With his joyful, no-audition ROKiT choir, Mark James invites everyone to ditch the sheet music and discover the power of easy, communal, feel-good singing
When ROKiT staged its summer concert at The Exchange this year, 90 singers squeezed onto the stage and 300 people filled the seats. It sold out fast. This wasn’t a traditional choir; it was looser, warmer, more fun. And now Stur is getting its own chance: the fourth ROKiT choir opens in the town on Monday 6th January.
ROKiT is the creation of Mark James, a trained musical theatre performer and qualified singing teacher, whose route into music has been anything but straightforward. ‘I was the person at school who was told not to bother with music,’ he says. ‘It wasn’t my thing, apparently.’
Image: Courtenay Hitchcock
He ignored the advice. Mark began teaching from home, later opening his own music school in 2014. He trained through the Voice College, gaining an upper merit diploma and a nomination for the PJ Proby Student of the Year award. Since then he has taught hundreds of students, including gold record selling artists, across the UK, Europe and the USA. He has worked as a master vocal coach for River Studio in Southampton as well as the preferred coach for Evolved Artist Management. In 2018 he appeared as one of the 100 judges on BBC One’s All Together Now with Geri Halliwell and Rob Beckett. His trademark hat made him a recognisable presence on the show – ‘people kept asking who the man in the hat was,’ he says – and after the series ended, he wanted to use the momentum for something closer to home. ‘I wanted to do something a bit more modern,’ he says. ‘There wasn’t a huge amount of choice in the area. And I’ve always been someone that wants to give access to music to everyone. Music can feel a bit elitist these days, and all the fun seems to have gone.’
Images: Courtenay Hitchcock
ROKiT was built deliberately to cut against that. No auditions, no sheet music, no barriers.
‘Members don’t need to read music,’ he says. ‘It’s all done through lyrics. Everything’s done on a backing track – and we share all the tracks on the ROKiT drive. People can learn at home, and then they all get together.’
On the very first night in Gillingham, back in September 2018, 44 people walked through the door. ‘Numbers always drop slightly in the first few weeks,’ Mark says. ‘But we ended up with around 30 regulars.’ Blandford followed, then Wincanton, and now there are more than 130 singers across the groups. ‘They’re all a good bunch,’ he says. ‘They all get on really, really well.’
You’re just ROKiT
ROKiT’s social side is as important as the music, says Mark: ‘We don’t put pressure on anyone,’ he says. ‘We don’t have set solos. And there’s no cliques – which I’m really proud of. As soon as someone walks through the door, they’re just part of the choir.’
He’s seen people join at difficult points in their lives and find something steady and supportive.
‘We’ve had people come in who’ve been through breakups,’ he says. ‘And it helps them build their friendship groups again. We’ve had relationships start here as well.’
There have been harder moments of grief, too. ‘We’ve unfortunately lost some of our members,’ he says. ‘But everyone supports each other, going through it together. And it’s not just “Blandford looking after Blandford”, or “Gillingham looking after Gillingham” – everyone knows everyone, across all three choirs.
‘Once you’re a member of ROKiT, you’re not a “Blandford member” or a “Gillingham member”. You’re just ROKiT.’
That sense of belonging aligns neatly with what science has shown repeatedly: group singing lowers stress hormones, boosts mood, steadies breathing and builds social connection. For many people it’s as effective as a therapy session. Mark sees it weekly. ‘Some people just need to come and blast out a song,’ he says. ‘It relieves the stress. And that’s absolutely fine.’
Mark keeps the choir deliberately affordable. Membership is £35 a year – which covers T-shirts and access to the online learning tracks – and rehearsals cost £7 a night on a pay-as-you-go basis. ‘Times are quite hard for a lot of people,’ Mark says. ‘The last thing I want is someone worrying about whether they can afford next month. They’ve got friendship groups here. Some people need to be here.’
Ray Charles to Radiohead
The ages range from teenagers to people in their 80s or 90s. Men were scarce at first. ‘We had just one man originally,’ Mark says. ‘He used to call it his harem!’
Now there are growing tenor sections at all the groups.
The repertoire covers Queen (Bohemian Rhapsody took four months to learn), Ray Charles, Robbie Williams, The Monkees, Snow Patrol, Radiohead … ‘They do Creep really, really well,’ Mark says with clear pride.
ROKiT has also swiftly become a familiar part of the local Christmas season. ‘We’ve had to turn down quite a few requests this year, because so many asked us to perform,’ he says. The choirs support charity events too – raising around £15,000 so far. ‘We don’t have one charity, we raise for lots of causes. One close to all our hearts is CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young), in memory of one of our original choir members. She was only 52 when she had a major heart attack.
‘We’ve supported the Ukraine appeal and earthquake appeals, Brave & Determined Co, Air Ambulance … We try to support as many as possible,’ Mark says.
From 6th January, Sturminster Newton’s own ROKiT choir will meet every Monday at 7.30 at the town hall. As always, anyone can join – no experience, no auditions, no pressure.
‘Just turn up on the night,’ Mark says. ‘Rock up and rock it.’
It’s a cheering thought for the dark nights of winter: a roomful of strangers, gathered on a Monday evening, lifting the roof together.
