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]
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]
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 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]