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. 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'. At his shows all the songs, including the bass, beat, backing vocals, lyrics and all sounds, are created live using his voice. 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.
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. He went straight into the music scene as a resident MC for the London dance night Chew the Fat!at the clubThe End. There he became known for his human beatbox skills and energetic live performances. He then joined the breakbeat act Atomic Kitten Soundsystem as their MC. He also performed with breakbeat DJs such as Rennie Pilgrem and Eddie Temple Morris and is featured on the track, We Control, by DJ Hyper. 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 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. He performs at a variety of venues and events, from more intimate arts showcases to festivals, street performances and club nights. His debut albumEyeopeness, was released in March 2011. His latest album Hymns was released on August 14, 2018.
Style
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. He also uses throat singing techniques to create some of his bass sounds.
