The UK Beatbox Championships roll up at Brixton Jamm

“Expect some of the wildest sounds that you never expected to hear in a weekend!”

Rupert Oldridge, or Bass6 as he is known as in the business, is talking beat boxing. More specifically, he is talking about UK’s 10th Beatbox Championship which takes place this Saturday at Brixton Jamm.

As the event organiser, Rupert promises a “mind blowing” show where both the under-18s and the more experienced performers will compete for the coveted title of champion.

“My experience over the past nine years with this competition is that is such a friendly and enthusiastic community. There will be so much energy in and out of the building on Saturday: all the best noise makers are finally meeting up to show off the best sound effects in Britain!”

The show will also see the return of the “world’s original female beatbox champion”, Bellatrix, who is set to battle in the main competition as well as for the women’s title.

“Battling comes down to performance, as well as technique, explains Rupert. “It’s physical theatre injected with tricky musical notation and multi-sounds, and generally sends the crowd wild! Every performance has its unique approach.”

The eventual crowning decision is down to the three judges Ball-Zee (three times UK champion), Slizzer (Austrian Champion) and Tyte (Humanbeatbox.com) but the crowd also have a massive input on the final call.

Rupert’s own beatboxing career started at a tender age. “I didn’t know the term then, but I used to beatbox the ‘Thunderbirds’ theme tune when I was five years old”, he says. “I always did impressions and sound effects, and over time, music had such a massive influence over my life that it paired itself.”

But don’t just listen to the performers; why not try it yourself too? Rupert reckons that “any sound I can do, you can do too!”

“It’s simple,” he concludes, “We are all beatboxers and can impersonate anything around us. Or even better: create something using only the human anatomy. For free!”

The competition kicks off at 1pm at Brixton Jamm Saturday 27th September.