The House Gospel Choir In Conversation

The House Gospel Choir has been one of my 2024 live highlights. After enjoying their sound on record, I was blown away by their presence on stage and the faultless delivery of their vocal harmonies. As they reach a decade into their career, they are ready to release their sophomore album. Love is the message is a stunning collection of 11 tracks, comprising the first two singles You, the uplifting soulful house tune championed by Radio 2’s Spoony, 1Xtra’s Jeremiah Asiamah, and Mi-Soul, and a new sonic expression of ‘94 dance music classic Dreamer with original artist Janice Robinson of Livin’ Joy, championed by Radio 2’s Trevor Nelson. The album features numerous guest vocalists and some amazing new material, positioning it as one of 2024's greatest releases.

We are lucky to have had the chance to chat with Natalie Maddix to learn a little more.

Hi, how are you all?

Very excited to celebrate our 10th year with releasing our second album, Love Is The Message.

Wow, a decade! Where did that time go?

The last 10 years have been a beautiful transformation from 12 friends learning the harmonies to Barbara Tucker's Beautiful People in April 2014 and, through word of mouth, becoming a choir of 30 vocalists performing at Glastonbury in June of the same year. We've loved performing all over the world, and we now have 400 members in our Monday night sessions, and closer to 1,000 if you include all of our online members from outside of London. It gets a little harder each year to remember everyone's name, but the fact is that people love singing and house music, and human beings are social creatures that need each other.

What are you most proud of achieving as a collective over the last decade?

Honestly, there have been so many pinch-me moments, but playing the Southport Weekender Festival is a personal highlight because it was a real bucket list moment to perform at one of the places I love raving the most. Another memorable experience was selling out Brixton Electric, a venue I frequently frequented as a child, back when it was still known as the 'Fridge'. Also, doing a surprise PA at Pikes in Ibiza recently is up there as a top moment.

What unfulfilled ambitions do you have for the group?

I'd love to bring the House Gospel Choir to America. A ‘Tiny Desk concert’ would be a lot of fun, or the birthplace of house music, Chicago, would be special. On the other side of the scale, HGC says Australia would be a dream come true. A little Sydney Opera House pop-up performance would be incredible. HGC was born from an idea that came to me on a South African dancefloor: performing a show where there would be a real 360-degree moment. In 2020, you released your debut album, Re/Choired, followed by a deluxe edition in 2021.

What did you learn from the record?

Working with Island Records was an amazing experience, and since then we have been involved in several other projects, both on major labels and smaller independents, so we started to feel really confident that we could self-release our second project. We have put a lot of effort into this new album, and we are incredibly excited to be releasing it on our own label, Swear Down Music.

How has that album helped shape this album?

As creative director of HGC and executive producer on the first album, I learned a lot about collaborating with different producers, and this time I really wanted to focus on working with people I had developed a good working relationship with over the past 10 years. Working with Rudimental, from London, Nicky Brown, and our very own Harrsn made this one a real family affair. I was really able to lean into some of my influences, whether dance music or gospel, and these guys all have the same reference points as me, so we developed a musical language together that I think you’ll hear throughout all of the tracks, but the choir vocalists are the glue in every moment. They are honestly such a beautiful bunch of humans that I am blessed to work with.



Your latest album bears the title Love Is The Message. We love the title. Tell us more.

I want people to experience a sense of relief when they listen to a House Gospel Choir track or attend one of our shows. There’s so much going on in the world that we run the risk of the negative news that we’re faced with on a daily basis being all that we see and hear, which can feel so overwhelming. I think it’s important to share messages of love and positivity where we can as a reminder that with the bad, there is also a lot of good out there too! The album features some huge collaborations.

How did you decide who to work with?

During lockdown we were creating these videos covering our favourite songs, where the choir would self-record at home using an app called Sing Acapella and our MD Harrsn would mix the vocals in logic and then piece them together in Final Cut Pro. During the BLM protests, we performed a popular cover of Promised Land. We then invited Janice Robinson from Livin Joy to participate in our rendition of Dreamer and Beverly Knight to sing Optimistic, to which they graciously agreed. All of the videos got loads of views and were shared thousands of times, so it felt right to create official HGC versions of these beloved songs.

Your latest single is a euphoric reworking of dance classic Dreamer; what made you choose the song?

We’ve always admired Livin’ Joy’s Dreamer; it’s undeniably one of the biggest dance tracks of the 90’s. When I got the news that Janice Robinson was in the UK for 2 days and had a 2 hour gap in her schedule that just so happened to align with when we were recording, it felt like divine intervention.

Between the albums, you have released a steady flurry of singles. How did you decide what would and would not make the new album?

We didn't have a big budget to do this independently, and recording choirs can be expensive. With this in mind, we had to make sure all of the demo versions sounded as strong as possible so we could decide which ones would make it to the studio. I also knew that I wanted this second album to deliver our message in a succinct and impactful way. So the only 2 questions became “does this demo move you” and “is the message being fully conveyed here?" All of that said, we are likely to add an additional deluxe release at a later date with some of my other faves that didn’t make the first cut. Watch this space!

If you could achieve one thing with the album, what would it be?

Every day, a barrage of negative news overwhelms us, prompting me to create music that serves as a counterbalance. I want people to press play on a House Gospel Choir track or come to see one of our shows and leave feeling like a weight has been lifted from their shoulders. Love is the message.