Heatbox

Twin Cities-based singing/beatboxing/looping Heatbox released his sophomore album System to the public last Tuesday, May 5 and will promote the release with a tour of live shows throughout the Midwest.

This release follows the heels of Heatbox's critically acclaimed debut album, Entertainment. Although making noises and sounds with his mouth since the age of ten, Heatbox hit the scene with Twin Cities-based funk, rock and blues group Root City Band. The group won several awards (including "Best Blues Band of the Twin Cities" in 2006) and Heatbox picked up a few of his own (1st place at the 2007 "Yo The Music" Minneapolis Beatbox Battle) before the two artists parted ways.

Since then Heatbox has been writing new material, expanding his catalog of choice covers and performing to crowds throughout the country. Asked what it's like to perform and tour as a solo act, Heatbox says "I get to avoid so many of the negative things that happen in bands. Things like fighting, or drug abuse, or money problems and such. I never have to do anything other than exactly what I want to do in my art. I also have very little gear to carry around. On the other hand…there is nothing like the feeling of really rockin' out with your good friends. I miss that sometimes."

Creating beats and building songs from the ground up, this band/producer/turntablist utilizes a voice modulator (sparingly) and a Boss LoopStation RC-50 to generate more sound than some full bands. When it comes to putting words to music, "I get lyrics at the most random times," Heatbox says. "They just kind of float into my head one or two sentences at a time. I write them all down and then try to use them to make a song that makes sense." This man's true passion is to entertain people, and with the rolling out of his second album, Heatbox seems determined to embody what it is to be a one-man entertainment system.