Pocatello native now a viral beatboxing sensation
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REXBURG –- Parker Kane may look like a small-town Idaho boy, but he’s gaining national acclaim for a skill that is decidedly more inner city — beatboxing.
The Pocatello native, now a BYU-Idaho student, produced a video, “McDonalds Cup Dubstep,” featuring him doing dubstep beats with a McDonalds cup and straw. The video recently went viral and within three weeks it had over 2 million hits on Youtube.
The college student attributes his online success to lots of practice. He is unique among beatboxers, because he can produce eight distinct vocal sounds. He uses circular breathing — a wind instrument technique, which allows him to sustain all of the tones at one time.
Kane came from a family with musical interests, but said he always felt like the odd man out, because he couldn’t sing or play an instrument.
That quickly changed when Kane was 9 years old and was inspired by a performance he saw on T.V. by NSYNC featuring artist Justin Timberlake beatboxing. What started as a hobby done out of boredom, quickly turned into a passion.
“Me being that 9-year-old boy, I just started copying everything (Timberlake) was doing, and it became an obsession,” Kane said. “A habit where every single time I heard a song or heard music in general, I was trying to sound like what I was hearing the drums do.”
While Kane was serving a Mormon mission he felt his talent became more than a melodic hobby.
“I realized that I can use beatboxing to talk with anybody, and usually (people) would listen to me and give me the time of day, because they heard something cool that I could do,” Kane said.
He admits he doesn’t carry the look of a typical beatboxer, but it’s something he’s not ashamed of.
“I feel like a lot of people expect a beatboxer to be similar to a rapper, I’m definitely not that way,” Kane said, “In fact I started my beatboxing with a capella (in mind).”
Now, Kane and his sister are preparing to audition for America’s Got Talent in Salt Lake City on Dec. 5.
“We’re just going to audition and see what happens from there,” Kane said.
Keep up with Parker on his Facebook page.