It’s not revolutionary (or shameful) to admit that making new adult friendships is hard. August 2024, four years into my London tenure, and I could count my good pals on one hand. Because while most leave school or university with surrogate sisters that will see them through their (first) marriage, mortgage and the arrival of their children, I had friendly acquaintances with people I most likely wouldn't ask to be my bridesmaids.
That's not to say I craved quantity over quality, but did I have space on the roster for a few more? Maybe. And I considered various extra-curricular routes to new connections: joining a netball team (cold come winter), training as a spin instructor (spenny), or a marg-fuelled round of speed friending (inorganic?). Then came my answer during a routine doomscroll.
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The Groove Chorus is not your average choir, but rather a not-so-professional, non-religious choir that makes a very professional sound. The playlist? Unique arrangements and megamixes of songs from the '70s right up to the present day. Think, Copacabana a la Barry Manilow, Mis-Teq’s Scandalous and Love At First Sight courtesy of Kylie Minogue, all seasoned with an eight-piece live band and camp AF.
This wasn’t the first time I’d considered lip syncing with strangers. My friend regularly raved about the mental benefits of another musical-obsessed chorus. And while attempting to take on that iconic Wicked riff sounded like a good time, I was more of a Whitney wannabe than a Cynthia superfan.
But before signing away my Thursday evenings, I needed to know what I was in for. Cut to a sweaty summer evening at the Clapham Grand, and a stream of bangers delivered by the Houses of Kylie and Gaga — like Harry Potter, only named after chart-toppers like Britney, Charli, Prince and Cher. I was invested, obsessed and only distracted by my mother's repetitive cries of ‘you need to do this!'
I should also mention that my mother likes to consider me a musical prodigy. All those in close range learn that I was once the singing, dancing narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. The fairly important details she omits are that I was 12, one of four sharing the role, and this wasn’t on the West End, but rather a primary school production that would have had Jason Donovan recoiling in his seat.
But I can’t say that without her semi-delusional cheerleading, I would have applied to be part of The Groove Chorus — and ultimately, found my people. Specifically, a midwife, musical producer, social media manager, trainee therapist, and marketing exec. A group of strangers who may have shared a tube but likely never a conversation, all united by their love for nostalgia-inducing pop.
September 2025, and we've just celebrated the anniversary of our first meeting — and yes, we're still very much in the honeymoon period. But while the chance to sing away the stresses of the week to the carpool anthems of my childhood is a perk, it's the community and camaraderie I now crave in the run-up to our weekly rehearsals.
It's a side effect founder, Silv Pybus, felt herself in the first ever session she put on for friends: “I remember being in the first rehearsal — it was the first place I stood in front of everyone, and I thought, 'if anyone asks me if I’ve got a partner, I’m going to say ‘I’m a lesbian’. It was just something about the people that were in the room — like, ‘these are my people’.”
And so, she wanted to guarantee that for other members: “We work really hard in rehearsals, and we have a high standard that we keep up with. But the whole tone was set from the beginning — it was so much more than coming in and singing songs.”
It was over a bottomless brunch that Silv announced to a friend she was keen to start her own choir. Fast forward a few months and a £20 TikTok ad, she had hundreds of requests to join. Now she runs the mothership — AKA a suite of nine singing, dancing choirs based in London, Manchester and Sheffield — with Molly Moran, who she reports falling in ‘musical love at first sight’ while studying at the University of York.
Molly adds: “We’ve been part of lots of choirs, we’ve run other choirs. I think that what The Groove Chorus offers is a space that we have never seen before, on top of the great thing that is being in a choir.
“Like doing the best tunes in the world — tunes that hardly any other choirs would touch with a bargepole. Getting a resident pole dancer at our gigs, and collab-ing with drag performers. Making a choir gig that’s night out energy." And for those wondering why we wear double denim? Voted for by members during a late-night poll, with ‘Cat Slater animal print realness’ a close second.
Molly continues: “It’s hard to meet new people, so I love the fact that when we get a new group together, they already have two things in common: they’ve both joined a choir, and they probably like the same music, or at least have similar tastes."
Silv adds: “If I could tell 20-year-old me that Mol and I would be running this business together, writing camp pop hits for choirs, then I'd say I hit the jackpot. It feels like it's been 30 years, in the most gorgeous way.” And there's a lot more the pair want the choirs to achieve yet. Having already taken the stage at Mighty Hoopla Festival earlier this summer, they're keen for a collab with Cascada, a mega choir takeover at the Royal Albert Hall and a Groove HQ, fitted with a recording studio and a karaoke stage.
My dream? Perhaps to pull my alto sax out of retirement for a solo. Stay tuned.
Tickets for the House of Whitney, Kylie, Gaga, and Cher’s next gigs at the Clapham Grand are on sale at dice.fm, or for more details on The Groove Chorus, head to thegroovechorus.com or @thegroovechorus.
