'I like women, so why wouldn't I hang out with the girls?'
Gareth Malone has just ordered a ‘dry’ cappuccino. This, for non-coffee fans, is a version of the drink with less milk but more froth. He smiles as he explains this, and the waitress scuttles off, returning minutes later bearing a coffee with clouds of velvety foam.
This sort of charming directness is Malone’s trademark, and it pays dividends. For more than a decade he has been creating, coercing and cajoling choirs up and down the country, sparking a national resurgence in singing. How does he feel about being the ‘UK’s most recognisable choirmaster’?
‘Now there’s an accolade,’ he laughs, dipping his teaspoon into his coffee. ‘It’s not something I ever thought would happen.’
He was running a children’s choir, ‘making it up as I was going along’, when he was headhunted to appear in BBC prime-time show, The Choir. Malone’s expertise and his pupils’ eagerness captivated the nation, leading to an audience of millions and another series. ‘I’ve been working on TV for eight years, which isn’t a bad innings. Though it’s not quite up to the dizzying heights of Jamie Oliver’s 16,’ he says.
And yet he is just as much of a household name as Oliver, largely due to his 2011 series The Choir: Military Wives. In helping to form and train this choir, he once again won over the nation, even overtaking the juggernaut of The X Factor to take the Christmas number one slot.
‘That was an incredible moment,’ he says proudly. ‘That’s where television can be amazing: it really shone a light on the situation. These were essentially forgotten women.’
As well as showcasing their singing, the series also revealed the harsh realities of coping with an absent military spouse.
‘I was actually embarrassed that it took a man to go into that situation,’ reveals Malone, ‘I always thought that it should be a woman. I didn’t understand their plight at all until I got there, and they essentially made me one of the girls.’
He has no qualms about admitting he is in touch with his feminine side. ‘I think I’m expressive and flamboyant and I like the company of women, but I don’t think that makes me gay.’ His wife, Becky, would no doubt say the same. ‘I’ve never been into football, or that slightly homoerotic rugby tackling of men,’ he elaborates. ‘I like women, so why would I not want to hang out with the girls?’
Whether his choirs are male or female, he is in his element when he is leading them. ‘I have been into music since before I can remember. Conducting is about musical authority, but it’s not about power. It’s more about having a musical vision and being able to get people to do more.’
He believes his projects have been so successful because ‘people respond to singing. If you’re all expressing yourself through one song, there’s a focus of energy and attention towards the audience, and there’s a powerful chemical reaction that never fails to excite. That’s been going on probably since we were in loin cloths’.
He gesticulates broadly as he speaks, as if he were conducting now; his enthusiasm is infectious. ‘It’s been amazing to have a moment on the BBC where singing was given focus, in the same way that The Great British Bake Off has brought cakes to the nation,’ he says, sitting up as he warms to his subject.
‘It’s those people who turn up week after week, year after year, to their local church or community hall for choir rehearsal – that’s what keeps the nation singing.’
He is widely credited with resurrecting this ‘grass-roots singing’, an honour to which he responds graciously. ‘If you replaced me with someone else you’d still have a show with singing at the heart of it. It’s been fantastic to be a part of that... genuinely, I don’t mean to sound disingenuous. It’s been a privilege.’
Malone still finds his celebrity a bit odd. ‘The expression “celebrity choirmaster”, it really makes it sound kind of bizarre. It’s like I’m the Peter Andre of the choir world,’ he laughs. Although he relishes the process of television (‘it’s a very social activity, with a big team of people working together to make things happen’), he is keen to point out that there is nothing glitzy about it. ‘I’m not going to say “poor me, it’s so very difficult” because it is a great job, but it’s not unusual to do a 14-hour-day and then do another 12-hour-day at the opposite end of the country. When you’re at a service station on the M1, exhausted and eating a motorway sandwich, does it feel glamorous? Not especially.’
The flipside of this, of course, is the more glitzy perks that come with the job: the award ceremonies, the top restaurants, the plush hotels. But none of this ‘stacks up to the simple things in life – being at home, having a really nice meal with my family’.
Malone and his wife have a three-year-old daughter, Esther, and a sixmonth- old son, Gilbert. ‘When you have children, time changes entirely. I no longer stand around at the end of the day chatting, because that’s 15 minutes I could be having at home.’
His passion for choirs is not set to expire any time soon, though. For his most recent project, he has brought together a group of young singers and recorded Voices, a collection of modern songs with a choral sound.
‘I wanted to do something that is part of my general mission to get choirs into the mainstream,’ he explains. The tracks range from songs by Radiohead to Alicia Keys, but they all still demonstrate ‘a dead-straight English choral sound. It’s soulful and spiritual and very cathedral-like’.
Malone hopes it will appeal to old and young alike, pleasing those who like traditional choirs, as well as inspiring a new generation. He delights in revealing that his 70-year-old father is a huge fan of the compilation.
With a new series of The Choir on air, Malone shows no signs of slowing down. ‘It is what I love doing,’ he states. ‘Just standing up in front of people and shouting and cajoling and praying that they’ll sing well.’ And with ever-growing audiences, it’s likely he’ll be expressively lighting up the small screen for many years to come.
