Deep Throat Choir are an all-female singing sensation from Hackney, and they’re on a mission. After a lauded performance at Green Man Festival last month, we talk to founder Luisa Gerstein about roots, visions and who they really are.
Deep Throat Choir – what a provocative name. What is behind it?
It is a provocative name but you forget that quickly. People barely batted an eyelid when we let it into the ether, and as far as where it came from it’s just a joke that stuck. It’s silly and not meant to be taken seriously, and for the most part people get that.
How would you describe your sound?
It’s so straightforward: voices and drums, just voices and drums. When arranging the songs I’ve liked being restricted in that way, and I think it’s good to have limitations in the tools you’re using. Voices are so powerful, so it’s nice to leave them alone for once. So far all the songs are covers, ranging from old soul to more recent indie songs. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time so I’ve got a backlog of ideas I want to try, and also to write specifically for the choir.
What’s your vision as a choir?
To raise our voices together on a weekly basis till we’re old cronies. I can’t tell you how good that feels!
What does East London mean to you?
It’s where we come together and sing, and it’s where a lot of us live, but I’d feel disingenuous to claim roots here – I started the choir by reaching out to female friends who like singing and they’re from all over the place. We get together in a beautiful church with incredible acoustics and it’s great to be part of a community – we’re one of four choirs who rehearse there and there’s always some kind of activity going on. I don’t think it would have been as easy to get it started anywhere else in London, and most of our performances are happily within a short radius of where we sing, so there is that sense of rootedness.
Where are you going next?
We’ve got a few more plans to perform this year, including a Christmas show at St Barnabas Church just off Shacklewell Lane. We’re going to start recording so we’ll be able to put some music out soon too. We’d also really love to do a castle tour around the UK next summer and a barge tour, so if anyone can help with those things then please get in touch!