We’ve been huge fans of London based queer collective F*Choir for as long as we can remember; it feels like they’ve been a part of our souls before we even knew about them, and their deeply immersive and interactive performances have had a consistently moving and powerful effect on us over the years.
Celebrating a decade of existence, we wanted to take some time to honour the truly special, life-affirming sense of resistance they’ve built over the last ten years and their ability to create and recreate art that is hugely enlivening and electrifying. Not only a choir, but a community, F*Choir have offered a cathartic space for all who’ve been involved – whether on the stage with them, or watching and listening from across the room. They’ve continued to evolve with the changing times, reflecting the political, physical, spiritual and emotional identities of its members, providing a beautiful and necessary platform for both the euphoria and the grief that the queer community have experienced.
Having also celebrated our 10th birthday last year, at Get In Her Ears we feel a certain affinity with F*Choir and understand the work, time, stress and joy that can go into putting your heart and soul into a creative project. We’ve been lucky enough to host events with them, and various individual members of the collective (including Rubie and Jenny Moore’s other projects, punk-percussion outfit Charismatic Megafauna and her six piece ensemble Jenny Moore’s Mystic Business), as well as attend many of their other shows, and so have been able to experience first hand the all-encompassing, empowering energy and majestic captivating grace that exudes from each of their performances.
Rooted in the firm belief that “music has the power to change us and remake the world”, F*Choir use music to stay connected, to life and to each other. It is exploration, hope, possibility. It’s hard work. It’s saying, “you have got the strength”. And, with their urgent, melodic, driving songs that sit somewhere between fight for your life and lay down your guard sentiments, they offer a commitment to rhythm, movement, self-expression and salty harmonies. An F*Choir song is both personal and political, it’s a vessel for stories and collective liberation.
Ahead of what promises to be a career-spanning performance at Earth in Hackney on 25th October, Tash spoke to Jenny (Founding and Artistic Director) and Bianca (Assistant Choir Leader) about the project’s beginnings, what being in F*Choir has meant to them, their journey together, and what they’re moving onto next…
Initially conceived by accident from a project that Jenny was working on to create some music for a festival, with the aim of going back to our roots and not using electricity, F*Choir highlights the power of the voice. With no microphones and no other instruments used, what they write and create is raw and direct, as Jenny explains: “People are often surprised we’re not just shouting, feral, scratching, growling, but F*Choir music shows you can growl in 7-part harmony. It’s textured and breathing, belonging to bodies that ache and bend and push themselves towards the sound.”
After putting out a call for people to join her in this unique project, Jenny recruited a number of like-minded creatives at a time when people were really learning how to be together again after the anxieties of Brexit. Having come together for an intense five-hour-long rehearsal, ‘We Want Our Bodies Back’ (previously written by Jenny for another project) was the poignant first song that F*Choir performed together, before she realised that this was not going to be a one-off collaboration, but – due to a misunderstanding in the advertisement – the start of an incredibly huge part of her life for the next decade. It was meant to be.
Speaking about how special it feels to come together to sing and create, Jenny explains that it’s about finding the electricity within ourselves; creating and performing with F*Choir channels an internal energy – a somatic, physical part of ourselves: “Singing reminds you that you are alive when you feel not alive… Singing is this thing – you have to inhale to make the sound and exhale to make the sound, and there’s something about that creates electricity… . It creates this internal engine that makes me feel like I can carry on like a little bit more.”
Bianca’s introduction to F*Choir also seemingly happened by complete accident – she met different members of the choir, including Managing Director Sophie Chapman, whilst on an artist residency in Poland. After being persuaded to join some of their open sessions when back in London, she was instantly hooked: “I remember thinking these people are mad and I think I’m in love with all of them”. Never intending to be part of a choir, she followed the energy – that connected electricity – that oozes from F*Choir, and was completely locked in after seeing Jenny and “absolute goddess” Rubie do an impromptu spontaneous open air rehearsal.
Now, Bianca describes F*Choir as the “spinal chord of my life” – they are each other’s chosen family and provide an expansive musical learning and insight, as well as deep-rooted sense of community. She continues to be impressed by and proud of her peers – the different bands and artists that have come through the F*Choir collective (with examples including Breakup Haircut, Trouble Wanted, Rubie, Zahra Haji Fath Ali Tehrani and more), spreading its roots as it evolves and shapes its members.
Continuing to reflect on what being in F*Choir means, and the importance of coming together to sing, Jenny describes how emotional, physical and spiritual singing can be; how it helps to build muscle memory: “It builds muscle for individual and collective power, if you let it saturate your actual, physical self.” Highlighting the importance of this collective power, she explains how F*Choir doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it’s a response to what’s happening in both individual people’s lives and in the world as a whole – “... it’s like a performance research site, there’s so much collective experimentation.” It’s both personal and communal – a space where you can bring both your political self and emotional, physical and vulnerable self into one space together, and share it with friends. A combination that is “a total act of bravery and trust”.
It’s not only the singing that F*Choir do together that contributes to this communal power that they’ve nurtured for the last decade, it’s also the unique sense of community that they’ve built up together. As Bianca explains, as well as choir practice, they come together to discuss and make decisions as a collective – with their ‘Kitchen Table’ sessions, for example, they set an agenda of upcoming tasks and events, and with their ‘Working Forum’ they talk through the importance of issues such as accessibility requirements and the political stance of the venues where they’re planning on performing. All decisions and discussions are collective; a true democracy that seems to be at the heart of what F*Choir do. Any difficulties they encounter, they move through together, as both individuals and as a whole. They recognise the importance of expansive difficult conversations, and how vital these have been to the choir’s longevity.
