing Gristle
I can't leave out KMFDM though. Hard electonic beats with GREAT metal riffs? Come ON!
And as far as the Agatha album is concerned, that is DEFINITELY part of the process. DIY and figure it out as you go.
Q - 7 : Yessir! I agree with every second of that. Well, that about wraps it up. Unless you have anything else you like to touch on? Correct me if you already said... but when are you planning on these upcoming releases?
A - 7 : I have the Violent Tendencies EP coming October 1st, no release date on Dichotomy yet, and I have a few other things in the works right now. I can't think of anything else at the moment. Thanks for you time and for having me!
Violent Tendencies is horror based and sounds NOTHING like Dichotomy will.
Q - 8 : I love it, man. Thank you for taking the time to kick it this evening!
A - 8 : Absolutely.
Final thoughts :
I have been following Jake for (my dates are always off unless I look at old flyers) about 4 years now. He played in my living room (The Angry Inch) on a colder weekend when we were fearful of doing it outside. Even in that audience setting he captivated everyone in a way that really drove home just how talented he really is. I encourage everyone tonmake the time to check out all of his solo and collaborative work (available on all streaming platforms) and OF COURSE go see a live show. If you are local I'm sure we will have him at The Necklace or The Rex very soon!
BeatBox Jake is :
Jacob Alan Gibson
Booking :
vamprahx@gmail.com
Basic contact :
BeatboxJakeOfficial on IG
Beatobox Jake on FB
Find his releases on a major streaming platforms
Comments
Post a Comment