We had a chat with Beardyman ahead of his UK Tour which starts tomorrow at Norwich Waterfront…
What are you up to at this very moment?
I’m sitting on my floor doing an interview and wondering what my cat is thinking. . . I’m also doing a mix-down as i do this interview. . I’ve sampled Stewart Lee talking about big chins and made it into a tune. Am i using my time on this planet well? I did sign a petition today, but it won’t help. . .
What can fans expect to experience at one of your shows?
I’ve written a some new tunes, songs, skits, characters, bits, things, and stuff which i shall be performing forthwith. . . be prepared. My next release. . . it’s serious. . . serious. . . yeah. . . . I’ve made a bunch of music now which i think I’m going to release as 3 separate E.P’s but who knows. . . it might end up as an album. . . I’ve basically spent a year working on my system. It’s nuts. It’s called the Beardytron5000mkII and It’s capable of doing things to audio which have never been done before. My shows are way better now because of the technology I’ve made to allow me to be as frenetic or as detailed as i need to be.
What is your favourite song to perform live?
My favourite song to perform live at the moment is a song called “what you know” which I’ve written and shall be performing forthwith.
When you’re not performing what do you do to keep yourself busy when you’re on tour / on the road?
Make tunes, design interfaces, listen to music. . . talk rubbish with my touring crew. A lot of talking rubbish.
You’ve played a lot of great festivals year, which was the best so far?
So far there’s been a few festivals which I’ve really enjoyed. . . Shnarbfest in Gehruershause was awesome. . They were well up for it.
What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?
The best gig i ever played was probably in Germany last year, the crowd wouldn’t let me leave. . .
What was the first gig you ever went to?
The Bootleg Beatles in harrow arts centre. . . I’ll never forgive my parents for that.
Will you be playing any new material or a mixture of your back catalogue?
All new material. . I like to move on. . . constantly. . . ADD. . .
Which other artists are you listening to at the moment?
Flying Lotus, Converge, Echaskech, Boards of canada, Deadmau5’s early stuff before he was deadmau5, Dangerdoom . . . and other things. . .
Which song do you wish you had written?
all of them. . expect the rubbish ones. . .
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Cyndi Lauper, Paul Young, Mister Mister, and Eltoon Joohn.
Plans for the rest of the year?
Trying to form a software company, releasing music, working on my live set-up, creating an insanely good album which is nothing like anything I’ve done before.
See him Live on his UK Tour:
2nd May – Waterfront, Norwich
3rd May – Leadmill, Sheffield
6th May – Koko, London
8th May – Arches, Glasgow
Tickets on sale now from GigsAndTours