Hoi Polloi

Hoi Polloi

Hoi Polloi is an alternative rock and contemporary Christian group from New Zealand and the United States. It forms as an early 1990s alternative gospel band, with vocalist Jenny Gullen, her husband and bassist Andrew Horst, guitarist David Ball and drummer Jozsef Fityus among the original members.

Career

The band moves to the United States after forming in New Zealand and plays its first gig at the 1990 Cornerstone Festival. It then signs to the gospel label Reunion. A restrictive contract leads to two albums that present a more polished version of the band’s rootsy sound: Hoi Polloi and Spin Me, both issued in the early 1990s.

In 1994, Ball and Fityus return to New Zealand, and the group brings in Scott Pearson on drums and American guitarist Troy Daugherty. In mid-1995, Hoi Polloi releases Happy Ever After. Its single “Tiptoe” spends eight weeks at number one on the Christian rock charts, and the album also reaches college and commercial alternative radio.