His list of career highlights is impressive. He\u2019s worked with music industry heavy-hitters like Justin Bieber, has appeared in films and on numerous TV shows, and has had a series of beatboxing videos go crazy on YouTube.<\/p>\n
And then, of course, there\u2019s the \u201ccypher.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one thing to know before entering a cypher is the vibe of the cypher,\u201d Gutterson says, describing how beatboxers gather in a circle to throw rhymes and beats at each other. \u201cA cypher is not necessarily battling. You\u2019re not trying to one-up another person. It\u2019s more about the vibe of positivity and love in the cypher. Yes, there are definitely battles and hip-hop and all that, but that\u2019s not necessarily the point of the cypher.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gutterson says that for beatboxers, it\u2019s a little like networking.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like a jazz session,\u201d Gutterson says. \u201cYou\u2019ve got people playing trumpet, and piano, and people are just jamming off each other. You\u2019re not trying to overpower someone. Of course, there are times for solos, but it\u2019s about going in there for the long haul.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Beatboxer\"](\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/Beatboxer1.jpg?resize=2820%2C1541\")
Gutterson says he started making noises with his mouth around 12 years ago. At some point during high school, he went to a music event at Muhlenberg College. He encountered a guy making sounds not too dissimilar from the ones he had already been making on his own.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, what are you doing?\u201d he remembers asking. \u201cI need to be part of this when I go to college here.\u201d<\/p>\n
So he enrolled at Muhlenberg and did just that. He started beatboxing within the college\u2019s a capella group.<\/p>\n
Gutterson guesses he\u2019s among the \u201cloudest beatboxers in the world\u201d because he never had a microphone growing up. He had to pump up the volume so that the crowds could hear him.<\/p>\n
Since he started out, Gutterson\u2019s entrepreneurial side has emerged after joining\u00a0a company called Beatboxing Entertainment. It produces beatboxing videos for those interested in breaking into the business.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought they\u2019d catch,\u201d Gutterson says. He suddenly found himself gaining massive exposure, as his introductory videos have been viewed more than five million times so far.<\/p>\n
After college, Gutterson took to New York City\u2019s subways and participated in a series of underground events called the Hip Hop Subway Series. He says he and his fellow beatboxers were \u201cbringing it back to the 1980s,\u201d a period commonly known among rap aficionados as the \u201cGolden Era.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gutterson constantly moves through a variety of beatbox circles, performing alongside a 17-year-old Justin Bieber<\/a> (\u201ca cool guy, a really nice kid\u201d) to teaching the basics to the anchors on Fuse<\/a>. He\u2019s also done a film called Beatbox<\/em>, about a beatboxer trying to fit the position in while working a full-time job. Sound familiar?<\/p>\n The world of beatboxing is a place for Gutterson to pursue his passions. And though he only enters this world in his free time, these visits help other people find the voices they never knew they had inside themselves.<\/p>\n Photo credit: Exilus Photography\/ Exilus Media
\nPhoto credit: Mitten Photography<\/p>\n