Music

Hercules 12!

“Hercules, you gotta see it through — you can’t stop now, there’s more labours to do…”

Hercules 12 is a long-running musical project inspired by the twelve labours of Hercules — sometimes presented as full songs, sometimes stripped right back to live beatbox and rap. Alongside this project, I’ve co-written songs for Tall Stories Theatre Company, including the stage adaptations of The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom, and Chris Riddell’s Something Else, all of which shaped the way I think about storytelling through music.

Over the years, Hercules 12 has grown into both a composed song cycle and a live performance piece. Some of the videos here are fully produced musical versions of the labours; others are raw, live performances recorded at festivals and events, using nothing but voice, rhythm, and words. So far, three of the five live beatbox labours are available here, with more to come.

The story itself is a classic: Hercules, son of Zeus, is set a series of supposedly impossible tasks by King Eurystheus, under the not-so-gentle influence of the goddess Hera. Ten labours become twelve, the rules keep shifting, and Hercules has to keep going anyway. It’s no accident that we still describe difficult challenges as “Herculean” — these myths were always meant to be performed, retold, and tested out loud.