Gabrielle “Denae” Hoyte

Gabrielle “Denae” Hoyte, 26, released her first album, “Through the Storm,” in November 2015. She has since been nominated for the Marlin Awards in the Bahamas, which annually honour gospel singers from around the Caribbean. The gospel singer works as a dietician at Peebles Hospital.

 Tell me a bit about your music. I know Brent Hoyte, a music producer, is your brother. What was your childhood like with him?

Musically, I could only play one instrument — clarinet — but I could always keep a tune and sing a song. I never really thought that was anything special until

Gabrielle “Denae” Hoyte
one time I sang at a funeral. People thought my voice was very nice. At the time I didn’t think anything about it.
When I started writing music, I was more so in Canada at the time. I would write and record on [the programme] Mixcraft: That was all I had. When I came home, I would go to Brent and be like, “So, I have this new song: Could we work on it?”
He was always very busy. Every now and again, I would get him to work on it for a while with me. The dynamic was good. Practice time was easy. It also became helpful when it came to time to record [my first album], because he was the one doing the production for me. Your music is very personal and you want to trust in whoever is doing the music for you. It was good that he was somebody I was comfortable with.

Do you remember the first song you wrote?

Very well. It was a love song. I was 17 at the time. There was this guy — he didn’t live here; he lived away and he was with somebody else — and I was trying to express what was going on in my mind. I was always good with writing.

Do you remember the lyrics of that song?
[Sings] How can I be me if you’re not mine, and how can I be happy if you’re hers. [Laughs] It’s so sappy. We were friends and that was basically what we were stuck as. To think about it now, it’s like, “You’re so young.” We’re Facebook friends. If it’s his birthday I’ll say happy birthday, but it’s very shallow.

How has your writing improved since then?
It was a lot of girly stuff; it has matured into a God-and-me kind of thing. It’s now very centred on how God wants me to live my life; who He is to me. The focus has shifted from boys to God, which is a healthier place to be.

How difficult can songwriting be?
For me, it depends. I would never say I schedule time for songwriting. Depending on what’s happening in life, I might just be inspired as I’m walking down the road. For example, recently I wrote a song while I was at work. I was washing my hands and I was just thinking about the concept of “out there.” As in you’re knocking and asking if anyone is out there. From there, a song started. I meditated on it over the next couple of days, and by a week or so it was a full song. Sometimes I get a song within 30 minutes. Sometimes it takes weeks or months, but inspiration is the biggest thing.

Which of your songs stands out the most to you?
It’s actually one I’m working on right now for my new project. It’s not going to be a full album this time: It’s probably going to be an Extended Play with a few songs. I feel it’s the best song I’ve written to date. It’s a song that depicts Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Where do you pray the future leads you in music?
I pray I never stop writing. I think there was a year I hadn’t written one song, and it felt really strange. I pray I never stop writing relevant music. I pray I never get stuck trying to give people what I think they want. I don’t want to get bogged down with the industry and what would sell: I don’t have time for that. I think that music is much more powerful than that and people need to hear something. I want to give them what they need and not necessarily what they might say they need, because we don’t always say what we need.

Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Ngovou Gyang.

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