House Of Fyah - Queen (EP) + 10 Questions
Reggae fusion collective House of Fyah release their new three track EP, QUEEN, a deeply personal project exploring love, heartbreak, gratitude and the women who have shaped their lives.
Opening track “GONE” tackles the pain and emotional fallout of a relationship coming to an end, before “FOR THE LOVE” shifts towards gratitude and affection for the people who leave a lasting mark on our lives. The title track “QUEEN” brings everything together with an uplifting reggae anthem celebrating mothers, daughters, partners and women everywhere.
The inspiration behind “QUEEN” is particularly personal for Matt Hoy, who was raised by a single mother and wanted to honour the women closest to him. “I wanted the song ‘Queen’ to be a celebration of all the incredible women in the world,” he explains. “The Queen EP is a celebration of Love, Life and Loss.”
Bringing together roots reggae, soul and contemporary influences, QUEEN continues House of Fyah’s evolution while retaining the warmth, positivity and sense of togetherness at the heart of their music. Between them, the collective’s members have extensive musical histories, having worked and performed with artists including UB40’s Ali Campbell, Musical Youth, Sugar Minott, Tippa Irie, Maxi Priest, Sean Paul and Morgan Heritage.
QUEEN is out now on all major streaming platforms.
House Of Fyah sat down with Wordplay Magazine to answer our infamous 10 Questions:
1. So tell me, how did it all begin? What sparked your love for music?
Music has been part of all our lives from a really young age, although we all found our way into it differently.
For Dennis Jarrett, it started at around seven years old when his brother introduced him to the piano at home. Tony Mullings was asking for piano lessons from the age of six before eventually finding his way to the bass guitar. Steve Clarke's love of rhythm began at a similar age after watching his stepdad's band rehearsing. Seeing those musicians playing together completely fascinated him, and the drums soon became his thing.
Matt's musical journey started even earlier. He remembers listening to records by Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole from around the age of three, and by eight he'd bought his first 7-inch single, Music and Lights by Imagination.
So although House Of Fyah came together much later, the foundations were laid a long time ago. We've each had our own journey through music, different influences and different experiences. House Of Fyah is really where all those journeys finally meet.
2. Who are some artists that influence you and that you want to work with in the future?
Our influences are incredibly broad, and we think you can hear that in the House Of Fyah sound.
Reggae is obviously at the heart of what we do, so artists such as Bob Marley, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown and Third World have been hugely influential. But that's only part of the story.
Dennis grew up listening to music released through labels such as Trojan and Decca, while also being influenced by artists including Earth, Wind & Fire, Ultravox, Gary Numan and Eddy Grant. Matt brings influences including Michael Jackson, Prince, George Michael and Bruno Mars.
That mixture is important to us. We love reggae, but we also love great songwriting, great production and artists who aren't afraid to push musical boundaries.
As for collaborations, there are a few names we'd definitely answer the phone for! Steve would love to work with Sting, Dennis would love to get into a studio in Jamaica with the legendary Dean Fraser, and Tony would love to work with artists such as Chronixx and Ghost. Dennis also said Michael Jackson would have been the ultimate dream collaboration.
It's a pretty serious wish list — but you've got to dream big!
3. What projects do you have coming up and can you give us any info on them?
There's a lot happening for House Of Fyah right now.
In October 2026 we're heading to Jamaica for a week, where we'll be doing a live performance, radio interviews and a video shoot connected to a newly recorded project.
And before you ask what the project is... we're not telling you yet! [laughs]
We're deliberately keeping that one under wraps, but we're very excited about it. Jamaica has such an important place in the history and culture of the music we love, so being able to take House Of Fyah there and create something visually as well as musically feels very special.
We're also looking towards March/April 2027, when we're hoping to take House Of Fyah to the USA. We're currently waiting for contracts to be finalised and signed, so we're not going to tempt fate by announcing too much just yet — but hopefully you'll be seeing us Stateside next year.
Meanwhile, the creative process hasn't stopped. We're continuing to record new material and develop fresh concepts for videos and future releases.
We never want House Of Fyah to become predictable. We're interested in developing the music, the visuals and the live experience together.
So Jamaica is next, America is hopefully on the horizon, new music is being created — and there are still a few things we're keeping secret. Watch this space.
4. How would you describe your sound?
Warm. Slick. Rounded. Powerful. And difficult to put into one box.
Reggae is the foundation, but House Of Fyah isn't tied to one particular style of reggae.
We can move from lovers rock into steppers, dancehall, soul and R&B influences, and then suddenly drop something that's just straight-up heavy reggae.
