Guetta’s gay muse branches out

You may not know the name Chris Willis, but chances are you’ve heard his voice.

The openly gay former gospel singer is powerhouse DJ David Guetta’s go-to guy, having co-written and voiced the massive international hits Love Is Gone, Love Don’t Let Me Go (Walking Away) and last year’s smash Gettin’ Over You.

So how did a God-fearing Southern boy who got his start singing hymns become the voice of some of the past decade’s most enduring club hits?

“I always say [dance] found me, because I sure wasn’t looking for it!” Willis told the Star Observer from his home in Atlanta, Georgia.

“After my gospel years, I was doing some production for a French group, and one of the guys in the group introduced me to David Guetta, who invited me to the studio the next day to vibe off him.

“The first song to come out of that was Just A Little More Love, back in 2000. That first song was like a key that unlocked the incredible world of dance collaborations I’ve been involved with since.”

Willis admitted that the radical switch in genres left him nervous at first.

“I was really worried about making that transition. When you come from the church, there’s this notion that if you’re not doing gospel, you’re doing something wrong.

“But when house music found me, it really was just a matter of taking that same voice and passion I used in gospel, and putting it on these wonderful new tracks.”

It was in 2009, with the album One Love, that Guetta went from being a DJ to a fully-fledged pop star. With Gettin’ Over You one of the album’s biggest singles, Willis came along for the ride.

“That song has changed my life in so many ways, and it’s just been the icing on an incredibly sweet and delicious cake,” he said.

It’s also encouraged Willis to branch out on his own (although he assured us that more Guetta collaborations were in the pipeline), recently releasing his own dance single, the infectious Louder, produced by Swedish maestros Cutfather and Joe.

Production-wise, the song fits neatly into the prevailing taste for processed, autotuned vocals.

But isn’t it a little unnecessary, filtering Willis’ gospel-honed pipes through a computer?

“I don’t think so. I love it. I remember when Cher’s Believe came out, I wanted to hear what my voice would sound like through that filter. I’ve always been fascinated by the possibilities of vocoder and autotune, and loved that digital, robotic sound,” he insisted.

As you probably guessed from the gratuitous Cher reference, Willis is more comfortable with his sexuality now than back when he was a closeted gospel singer.

“I’d spent so many years of my life worrying about what people would think of me if they really knew the truth, but [in dance], it’s about the music, not about who you are. That has been so freeing and cathartic for me.”

info: Louder is out now on iTunes. Chris Willis plans to visit Australia in the coming months. Visit www.myspace.com/chriswillismusic for updates.