ThePETEBOX : Beat-Boxing Mastermind

Well, I've got something special for you all today. It's a little different than the usual, and I'm really happy to say that. I'm always fascinated by fresh, new artists. I came across this guy while looking up covers of "Where Is My Mind?" (The Pixies), believe it or not. The Pixies are a personal favourite of mine and I never really looked into covers of the song before, and I'm glad I did now. There are a lot of good covers out there but none of them are similar to ThePETEBOX's cover. The guy is a beatbox mastermind and has some serious editing skills. Check out this mind-blowing cover!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhjA2nvVD7U

I bet you didn't expect that? The man has some serious skills when it comes to looping and is a fine instrumentalist/vocalist too. Aside from his raw talent, I have to compliment the quality of his audio/video. The sound quality is crystal clear and the video is too. As I mentioned previously, the editing is incredible too. I can't imagine how long this took to do but the man earned my respect in those 4:04 minutes.

After watching that, I obviously rushed for the "Subscribe" button (which I urge you to do too), and looked him up on Facebook. He's got a page that you can "like" there, and through which you can get regular updates from him. But all that obvious stuff aside, let's get back to his covers. He's done a bunch of incredible covers that I really enjoyed. I was tempted to share his cover of Nirvana's "Lithium" with you, but decided to share his cover of The Beach Boys "I Get Around", because it seems ever so complicated. He took the audio/video editing up a notch in this one and gives a flawless performance that would probably be incredible to see live. Watch this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFkWYGa7Py4

Love it! There's definitely an electronic sound in there, but what do you expect? ThePETEBOX is one man surrounded by machines. I don't know if anyone assists him with what he does but in any case, the outcome is incredible. I like the fact that ThePETEBOX is covering a variety of songs and not sticking to one genre in particular. He's showing his diversity and ability to make nearly any song his. When listening to that cover of "I Get Around" though, all I could think was..."Bohemian Rhapsody" (Queen). There's definitely that sort of sound in there and I'd be intrigued to hear him cover any Queen track really. "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Killer Queen" and all those tracks have that layered sound with Mercury's voice roaring into eternity. I'd be really curious to hear ThePETEBOX attempt one of those. I think it would suit him perfectly.

Now, aside from his mind-blowing covers, ThePETEBOX has some great originals, which showcase the craft and uniqueness of his beat-boxing style. One track that stood out to me is entitled "Panther Dance", which incorporates the very memorable theme track from "The Pink Panther" (Henry Mancini), as well as inspiration from Bobby McFerrin. So check this out, feel free to check out ThePETEBOX's album (made up of originals and covers) on iTunes and don't forget to subscribe! Check back tomorrow for another fantastic artist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ji6sJLFc8A

Alex Hamel