That's part of what makes making music together exciting. Everybody brings something different into the room.
Our version of Help Me Make It Through the Night is a good example. We wanted to respect the heart and emotion of the original song without simply recreating somebody else's record. We brought in our own instrumentation, arrangements and vocal layers so that when you hear it, you're hearing House Of Fyah.
Ultimately, we want people to recognise the feeling of our music rather than be able to put a neat genre label on it.
5. What's your proudest moment to date so far as an artist?
Collectively, we've been fortunate enough to experience some incredible moments during our individual careers.
Steve performed with Musical Youth at the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony, which was an unforgettable experience — performing on that scale, representing Birmingham and being part of an event watched around the world.
Tony has performed at Madison Square Garden, as well as performing during Samoa's 50th Independence celebrations. He also remembers headlining, as his father watched on from in the crowd, Centenary Square in Birmingham in 2000 as another special moment.
Dennis has his own collection of memories, including touring with Black Slate, appearing on the James Whale show and touring Europe with Michael Rose.
For Matt, songwriting has created some particularly proud moments, including co-writing Happy with Astro (UB40) and having his work receive Grammy consideration.
When you look at those experiences, there's a lot of musical history within House Of Fyah.
But perhaps the exciting part is that we're not sitting around talking about what we've already done, we're still asking: what's next?
6. Do you have any advice for our readers who may be trying to play the mad game of music?
First of all — learn the business.
Being talented isn't enough. Understand publishing, royalties, contracts, ownership and what you're signing. There are some brilliant people in the music industry, but there are also people who will happily take advantage of an artist who doesn't understand the business surrounding their music.
Education is incredibly important.
We'd also tell young artists not to be frightened of having another career, qualification, trade or source of income while they're building their music. The industry has changed enormously. You can't assume that because you're talented, somebody is going to come along, discover you and take care of everything.
But being realistic doesn't mean giving up on the dream.
You need self-belief, passion, discipline and direction. Know why you're doing it. Keep learning. Surround yourself with good people and don't allow somebody else's opinion to determine what you're capable of.
So yes, chase the dream…Just chase it with your eyes open.
7. Are there any artists on your radar right now that we should check out?
There are always interesting artists appearing, particularly when you start looking beyond what's being pushed heavily through mainstream channels.
Matt has been listening to Dutch reggae singer Angelica Mava, as well as TroyBoi, so they're definitely worth checking out.
But there's also this Midlands band we've been hearing quite a lot about recently...
House Of Fyah.
Apparently they're not bad! [laughs]
Seriously though, there's some fantastic music being created right now, and streaming means we're discovering artists from parts of the world that perhaps we wouldn't have encountered 15 or 20 years ago.
8. What albums are on heavy rotation on your Spotify playlist currently?
This is probably where we're going to be slightly awkward!
We're not really listening to albums in the way we once did.
There was a time when you'd buy an album, take it home and listen to the whole thing — Side A, Side B, artwork in your hands, reading the credits and discovering songs that weren't necessarily the singles.
Streaming has completely changed that relationship.
Now we find ourselves listening to playlists, individual tracks and songs that Spotify throws our way. One minute it could be reggae, the next soul, R&B, something old-school or something completely unexpected.
We still love albums as a body of work, but the way we consume music has definitely changed.
Maybe that's one of the strange contradictions of today's industry: we have access to more music than at any point in history, but we probably spend less time living with one album.
9. What do you like to do when you're not making music?
We're actually pretty normal when nobody puts instruments in front of us!
Family is really important. Spending time with our children and the people around us keeps everything grounded.
There's also quite a bit of cooking going on within House Of Fyah.
Music can be intense. You're rehearsing, recording, travelling, performing, discussing mixes, planning videos and probably arguing about something nobody outside the band would even notice!
So sometimes the best thing you can do is go home, spend time with family, cook some good food and reset.
Although, knowing us, somebody will eventually put some music on and we'll start talking about it again anyway.
10. Name three things you can't live without when in the studio?
This question probably tells you more about House Of Fyah than anything else!
Matt: A microphone, water and electricity. Keep it simple.
Steve: Logic, a quality drum kit and a great engineer. If Dennis happens to be sitting behind the desk, even better!
Dennis: Tea, the tools to make music and good banter from the rest of the band.
So apparently the official House Of Fyah studio rider consists of electricity, Logic, drums, microphones, water, musical equipment, a good engineer and plenty of tea.
That's considerably more than three things...
But we're a band.
Getting four musicians to agree on three things was never going to happen.
