Global music superstars Soweto Gospel Choir and renowned Australian DJ Groove Terminator have teamed up with Grammy-winning producer Latroit to present their debut album, History of House.
The album is a global reimagination of the iconic dance music classics that defined a generation.
To celebrate the album’s release, Soweto Gospel Choir and Groove Terminator have announced that they will be playing a 20-show run of live performances at the Sydney Fringe Festival in September.
Groove Terminator said travelling to South Africa in early 2020 to workshop a live show at Soweto Theatre became a transformative experience.
Bridging cultures and histories
This collaborative journey with the Soweto Gospel Choir has not only illuminated the transcendent power of music but also affirmed its capacity to bridge cultures and histories.
“I remain profoundly grateful for the opportunity to fuse my passion for house music with the choir’s rich heritage, creating something that speaks to the soul and embodies the enduring spirit of unity and joy,” he said.
The Soweto Gospel Choir’s Shimmy Jiyane said that Groove Terminator came to watch their performance at the Sydney Opera House and was completely awestruck.
“I guess that is when we started putting everything together and discussing how we are going to work on the History of House project together.
“In South Africa, we have 12 official languages, with Zulu being the most popular language all around the world, and it’s easy to catch the words, so we decided to use the language,” said Jiyane.
“Soweto Gospel Choir has been translating songs into languages for many years now.”
Opportunities for South African artists
Producer Latroit shared that he was called by Simon a couple years ago to talk to him about the live show History of House, with the aim of adding an album to the concept.
“Our mission from the start of the project was to use its energy and international access to create opportunities for South African artists,” said Latroit.
“With leadership from the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce Youth Commission, we decided to create a cultural exchange programme called ‘Orna Crea+’ with the launch of a remix context for the first History of House single, ‘Good Life’.
“From this initiative, we were introduced to an incredible wealth of talent from the southern African region.”
