MC Xander

MC Xander is a British musician and music producer, known for creating his music using only his voice and a loopstation, which layers up his vocal sounds.^[1] His music references dancehall, reggae, dubstep, drum and bass and hip hop but more broadly fits into the IDM genres. In 2010 he described his sound as 'progressive dancehall'.^[2][3] At his shows all the songs, including the bass, beat, backing vocals, lyrics and all sounds, are created live using his voice.^[4] In recent years he has started using an effects box which processes his voice and increases the variety of textures and sounds he can add to his tracks. He introduced the combination of using a Kaoss pad and a loopstation with all vocal performances, inspiring other beatbox artists such as Beardyman to experiment with this technology.^[5]

Biography

MC Xander was born in Kenya in 1983 but grew up in Scotland and Dorset. Having always had a strong inclination to music he studied for his BA in ‘Commercial Music’ at the University of Westminster. Moving to London to study on the course he was exposed to the ever-growing variety of electronic music which has emerged in recent years. He went straight into the music scene as a resident MC for the London dance night Chew the Fat! at the club The End. There he became known for his human beatbox skills and energetic live performances.^[6][7][8] He then joined the breakbeat act Atomic Kitten Soundsystem as their MC. He also performed with breakbeat DJs such as Rennie Pilgim and Eddie Temple Morris and is featured on the track, We Control, by DJ Hyper.^[9][10]

After breaking into the dance scene MC Xander started working as a solo artist, moving away from breakbeat towards a more cross-genre sound. Using only his voice (a combination of beatbox, rapping and making sounds with his mouth) he creates intricate tracks using a loopstation to layer his vocals, and more recently a Korg Kaoss pad 3.

He is a member of the London-based music and spoken-word collective One Taste.^[11] He performs at a variety of venues and events, from more intimate arts showcases to festivals, street performances and club nights.

His debut album Eyeopeness, was released in March 2011.^[12][13] His forthcoming album Hymns is scheduled for release in September 2016.^[14]

Style

The thought provoking intention of his lyrics has in some sense more in common with spoken-word and poetry than dance music. Apart from his beatboxing, MC Xander is known for the range of high vocals he uses in his work; particularly the high singing in falsetto and whistle register which can add an 'ethereal' choral quality to his sound.^[15] He also uses throat singing techniques to create some of his bass sounds.^[16] Using song structures whilst working within electronic music genres is also one of the definitive aspects of his style.

Discography

Studio albums

• 2010: Eyeopeness

EPs

• 2014: White Light EP

References

External links

• MC Xander's Myspace page
• MC Xander's Facebook page
• MC Xander's official website
• MC Xander on OneTaste
• MC Xander on SoundCloud