You may remember him by his original stage-name Metronome, but since then Vincent Bantasan has officially become EVMB, a beatboxing phenomenon that has taken over the music industry in the past five years. Originally from Granada Hills Ca, the 26 year old has performed in front of crowds as big as 15,000 and soon will be beatbox in front of his largest crowd ever of 93,000 at the LA KPOP festival on April 12th! Talk about mindblowing.
Beatboxing was an accidental discovery for EVMB. He tells us that his cousin was a drummer, and would often make rhythmic noises with his mouth. “I found it odd… I asked him to teach me a few sounds and from there I started my beatboxing journey.”
The biggest struggle for EVMB was starting off. “I was limited to only beatboxing hip-hop and pop music.” From getting gigs to performing at open mic nights, the beatboxing genre was often turned down and misunderstood. “I [was] always asked if I need either a CD to play in the back or if I am performing with a rapper.” Even though beatboxing has made its way into mainstream media, he still gets asked to this day.
It was during his first well promoted show at Van Nuys High School, that EVMB really began to make a name for himself. The show was a benefit concert with performances from both students and YouTube Celebrities. As a student, EVMB wanted in. At the time EVMB had no social media at the time and had only performed in front of his friends. “I was the last artist to perform before intermission, I put on the best show I possibly could at the time and the crowd loved it. It was a rush and an amazing feeling for me.” Later, when the YouTube headliners were going out to eat, they asked if EVMB would join them. To say the least, he was honored. “They basically talked to me about pushing out videos on Youtube and move forward with my talent.”
In 2009, EVMB started to take beatboxing seriously after he won his first regional championship. “…it wasn’t until I started beatboxing that [I] began to appreciate music.” He tells us that there are a handful of people that understand what he goes through on a day to day basis, show to show, “They won’t be named, but they know who they are,” he says with a smile.
His beatboxing sessions consist of dubstep remixes with songs like “Rolling in the Deep,” by Adele, all the way to the classic “I Like to Move It,” by Reel 2 Real. “I have a few songs that I am working on at the moment that will soon be favorites.”
Until now, the artist Dawen has the biggest impact on EMVB’s music career. “He works extremely hard and is always moving forward. He understood the path I wanted to go through with music.”
For aspiring artists like himself, EVMB says, “Commit to your craft. There will be a lot of critics out there trying to shoot you down and discourage you. Just keep moving forward and continue putting effort [into] what you do.” He ends by saying, “you can be the best performer in the world, but if you don’t have charisma, they’ll forget about you quick.”
Youtube: https://Youtube.com/user/EVMBttv
Twitter: https://Twitter.com/EVMB1 @EVMB1
Facebook: https://Facebook.com/EVMB1
Instagram: https://Instagram.com/EVMB17 @EVMB17