‘A place for everyone’: Crowdsource Choir offers music-lovers the chance to be the performance
Whereas societal standards have primarily confined singing to private locations and the comforts of one’s own home, Crowdsource Choir looks to break the mold by offering a space for everyone to sing along.
Since his youth in Chicago, music has long been a key aspect of life for Joel DeJong. Writing songs, being in bands, learning multiple instruments like the guitar and piano, you name it. But all in all, music has always been about singing for DeJong.
“It’s always been about playing to sing,” DeJong said. “I learned the instrument so that I can sing along with it, it’s never been about being a better guitar player.”
During high school DeJong was in choir and then joined an emotionally moving gospel choir that took his own singing “to the next level.”
“Singing those songs that are coming from a place of soul and pain and it’s raw, it was different from the choral experiences that I had before that,” DeJong said. “You’re giving it everything you’ve got, you’re breathing in and you’re belting it out, and when everybody does that together it’s super powerful. It’s like a wall of sound that can take you to a different place.”
Perhaps understanding the power of singing so deeply is why DeJong was so uncomfortable going right back into communal silence after a U2 concert in Seattle in 2017.
After a spirited concert experience, he hopped on a light rail full of fellow concert attendees simply existing on their phones. It did not feel right, and he belted out the beginning lyrics to “Where the Streets Have No Name” to find a response from the other side of the car. Suddenly the entire car was singing multiple U2 songs together, and after DeJong departed, he could not help but wonder why this method of expression was not more commonplace.
“I said to my wife, ‘we should be doing this all the time,’” DeJong recalled. “There’s potential in every moment, in every room, to really connect with people. Especially while singing.”
DeJong has found a few evident singing deterrents. One such reason is, of course, societal standards making the act of singing somewhat unique and relatively awkward when done in a setting not already designated for it, like a concert. But there is also a sense of fear and vulnerability when singing alone, and even if you are a comfortable singer, joining a choir is time-consuming and does not often consist of popular music some enjoy most.
Well, that is where Crowdsource Choir comes in. There are no barriers, no pressure, no sheet music, just a simple invitation from DeJong and the band to join the room in singing along to hits known by the masses. They will look to do just that at the Hamilton Studios Listening Room on Saturday.
As DeJong puts it, the people in the room are really the ones who make Crowdsource Choir a true experience with their array of voices, sense of energy and dancing. As the frontman of these events, he urges the crowd forward toward a common goal.
“Of course, there’s some idea of what’s going to happen and the songs that we’re going to sing, but they’re already risking themselves a little bit, so what I’m trying to do is invite them to risk a little bit more,” DeJong said. “I really feel like that’s the piece that creates the magic, because everybody in the room is giving of themselves a little bit … we have the potential to become something much more than we are, and I think we often limit ourselves.”
The all-ages event will be Crowdsource Choir’s debut in Spokane, a place DeJong has quickly grown connected to with his son attending Gonzaga University. This “Spooky Singalong” will feature classics like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon,” and many more. Attendees are invited to break out their Halloween costumes early.
“This is a place for everyone, and everyone is invited regardless of their singing experience, and they won’t regret it,” DeJong said.