Guns, cars and lasers were the sounds of one West Kelowna beatboxersa国际传媒檚 childhood.
Nuge Bird, 22, was featured as part of a Vancouver media companysa国际传媒檚 grant program, which aims to tell stories about fascinating Canadians.
For Bird, beatboxing came as a way for him to escape the violence in his childhood, growing up in a rundown neighbourhood in Saskatchewan.
sa国际传媒淚 just made lots of noises as a kid, so I would pretend to be a gun, a car, a dinosaur,sa国际传媒� he said.
Filmmakers submitted more than 550 submissions and 30 finalists, including Bird, were selected to be part of True Callingsa国际传媒檚 documentary series on Amazon Prime and Dailymotion, according to True Callingsa国际传媒檚 media release.
Birdsa国际传媒檚 fascination with beatboxing grew after watching an A cappella group while on a school field trip when he was about 12 years old. It inspired Bird to use his voice to distract him from the other challenges he faced in his life, he said.
sa国际传媒淭hen I went to bible camp where I learned how to do a throat-based noise,sa国际传媒� he said, sa国际传媒渦ns, uns, uns.sa国际传媒�
Everyone would beatbox to the Truffle Shuffle from the American adventure movie, The Goonies, and he wanted to feel included.
Hesa国际传媒檚 been beatboxing for seven and a half years, performing in West Kelowna and Kelowna.
Bird combines beatboxing with bad jokes, acting like a DJ while using his sense of humour to make the show entertaining.
sa国际传媒淧aid performances I will get dressed up in a suit and underneath will be lingerie,sa国际传媒� he laughed.
Hesa国际传媒檒l beatbox while dancing, taking his clothes off and reading a raunchy novel; all satirical of course.
Comedy and laughter saved his life, he said.
sa国际传媒淥therwisesa国际传媒sa国际传媒檇 be a downer and I didnsa国际传媒檛 want to be like that, so I had to figure out a way to change my mindset,sa国际传媒� Bird said.
sa国际传媒淚 just think laughter is such a great medicine and my culture is all about medicine, and having your own medicine is important,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 not just a silver lining, but theresa国际传媒檚 a gold lining and a platinum lining.sa国际传媒�
He gets his sense of humour from his dad, Donovan Bird.
sa国际传媒淗esa国际传媒檚 the one who saved my family and I, he saved our lives, he picked us up from Saskatchewan and brought us out here, it was the change that we needed,sa国际传媒� he said.
sa国际传媒淎s soon as we moved out here to the Okanagan, things started to change for the better, Isa国际传媒檓 really grateful for that man.sa国际传媒�
He also draws on his Indigenous background to create music.
sa国际传媒淭hroat singing, chanting and singing and drumming, those are all things that are in my culture, if yousa国际传媒檝e ever been to powwow yousa国际传媒檒l hear lots of that. Isa国际传媒檓 doing all of that, but with my mouth,sa国际传媒� Bird said.
Bird lives on the Westside with his family, working part-time as a labourer while beatboxing on the side.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 hard trying to get paid as an entertainer,sa国际传媒� he said.
Bird hopes to inspire others through his music.
He beatboxes for the kids at the Okanagan Boys and Girls Club, which they love he said. In 10 years time, he sees himself helping others through music therapy.
sa国际传媒淭hat would be so cool. I want to be a big community advocate. I want people to know that Isa国际传媒檓 here to help,sa国际传媒� Bird said.
Watch Bird perform on Thursdays at Lsa国际传媒� Oven Farm Fresh Food in West Kelowna, starting at 6 p.m.
carli.berry@kelownacapnews.com
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