Too Sax'y for the beat!

Beatboxing, the concept of vocal percussions mimicking drum machines is fascinating enough. Add to that, a saxophone, something primarily used in classical music, and obviously, mind = blown! A Bengaluru-based trio consisting of Vineeth Vincent, Rahul Joshua Thomas and Bharath M Devraj is hitting all the right notes with their experimental music project called SaxBox that also saw them collaborating with Benny Dayal recently. We hear from them about their interesting concept and music, that’s now going viral.   

“I’ve been trying to put together a project similar to this for a few years now. I’ve failed at least three times so far. Things just fell into place with Bharath and Rahul,” says Vineeth, candidly. The 28-year-old has been on the city’s beatboxing scene, even attempting to set world records for awhile now. “SaxBox, like all great ideas was an accident, but with the right formula. Vineeth, for the longest time, wanted to collaborate beatbox with a different instrument, which is where I stepped in. The combination of two great beat boxers and an instrument that is unknown to people, along with minute-long viral videos, is fool proof,” says Rahul, who was earlier a part of Bengaluru bands like Clown With A Frown and The Raghu Dixit Project.

Their current project is simple. Through the ‘Video A Week’ project they put out a cover of a new song at a different location every week, recording both, the audio and video live. What’s even better is that the vocals are not processed, so what you hear is what you get! One of their first collabs was with Benny Dayal who belted out Daaru Desi from Cocktail, while in another video, Bengaluru’s funny man Danish Sait literally translated Dr. Rajkumar’s song into English, singing it as If You Come Today!

Bharath sums it up, “It’s organic and unique.” In Vineeth’s words, “Raw, beatbox-based and fresh. We are open to changing and evolving our sound as we move forward.” Explaining how the saxophone fits in, Rahul aka RJT who now works as a trombonist with Benny Dayal says, “Because of its versatile sound it can be anything in the SaxBox mix – It’s sometimes playing in the baseline, sometimes is the hook, and at other times, even just a few jumpy notes to add colour.”  

What’s in the future for them? “Taking to the big stages, performing for larger audiences, more videos and collabs simultaneously,” says Bharath. Otherwise, “We are always on the lookout for good biriyani!” quips Vineeth.