A Sunday Series with Kimmy Beatbox
A 21-year-old will have lived through over a thousand Sundays in their life. Stripped of responsibilities, how, where, and with whom this time is spent is as realistic a reflection of self as it is aspirational. When no-one is looking, and your whole life left to be the person in your mind’s eye, how would you spend a day? This premise is what drove the makers of a new mini-documentary trilogy A Sunday Series, a production by Joao Malhado and Poppy Ashton. Selecting participants, director Joao and producer Poppy the duo selected three artists who embodied all of the anticipation and optimism and potential they envisioned for the series. After reaching out to Milly Toomey (known as GIRLI), Amber-Simone and Kimmy Beatbox, we arrived with the sun early on three Sundays across London to spend a day filming with each of them. The resulting shorts are a sincere, truthful study of three separate stars on the rise out of the spotlight.
The locations for the shoots couldn’t have varied more in a 20-mile radius. We followed a skateboarding GIRLI zipping past suits and buildings at Canary Wharf, pink hair flashing in a patchwork of grey. Following Kimmy’s rhythmic steps through crowded Shoredtich streets was like being swept in a current, she carried herself so easily. Around Hemel Hempstead, where Amber lives, we walked with her and her dogs in scenery befitting of an 18th century classic.
The resulting footage’s contrast is representative of each artist and their individual take on the message of the series, but they slip easily into the Director’s vision. The series of images captured alongside the films by Beatriz Oliveira give an insight into the personality of the films and the subjects, three women who have been taken somewhere on the path to finding themselves creatively – and who make ruminative, attentive and generous hosts to guests of their worlds.
For most people, momentous alterations can be charted onto the map of their lives easily, pinpointed as the moment when everything changed. For others, every day could be the source of an existence-defining uproot, and they vastly prefer it. Kimmy Beatbox is one such person. She’s an entity of everywhere and nowhere, flitting between Manchester, London, Southampton; up and down the UK, always with her amp and mic in tow. Beatboxing affords her freedom which she is determined to make the most of: “I’m very blessed, I’ve got 24/7 to do whatever I want really. At first it was like, this is so amazing, but it’s good to fill that time with good s***. I try and do as much as I can, or at least have something productive to do with music in my day; even if it’s just writing lyrics, or practicing some beatboxing, or playing a piano, or something else that’s going to help progress the music side of things. Every day is completely different. Some weeks I might have loads on and then next week I might have nothing.” This inconsistency might be enough to make any millennial shudder, especially those in the creative arts, fighting tooth and nail to get a pay check. It’s impossible to say whether Kimmy’s disposition, so often sunnier than the skies she performs under, drives her success, or vice versa, but to imagine her not to land on her feet in any situation would be like seeing a cat slip on its own kitchen counter. And anyone she’s met who would wish her anything but well would surely be an even rarer occurrence. While filming A Sunday Series, Kimmy took us to the Nomadic Gardens in Shoreditch. It was welcoming and friendly, a good visualisation of Kimmy’s own persona. She greeted almost every stall holder by name. “It’s the sickest place, friendly as f***. It doesn’t matter who you are, and because it’s a community garden so anyone goes in there.” For someone who takes so much comfort in community, busking is a way to give back as well as move forward. “I didn’t expect to get anywhere with it, it was just a hobby. Mad you can even make a living out of it, it’s daft. Some of the messages I get are just so heart-warming, so supportive. One woman messaged me saying she had two autistic kids, apparently they saw a video of me beatboxing and it was the first thing they had showed interest in in ages and they got really excited by it. What have I done to deserve it? But then you get people like ‘how many d***s do you suck in a day’, shit like that. You never know what you’re gonna get, it’s fun.”
All three episodes of A Sunday Series are end-of-the-week viewing, equally pleasing films that provoke viewers to reflect on all there is to be thankful for in their own lives. Last up, watch Kimmy Beatbox’s below now and follow her on Instagram here.
