Podcast: Church of Sound

We chat to Lexus Blondin and Spencer Martin, the pair behind London's essential church-based events series, delving deep into their past, present & future.

Since its inception in 2016, Church of Sound has been bringing some of the most exciting new live music from London and beyond to life in St. James The Great Church in Clapton, East London. A regular gig that completely transforms a place of worship into one of the city’s most buzzing live music venues for jazz, funk and experimental sounds. With a unique audio set-up and in the round seating, the audience is drawn into the music so much so that by the end of the night everyone is left feeling an ecstatic sense of harmony. To date, the church has housed some of London’s finest nu-jazz musicians as well as legends such as Billy Harper, The Cookers and Tony Allen.

Prior to lockdown, Sean Keating sat down with Lex and Spencer, the two founders, brains and muscle behind the operation, to delve deep into their past, present and future.

Emerging from the 18-month mandatory hiatus, the Church of Sound team hit the ground running last November with two unforgettable nights, the first of which saw innovative steel pan artist Fimber Bravo showcase his recent album ‘Lunar Tredd’. Protest music with a deep grove, this band had a heavy lineup including Susumu Makai on bass and Alexis Taylor on synths. The following night the mic was handed over to producer and guitarist Dave Okumu who performed with the OHS trio as well as treating us to the first live performance of his debut solo album Knopperz.

Next up at St. James the Great Church, is artist, poet, rapper and polymath Nadeem Din-Gabisi who will be presenting his second solo album ‘POOL’ accompanied by singer and multi-instrumentalist Donna Thompson. Following that, a rare live performance from UK’s broken beat artist IG Culture with his ‘Likwid Continual Space Motion’ with special appearances from Wonky Logic and Entek. Tickets for both gigs are available to buy here.