It therefore seems key that F*Choir use their voices not only to sing, but to express their opinions and make sure these are heard, in a safe space where they are listened to and valued. And, as Jenny says, to have a practice that you return to again and again, where you’re using your voice (whether that’s to sing or speak), is a defiant, political act, especially for queer people.
When asked to describe how it feels to perform with F*Choir, both Bianca and Jenny’s answers reflect this sense of a duality; there’s not one clear cut feeling or way of being part of the collective. “There’s this feral energy, at the same time as a softness”, Bianca comments. There’s a variety to their performances, two sides to everything they do. “It feels whole”, Jenny continues, “it’s not just sheer pop joy, or deep grief, it’s both sides… It makes an actual shape that’s real and authentic.” And it’s not just the members of the choir that are responsible for creating the energy and atmosphere at the heart of their life-affirming performances, there’s a definite synergy in the room – a huge feedback loop between the audience and the people on the stage. In Jenny’s words, “it’s wizardry”.
On a personal as well as collective level, F*Choir has meant so much to its members over the last decade. From the beginning, it’s felt totally right, Jenny explains – “it planted a seed in me, something became alight”. Still now, ten years later, it remains a cherished part of her life, and performing with the choir generates a sense of self-love and compassion like nothing else – “When I’m performing with F*Choir, I feel more like myself than I ever am.” Having a cathartic space to grieve and rage in such a joyous and unified space is something truly special; an experience that encompasses the ‘whole’ that Jenny described, reflecting the multifaceted parts of our individual and collective lives in a beautiful and honest way. In the words of the great Robyn, F*Choir has used “sorrow as content, euphoria as form”; it’s created a space where queer and marginalised voices can unite as an empowering ode to our own power and resilience.
So, it may come as a shock that the decision has been made to put F*Choir to rest. “We’ve decided to intentionally compost F*Choir”, Jenny tells us. Continuing the plant-based metaphor, she reflects on what “fertile” ground the choir has created – “…there’s so many things sprouting and growing from it all the time… There’s almost a sense that we’ve outgrown the pot”. Explaining the decision, she tells us that they wanted to be in charge and have agency, to continue moving to their own rhythm; by purposefully drawing things to a close now, F*Choir are able to decide on the shape they’re in, to plan next steps. With both the political landscape and people’s individual lives changing so much over the last decade, members of F*Choir are not the same as they were ten years ago – “I feel that something else is required of us.” Jenny assures us that something else coming, she just doesn’t know what it is yet: “I wanna do something radical – I want to keep going in the way that F*Choir always has been.”
Rather than give in to the capitalist pressure that is put on us, especially as queer people, to keep going as some sort of proof of existence or value, F*Choir wanted to end things together, on purpose, “in the light, and not hide from it”. Jenny emphasises that she’s keen to honour the experience and recognise what everyone who’s ever been a part of F*Choir has achieved – visibly emotional, she reflects on the “collective magical cosmic space” that’s been created: “We’ve made these diamonds and their prisms are shining in all these different directions. We want to be allowed to stand back and look at it.” She’s keen to highlight all the queer and trans artists and composers who F*Choir have not only worked directly with, but who they’ve taken inspiration from and whose songs they’ve re-worked – “I want to point a laser finger at everyone, and highlight how community input is so powerful.”
(Please see a full list of thanks at the bottom of this article.)
Rather than fizzle out, Jenny wants F*Choir to be in charge of its own legacy (unlike so many other female and queer artists over the years), to make its own history rather than for it to be written for them. She wants to continue unearthing practice and discovering new things about F*Choir, as she has done for the last decade. “I’ve never been so humbled as I have been in this role”, she shares, but she feels strongly that now is the right time to walk away from it, as – despite being a Scorpio – she finally trusts in it. She’s learnt that there are phenomenal, world-building artists everywhere, and feels confident that the next generation will be able to stand on the shoulders of what F*Choir have created.
But, in true F*Choir style, they are not going out without a bang! As well as the huge celebration of their decade of existence at Earth on 25th October, they will also be releasing their first (and only!) album later in the year. Recorded at RAK studios with sound engineer Joy Stacey, and assisted by Alfie Scott, it features most of the choir’s 60+ ensemble singing tunes from a range of artists they truly treasure – female, queer and trans, black and brown musicians that they want to platform and celebrate. “I guess you could say the album is a love letter to them”, Bianca comments, which seems to really sum up a lot of what F*Choir is about; platforming and celebrating each other, lifting each other up and sharing joy with one another through the power of song.
Full list of artists and musicians that F*Choir wish to send love and thanks to below.
Join F*Choir in an epic celebration of their 10 years – marking both an end and a new beginning – at Earth in Hackney on 25th October. A range of tickets available here.
F*Choir would like to thank ALL the artists and musicians who’ve ever been involved with the project – those they’ve worked directly with, and those they’ve been inspired by. Including, but not limited to:
Planningtorock
Beverly Glenn Copeland
Rubie
Muna
Jasmine.4.T
Beautiful Chorus
Deep Throat Choir
She Keeps Bees
ABRA
PJ Harvey
Meredith Monk
Wildbirds & Peacedrums
Ibeyi
Lauryn Hill
Kate Nash
Peggy Seeger
Auclair
Anonhi
Robyn
Batya Levine
Dianne Reeves
Inshallah Babes
Tirzah and Micachu
Obinrin Trio
Be Steadwell
JD Samson & MEN
Jade
Mince
They’d also like to thank some of the amazing venues they’ve performed in, such as:
Pie-House Co-op
Walthamstow Trades Hall
Hoxton Hall
(and billions of parks, streets and protests in London where we’ve gathered endlessly and found our beloveds!)
Photo Credits:
Image outside Moth Club: Sophie Le Roux
Image at Hoxton Hall: Florence Bass
Get In Her Ears 