From relieving stress and tension to releasing endorphins, it’s no wonder more than two million people across the UK sing regularly in choirs. But singing classic anthems like James’ Sit Down and The Killers’ All These Things That I’ve Done in a pub with a bunch of strangers? Well, that’s a new one. At local event Crazy Little Sing Called Pub the impact has been undeniable, with hundreds gathering each month to take part. We caught up with event founder Abi Moore to find more about this communal phenomenon.
You’re originally from Lincolnshire – what brought you to Nottingham?
That’s a very good question - I can live anywhere doing what I do, because I’m a self-employed musician and I’ve moved around a lot. I had a bit of a quarter-life crisis where I did a load of research into the arts scenes in lots of cities in the UK and I narrowed it down to Edinburgh, Liverpool or Nottingham, and I decided on here. I’ve lived here for almost ten years – I generally move around after two years, as I’m a bit of a nomad, but Nottingham has ticked all the boxes for my cultural and arts life!
You started out with a choir called Totally Vocally…
I did. Originally it started out in Grantham and during COVID we had to split everybody up because people came from across the East Midlands. There was a point which made it really difficult as you weren’t allowed to cross county borders. So I had to set homework and they’d meet in groups of six and rehearse outside. People could hear us and asked how to join, so it still had an upside. It’s only got bigger and now we have two groups.
I understand the idea for Crazy Little Sing Called Pub came to you when you were in bed…
It was something that I’d seen being done in different countries. I went to see an Australian group, Pub Choir, on tour in Nottingham. It got me thinking ‘What do they do differently to my own choir?’ and I came away thinking ‘nothing’ and ‘why am I not teaching this in a pub?’. I’ve been teaching people to sing for fifteen to twenty years but some people find that a pressurising environment. By putting it in an environment they feel comfortable with, it’s changed everything.
I do try and create a nice environment and even if you think you can’t sing, you can come along and, as there’s so many people, you’ll never be heard on your own
The Bama Lama Sing Song night in Nottingham has proved that singing in a big group in a familiar environment is definitely a popular idea too…
I’ve also been to Bama Lama Sing Song a couple of times and I was surprised with how varied the age group was and how many men were there. It was something about having a pint in your hand, bringing a few mates – if you hate it you never have to come back! I do try to create a nice environment and even if you think you can’t sing, you can come along anyway and, as there’s so many people, you’ll never be heard on your own.
The first event was at the Malt Cross and 150 people attended. Were they receptive to your initial suggestion for them to host it?
Very much so. I love the venue, with it being a Victorian music hall and that mezzanine level is so great. It also has a projector screen and a stage halfway up the wall so you can surround yourselves with people. They’ve had a lot of success with Beer and Carols nights in December too. The difference between that and Bama Lama Sing Song is they do lots of songs, whereas we just learn one. It did promote a bit of terror between the Malt Cross staff when we told them we do one song for the whole two hours, which sounds like the most boring thing you’ve heard in your life. However, because we build up the harmonies, it’s actually quite interesting to watch, and the time flies!
You’ve done songs by James, Crowded House and The Killers… How do you go about choosing your tracks?
Often I have an idea of what will work for singers who are not singers who don’t regularly harmonise with others. Firstly, it has to be rousing - an anthem, and epic that people love. The songs are announced in advance as people are eager to know what they’re going to be singing.
James’ lead singer Tim Booth saw your performance and tweeted praise too…
Yeah! I was over the moon with that – it’s so cool. He shared it with his X following and that video had 30,000 views.
The next few months will see you perform at Hockley Hustle, Malt Cross and The Big Shed, I heard you have plans to take it outside of Nottingham, too?
Yes, we’re booked here in Nottingham until Christmas and we’ll always come back as this is our home and where we started. However, we’d also like to try new places. We had requests from Southampton, Bournemouth and Edinburgh, but it might make sense to try places like Lincoln and Birmingham first. I’m also talking to a few venues in London too.
Vicky McClure’s Dementia Choir has had such great press with the work they’ve done and they starred at Splendour. Would that be something that would interest you too?
I’d love to! Doing our first outdoor one at The Big Shed gave me a lot of confidence… so it’s given me the thought to do festivals and I’ve purposely left space for that next year. If we could play Splendour it would be a dream come true!
There's a lot of research into the impact communal singing can have on wellbeing. Have you had much feedback on this?
Yes, and it’s actually quite tear-jerking to hear things like that. I can get so caught up in it that I can forget the impact it’s having. I’ve had some lovely messages - someone saw their friend on the video footage and said ‘You won’t know this, but their partner died last year, they’ve hardly been out of the house... I’ve just seen them smiling their face off on your video’. It’s just the sweetest thing to hear the solace they’ve got from it. Singing communally is really something special - there’s not many things in this life which connect you to fellow human beings you don’t know. It’s so rare and the end product is so rewarding.
Crazy Little Sing Called Pub takes place at Hockley Hustle on Sunday 20 October (venue TBC), the Malt Cross on Sunday 17 November and The Big Shed on Thursday 19 December 2024. Tickets can be bought at crazylittlesing.com
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