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25 YEARS: The IDMC choir

MOBO AWARD-WINNING choir IDMC are celebrating their 25th anniversary in style.

The popular UK gospel outfit kicked off their celebrations by carrying out a flash mob in the West End last week, releasing a new single My Change Has Come and on Friday (March 8) they performed to a sell out crowd at The Hideaway in Streatham, south London.

IDMC Choir founder and director John Fisher, well known for his performances and Facebook Live videos, is over the moon IDMC have reached this milestone. He said: “I didn’t know I would see 25 years of doing this. I was really excited at the get-go when we ventured into this, not knowing that we would last as long as we have.

“I’m grateful to God for enabling me to see 25 years, but I’m also grateful to the hundreds of people who have been part of the vision.”

During this special anniversary year, John aims to tour the UK, perform in Europe and cross the Atlantic to perform in either America, Canada or the Caribbean.

These exciting planned initiatives are a far cry from the choir’s roots.

IDMC was started as an 80-strong mass choir to sing at evangelistic services jointly hosted by the New Testament Church of God in Brixton, Croydon, Deptford and Lee district.

After the meetings finished, many left the choir. John decided to continue it and now, in 2019, it has a core team of 25, has performed across Europe and released nine albums.

AMBITIOUS: Founder and director John Fisher has high hopes for the choir’s 25th anniversary year

John has been reminiscing about IDMC’s quarter-century, and when asked his three main highlights leading the choir he replied: “One of them would be singing at the wedding of the late Luciano Pavarotti. That set up the choir internationally. We were able to live off that accolade for a long time.

“Being nominated and performing at the MOBOs in 2013 with Jahméne Douglas was another one, and touring and singing behind Lukas Graham – in front of 200,000 people.”

Directing the choir and recording original music is what John lives for. “I love doing it. We are constantly trying to keep ourselves relevant to today’s music and sound and people keep calling us. The day people stop calling us then I’ll shut up shop.”

RENOWNED

The son of a pastor, John got his love of music from his father, who was a well-known guitarist within the New Testament Church of God (NTCG).

John’s dad taught him how to play the guitar, but he progressed to the drums, for which he became renowned. He’s also followed in his father’s footsteps and is now a licenced minister, exhorter and member of the church council at NTCG Brixton.

He says he learnt patience, discipline and strong character from his father, qualities that put him in good stead when his equipment was destroyed by a fire that swept through Shurgard storage unit in Croydon in January. The pain of losing his possessions has been eased because the gospel community have helped raise cash to replace the lost items.

John is very much a family man. Married for over two decades with two sons, he has nothing but praise for his wife.

“She has supported me all the way. I adore her.”

Not a man that’s just about his own thing, John loves UK gospel. He supports it and wants to see it do well. He said: “I’m really excited about what’s happening in the gospel scene at the moment, but I wish we were further on. I wish we had a bit more money in the scene so we could really expand a lot more. The guys have done well with the resources they’ve got.”

That said, IDMC’s 25th year in music should be a glorious one. They too have done well with the resources available, and seem set to continue.

Visit idmcgospel.com for more information.

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