The Choir: Sing While You Work is on BBC Two on Monday at 9pm.
Voices (Decca) is out now, £9.99.
This sort of charming directness is Malone’s trademark, and it pays dividends. For more than a decade he has been creating, coercing and cajoling choirs up and down the country, sparking a national resurgence in singing. How does he feel about being the ‘UK’s most recognisable choirmaster’?
‘Now there’s an accolade,’ he laughs, dipping his teaspoon into his coffee. ‘It’s not something I ever thought would happen.’
He was running a children’s choir, ‘making it up as I was going along’, when he was headhunted to appear in BBC prime-time show, The Choir. Malone’s expertise and his pupils’ eagerness captivated the nation, leading to an audience of millions and another series. ‘I’ve been working on TV for eight years, which isn’t a bad innings. Though it’s not quite up to the dizzying heights of Jamie Oliver’s 16,’ he says.
And yet he is just as much of a household name as Oliver, largely due to his 2011 series The Choir: Military Wives. In helping to form and train this choir, he once again won over the nation, even overtaking the juggernaut of The X Factor to take the Christmas number one slot.
‘That was an incredible moment,’ he says proudly. ‘That’s where television can be amazing: it really shone a light on the situation. These were essentially forgotten women.’
As well as showcasing their singing, the series also revealed the harsh realities of coping with an absent military spouse.
‘I was actually embarrassed that it took a man to go into that situation,’ reveals Malone, ‘I always thought that it should be a woman. I didn’t understand their plight at all until I got there, and they essentially made me one of the girls.’
He has no qualms about admitting he is in touch with his feminine side. ‘I think I’m expressive and flamboyant and I like the company of women, but I don’t think that makes me gay.’ His wife, Becky, would no doubt say the same. ‘I’ve never been into football, or that slightly homoerotic rugby tackling of men,’ he elaborates. ‘I like women, so why would I not want to hang out with the girls?’
Whether his choirs are male or female, he is in his element when he is leading them. ‘I have been into music since before I can remember. Conducting is about musical authority, but it’s not about power. It’s more about having a musical vision and being able to get people to do more.’
He believes his projects have been so successful because ‘people respond to singing. If you’re all expressing yourself through one song, there’s a focus of energy and attention towards the audience, and there’s a powerful chemical reaction that never fails to excite. That’s been going on probably since we were in loin cloths’.
He gesticulates broadly as he speaks, as if he were conducting now; his enthusiasm is infectious. ‘It’s been amazing to have a moment on the BBC where singing was given focus, in the same way that The Great British Bake Off has brought cakes to the nation,’ he says, sitting up as he warms to his subject.
‘It’s those people who turn up week after week, year after year, to their local church or community hall for choir rehearsal – that’s what keeps the nation singing.’
He is widely credited with resurrecting this ‘grass-roots singing’, an honour to which he responds graciously. ‘If you replaced me with someone else you’d still have a show with singing at the heart of it. It’s been fantastic to be a part of that... genuinely, I don’t mean to sound disingenuous. It’s been a privilege.’
Malone still finds his celebrity a bit odd. ‘The expression “celebrity choirmaster”, it really makes it sound kind of bizarre. It’s like I’m the Peter Andre of the choir world,’ he laughs. Although he relishes the process of television (‘it’s a very social activity, with a big team of people working together to make things happen’), he is keen to point out that there is nothing glitzy about it. ‘I’m not going to say “poor me, it’s so very difficult” because it is a great job, but it’s not unusual to do a 14-hour-day and then do another 12-hour-day at the opposite end of the country. When you’re at a service station on the M1, exhausted and eating a motorway sandwich, does it feel glamorous? Not especially.’
The flipside of this, of course, is the more glitzy perks that come with the job: the award ceremonies, the top restaurants, the plush hotels. But none of this ‘stacks up to the simple things in life – being at home, having a really nice meal with my family’.
Malone and his wife have a three-year-old daughter, Esther, and a sixmonth- old son, Gilbert. ‘When you have children, time changes entirely. I no longer stand around at the end of the day chatting, because that’s 15 minutes I could be having at home.’
His passion for choirs is not set to expire any time soon, though. For his most recent project, he has brought together a group of young singers and recorded Voices, a collection of modern songs with a choral sound.
‘I wanted to do something that is part of my general mission to get choirs into the mainstream,’ he explains. The tracks range from songs by Radiohead to Alicia Keys, but they all still demonstrate ‘a dead-straight English choral sound. It’s soulful and spiritual and very cathedral-like’.
Malone hopes it will appeal to old and young alike, pleasing those who like traditional choirs, as well as inspiring a new generation. He delights in revealing that his 70-year-old father is a huge fan of the compilation.
With a new series of The Choir on air, Malone shows no signs of slowing down. ‘It is what I love doing,’ he states. ‘Just standing up in front of people and shouting and cajoling and praying that they’ll sing well.’ And with ever-growing audiences, it’s likely he’ll be expressively lighting up the small screen for many years to come.
The Choir: Sing While You Work is on BBC Two on Monday at 9pm.
Voices (Decca) is out now, £9.99.