One-man vocal percussion wizard Tom Thum returns with a new show, 'Thum Prints', collaborating once again with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO).
This programme sees the beatboxer genius and the QSO present a genre-bending extravaganza, where jazz, hip hop and of course, classical music collide in a way that'll pique the interest of a younger audience, without leaving devotees to the traditional orchestra behind.Tuesdays – the day scenestr speaks with the beatbox genius – are when Tom spends time in his studio coming up with new ideas; ideas such as the ones to be heard at 'Thum Prints'.
"When we first came up with the context, the last lockdown Gordon [Hamilton, QSO composer/ conductor] and I were coming up with a lot of ideas."
It's a head-scratcher at first, how a beatboxer would get his head around classical composition and scoring, but Tom has a secret weapon, a partner in crime, Gordon Hamilton.
The drive behind 'Thum Prints' comes simply from not having been able to do much by way of performing for close to three years. "It's kind of like setting free all the ideas we've been working on," Tom says.
"It's basically taking a lot of the songs we had written before and presenting them in a totally different way, because we've now written them for the album. I guess it's a cathartic release of all this music we've been sitting on."
Though the show will demonstrate what Tom says is 90 per cent original music, there will be some reimagined works from the classical repertoire performed too, works penned by the likes of J.S. Bach, John Adams, and Philip Glass.
"I didn't really have to get my head around the standard classical era composers," Tom says of the execution of this portion of the show, "it was more trying to figure out my frequency range and into a range that's already jam packed.
"It's finding nuances in my voice and finding ways to complement the orchestra without either of those elements – myself or the orchestra – overshadowing, or kind of fighting with each other.
"It's been a long process – we first started in 2015, so almost seven years of figuring it out and perfecting it, polishing it, dropping pieces, reinventing pieces, mashing things together, but it's been a very fun, experimental process of trying to find that harmony between myself and a tried and tested centuries old body."
As a performer, Tom has found himself searching for the push that will further add to his already impressive vocal agility by researching different instruments and finding different tonalities in his voice.
"Finding different ways to present that, too," he says. "For example, listening to a lot more world music, a lot of instruments I wouldn't have come across before, given my journey has been that of a young hip hop head!
"I guess it's not only expanding my repertoire, but expanding my musical knowledge of trying to find things that I can interpret with my voice that I can bring to the stage the next time I perform."
Tom's hope, obviously, is the dedication to bettering his range and understanding of instruments and other cultures' music will be well received by the audience throughout his upcoming performances with the QSO.
"For the most part, a lot of people will envision an idea of what they think the concert is – beatboxer beatboxing along with an orchestra. But essentially what Gordon is trying to do, is add me as an instrument into the orchestra. Instead of two separate bodies of sound, we want to create one thing.
"I think if people are expecting an orchestral concert that they can sit quietly through for an hour, and not be inspired by our performance, I think they're probably going to the wrong concert, because we definitely like to have yarns.
"You know, sometimes things go wrong, sometimes we stop the show to talk sh.t! It'll be an interesting experience, and great to be back on stage."
Thum Prints with Queensland Symphony Orchestra takes place at QPAC's Concert Hall (Brisbane) 8 April.
