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House Gospel Choir
Choir
OriginLondon
FounderNatalie Maddix
GenreFusion of house and gospel music
Website housegospelchoir.com

House Gospel Choir (HGC) is a London-based vocal group which debuted in 2014 at Glastonbury Festival. [1] Founded by creative director Natalie Maddix, the choir combines two distinct musical genres – house music and gospel. [2] HGC's debut album RE//CHOIRED (2020) includes reimagined house classics and dance anthems, as well as original tracks. [2]

The choir has featured on Ella Henderson and Just Kiddin's " Risk It All" and also performed with Kylie Minogue for her virtual concert Infinite Disco.

As of February 2020, HGC had 150 members of diverse religious backgrounds. [3] [1]

Background

Based in London, House Gospel Choir was founded by vocalist Natalie Maddix, who had been working in music programming and management. [3] Maddix grew up singing gospel at her Pentecostal Church in Vauxhall and Latin hymns at her Catholic secondary school in Camberwell, and developed interest in garage when she was sixteen. [3] She was inspired to pursue house music while at Pretoria House 22 in Johannesburg, when she was in South Africa with producer Atjazz to promote "Selfish Skies". [3] She went on to be featured in "Eye Know" by Scratcha DVA from his 2012 album " Pretty Ugly". [4]

In 2014, Maddix published an Instagram post inviting people to join a house choir. [3] The first twelve members formed House Gospel Choir in a rehearsal space in Hackney. [3]

Prior to their first rehearsal session, Maddix booked their first gig on the acoustic stage at Glastonbury. [1] She secured the opportunity while programming choirs for Olympic Park, when one of the directors she was working with mentioned that a booker was looking for a choir. [1] By the time of the gig, the choir had thirty members, including DJs, keyboardists, and vocalists. [1]

Performances

At Glastonbury Festival in 2014, House Gospel Choir performed a set with songs such as "Beautiful People" by Barbara Tucker and "Up Above My Head" by Kirk Franklin. [1]

House Gospel Choir and Adelphi Music Factory performed their "Salvation" at Homobloc Festival 2019 in Manchester. [5] Mixmag called it an "utterly storming piano houser" that "really summed up the warmth of the whole Homobloc experience." [5] In 2020, House Gospel Choir performed at the online-only Notting Hill Carnival. [6]

In 2022, the House Gospel Choir featured in a live tour with entrepreneur Steven Bartlett in the stage adaptation of his podcast, The Diary of a CEO. [7] The HGC accompanied Bartlett throughout the show, punctuating his autobiographical anecdotes with songs such as " Oh Happy Day" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy". [7] Reviewer Marianka Swain of The Daily Telegraph described the show as "the most bonkers night I have ever spent at the theatre". [7]

Later that year, the choir performed with musician John Cale at the Wales Millennium Centre in commemoration of his 80th birthday, [8] and on the BBC One New Year's Eve special. [9]

Releases

Singles

In 2017, House Gospel Choir and MNEK featured on "Deeper" by Riton, and in 2018, they released a cover version of "Battle" by Wookie, produced by Wookie himself. [10] In 2019, HGC released "Salvation" with Adelphi Music Factory, [10] which stayed on the Billboard Dance Club Chart for 12 weeks, peaking at No. 5. [11] On 24 April 2020, they released the Toddla T-produced "Blind Faith", which was written in 2018, and whose video consisted of a virtual choir. [12]

On 7 November 2020, [13] HGC featured on Kylie Minogue's Infinite Disco livestream, on the songs " All the Lovers" and " Say Something". [14] A review in Retropop Magazine praised "Say Something" for its "stellar guest vocals from the House Gospel Choir". [15]

In 2021, HGC featured on Blinkie's "Stronger", [16] and later that year they and Just Kiddin featured on Ella Henderson's " Risk It All", [17] which charted at No. 100 on the UK Singles Chart. [18]

Album

On 23 October 2020, House Gospel Choir released their debut album, RE//CHOIRED. [2] Mixmag called the album "a spirited and feel-good celebration of house music and soundsystem culture...a testament to the power and healing potential of collectivity in music." [19] Along with HGC, RE//CHOIRED features house DJs and musical artists such as Todd Terry, Alex Metric, DJ Spen, Todd Terry, Toddla T, and Wookie, gospel musician Nicky Brown, and multi-instrumantalist Troy Miller. [19]

RE//CHOIRED charted at No. 69 on the UK Album Downloads Chart and No. 4 on the Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart. [18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "House Gospel Choir. The Original House Meets Gospel Experience - Church!". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Ochoa, John (31 October 2020). "Meet House Gospel Choir: The London Vocal Group Bringing Faith To The Dance Floor". Recording Academy – Grammy Awards. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Langley, Edwina (10 February 2020). "House Gospel Choir founder Natalie Maddix talks inspiration and their upcoming show at Electric Brixton". Evening Standard. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  4. ^ "How electronic dance music shapes and shifts our ideas of beauty". dmy.co. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  5. ^ a b Ekanyake, Manu (2020). "SWEET SALVATION: Started as a reaction to the cheesiness of Manchester's gay clubs, with the massive Homobloc, Homoelectric unleashed a 10,000 strong celebration of unity, queer culture and musical power". Mixmag. No. 344. pp. 23–28. Retrieved 22 August 2023 – via EBSCOHost.
  6. ^ "The Londoner: 'Time for museum of colonialism in East End". The Evening Standard. 1 September 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Swain, Marianka (23 February 2022). "The most bonkers night I have ever spent at the theatre". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  8. ^ Wetherall, Greg (1 November 2022). "John Cale - still doing things his way". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 August 2023 – via EBSCOHost.
  9. ^ "What to Watch". Daily Telegraph. 31 December 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2023 – via EBSCOHost.
  10. ^ a b "House Gospel Choir Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  11. ^ "House Gospel Choir – Dance Club Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Let House Gospel Choir uplift you with their new track Blind Faith". Red Bull. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  13. ^ "Watch Kylie Minogue perform 'Say Something' with The House Gospel Choir in 'Infinite Disco' preview". NME. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  14. ^ Arnone, Joey. "Kylie Minogue Announces "Disco" Reissue, Shares Video for "A Second to Midnight" Feat. Years & Years". www.undertheradarmag.com. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  15. ^ "Kylie Minogue – Infinite Disco". Retropop Magazine. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  16. ^ Warren, Alexandra (21 May 2021). "'I'm comfortable playing on my own again'". South London News. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Ella Henderson Teams Up With House Gospel Choir and Just Kiddin". Warner Music Australia. 20 August 2021. Archived from the original on 11 April 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  18. ^ a b "HOUSE GOSPEL CHOIR". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  19. ^ a b Skala, Jemima (1 November 2020). "House Gospel Choir's Debut Album 'RE//CHOIRED Is Out Now". Mixmag. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
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