Gabonano is one of the four beatmakers who will live-score an animation film Saturday at Public Beer and Wine. Photo courtesy of Beat Theatre.
When Robin Williams died in the summer of 2014, an unordinary tribute took place in the backyard of a low-key Long Beach home. Several of the late actor’s classics such as Jumanji played on a large screen, while off in a corner, a rotating crew of beat makers spun dark moody beats in lieu of the original audio.
After a yearlong hiatus, Beat Theatre is back in action with a pop-up show this Saturday at Public Beer and Wine, where four artists will spin original beats to a surprise animation film.
If you’ve never heard of Beat Theatre, it’s one of the most novel undertakings happening in the Long Beach music scene at the moment. The concept is simple: it sets up shop in a variety of spaces — bars, cultural centers, backyards — and invites beat makers to live score classic films such as The Shining, Taxi Driver, Jurassic Park and Rashomon.
“Probably a dozen artists who’ve played Low End Theory have played Beat Theatre,” said founder Tony Damico, who will be spinning on Saturday under his moniker ONYMICO. “People are super down to play it because it’s a cool concept even though we don’t have a big budget or often a very big crowd. It’s just a really fun experiment.”
What began as a fun experiment has found a niche in the intersection of experimental music and film, building a steady following with both movie buffs and beat lovers. Its growing roster of performers includes Zikomo, MNDSGN, Mike Gao (Alpha Pup), Co.Fee as well as resident performers from the Wizrds Only collective.
Damico, who grew up in Pheonix, began experimenting with beats in high school. His father was a sound engineering hobbyist who passed on a love for hi-fi stereo equipment and jazz. On his own — against his religious upbringing — Damico snuck around cassette tapes of revolutionary rap such as Immortal Technique.
“The music I’m drawn to the most is gnostic, which brings together light and dark and how they play off of each other, rather than a lot of spiritual traditions where they’re just about the dark or the light,” Damico said. “It’s a conversation … A lot of films that are really powerful do the same thing — they play off the polarity whether it’s despair and hope or those sorts of dynamics.”
In 2007, when he left Arizona for Long Beach to earn his master’s in Communication Studies, Damico got busy exploring Long Beach and getting involved in the community. As part of nonprofit Shift Long Beach, he helped start Long Beach Exchange and Long Beach Fresh and hosted monthly salons that brought together art, music and speech surrounding topics of sustainability, consciousness and spirituality. Meanwhile, he continued making beats in his bedroom, sometimes collaborating with hip hop artists.
“I wrote most of my papers on the underground rap music,” he said. “It was one of the reasons I was excited to move out here — to get face to face with more of that.”
Around 2009, he and a friend made a habit out of turning on a cable channel that played music videos from the 70s to early 2000s while drinking a couple of beers. They would mute the TV with Damico turning on any music he wanted over it — often hip hop. That led to the genesis of what is now Beat Theatre.
“It was just kind of funny,” he recalled. “I love the juxtaposition and contrast. That eventually turned into hearing crazy experimental analog industrial beats over Jurassic Park while dubbing a ton of reverb of the sound of T-Rex roaring.”
Damico recruited friend and producer Josh Jetson, and they debuted Beat Theatre at the Cultural Alliance of Long Beach in downtown, where they hosted monthly shows for about two years. They’ve since brought on Tall Robot’s Rene Chargois to the team.
Part of the challenge has been finding the right setting for a Beat Theatre show. Most have taken place at bars, such as Harvelle’s, which is tricky due to the fickle nature of the crowd. Their biggest show to date was at Frida Cinema in Santa Ana back in 2014, a feat that Damico is hesitant to repeat due to large overhead costs.
“We tried to scale it up and it went okay,” Damico said. “It wasn’t going off like gangbusters where we’re packing out a movie theater. So we took a break but now we’re bringing it back, keeping our options open and doing smaller shows.”
With its comeback, Beat Theatre is planning to widen its circle by bringing on live musicians. This summer, it will be pairing up with the Pow Wow School of Music as well as members from the Long Beach Symphony. And later this fall, they plan to host competitions where they will pair up USC film students with beat makers. Until then, Damico says Beat Theatre will continue hosting pop up shows at local venues that are receptive to the project.
“In order to have a strong movement, we ought to see more venues as well as the city being more open knowing that when we do underground hip hop, beats or conscious MCs, it’s a super peaceful vibe,” he said. “It’s way more peaceful than other types of shows the city might have.”
Beat Theatre’s next show is Saturday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m. at Public Beer and Wine, featuring Wizrds Only producers Gabonano, Tall Drk, Bry.Zen and ONYMICO. For more information, visit Beat Theatre on Facebook and Instagram. Damico also runs LBSCENE.tumblr.com.
Above left: Tony Damico, aka ONYMICO, founder of Beat Theatre. Photo by Esther Kang.