The Smiths * The Supremes * The Go-Betweens * Dusty Springfield * Belle & Sebastian * Love * Tammi Terrell * Aztec Camera * The Ronettes * Orange Juice * Beach Boys * The Temptations * Velvet Underground * Felt * The Shangri-Las * Primal Scream * Otis Redding * The Field Mice * Dexys Midnight Runners * Camera Obscura * The Four Tops * Melba Moore * The Orchids

For more on the club's music policy, go here

FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH AT THE CANTERBURY ARMS
8 Canterbury Crescent, Brixton, SW9 7QD, London, 9pm-2.30am, map of the venue is here, £4 members, £6 non members. Membership is free! Register here,

Jan 1st - No Brixton HDIF in Jan
Feb 5th - Helen and Steph (Shrag)

The guest DJs are on between 10.30 and midnight

THIRD SATURDAY OF THE MONTH AT THE PHOENIX
37 Cavendish Square  London, W1G 0PP, 9pm-3am, map of the venue is here, £4 members, £6 non members. Membership is free! Register here

Please note the venue has a new policy regarding age - if you're 18, 19 or 20 or look younger than 21, you may be asked to show ID. Please make sure you bring some along, or you might not be allowed into the club.

Jan 16th - Bonnie And Clyde
Feb 20th - Darren Hayman. This is a "We Love The City" special. Darren will be playing songs that inspired the album, and I'll be playing some (but not all) of the tracks from the record.

The guest DJs are on between 10.30 and midnight


You can plan your journey (including night buses, if necessary) to either of the HDIF venues using the TFL journey planner. Just click below:

Free HDIF Presents shows at Brixton Jamm

We're putting on free admission live shows on the fourth Thursday of every month at
Jamm in Brixton. There's more info about the nights here, but this is what's coming up:

Thurs 28 Jan - Betty And The Werewolves + I Know I Have No Collar + The Puncture Repair Kit + Enderby's Room
Feb - no HDIF gig in Feb, but it's London Popfest again

Guardian Indie Pop feature 2004 - excellent piece about indie pop and HDIF
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1325674,00.html

Hilarious piece about HDIF from the Big Issue - "This, it would seem, is where young librarians go to let off steam"

What the ladies and gentlemen of the press have said about the club:

"Tortured soul convention. Unusual but it works" - The Guardian Guide (number four club of the week), 15/6/02
"Emotional and sincere songwriting from across the board gets the treatment it deserves" - The Guardian Guide (number five club of the week), 17/8/02
"London's premier indie pop Motown club" - Dotmusic
"Highly recommended club night this - especially if like me, you're hurtling at 100 miles an hour towards 30 years of age and can remember when there were club nights around for sensitive boys and girls who liked their indie music a bit jangly and want to hear it mixed with the best of Motown" - myislington.co.uk
"Digging deep into a 60s to 70s selection with the Temptations, Beach Boys, The Shangri Las and into the 80s with The Smiths, Belle And Sebastian - 'a celebration of an emotion in motion'. Deeeep." - Time Out London
"Who said clubbing's dead? Pah! It's just fractioned back into smaller parties where it's all about the music and the vibes (maan!) This is rockin' its stockin's off!...No dollar sign aspirations in sight!" - Time Out London (15/1/03)
"Resolution 52. I will dance to the Beach Boys and The Smiths again." - Time Out London Critics' Choice (14/1/04)
"A success that surprised even the promoters. No bank note rolling intentions, just a rockin' party!" - Time Out London (14/1/04)
"Absolutely the best night in the whole of the world!" - Laura Barton, The Guardian (19/7/04)
"Rediscover your sensitive indie side at this fabby, intimate party" - The Times, critic's pick (9/4/05)
"Legendary indie club" - NME.com (17/8/05)
"Smack bang in the middle of town, this extra special party really knows how to put a smile on your face and a spring in your step (ie it feels good!)" - Time Out London (13/12/05)
"With a music policy to die for ... expect a night of indiepop, sixties girl groups, Northern Soul and Motown, all enhanced by the awkward, exuberant dancing of the city’s twee brigade, as once a month the skinny ties come out in force to pick their vintageheeled way towards the Jericho Tavern. The DJing is normally spot on, second-guessing what the crowd wants to hear before the crowd really know themselves. Good times then, this is the closest you will come to being loved by a club night." - The Oxford Student (25/5/06) Read the full review here
"Sensitive types are devotional about this lesser known indiepop night that wears its heart (ache) on its sleeve. Everything from The Beach Boys and Dusty Springfield to Belle and Sebastian and, of course, The Smiths gets played, with the overriding theme being unbridled emotion. Bowl haircuts, rim glasses and anoraks are preferable but not essential. A tortured soul, on the other hand, is a must." The London Paper, Sept 2006
"How Does It Feel To Be Loved? is a twice a month extavanganza of northern soul, revelling in the lush sound of pop from The Supremes to Orange Juice and Dexys Midnight Runners." - Uncut website, Nov 2006
"Northern Soul has always enjoyed a strong following in the capital, and now it's not just loved by scary vintage-wearing types obsessed with re-enacting the Sixties to the last detail. This Brixton party offers up Motown, Northern Soul and other Sixties favourites alongside a smattering of indie pop" Evening Standard (4/5/07)
"Sensitive indie anthems, girl-group classics, great lost singles and the pick of the Sarah and Postcard imprints." - Top Five Clubs Of The Week, Ed Potton The Times (16/8/08)
"HDIF's Ian Watson delivers a wonderful mix of indie pop, northern soul, Motown, girl groups and '60s heartbreak." - Time Out London (Sept 2008)
"The venue reminds of the birthday parties I used to attend when I was a child; in dimly lit halls with naff décor and a little too much space to dance – but I soon realise that this is its charm. It gives the night its character; it’s quaint and the sparkling fairy-lights circling the ceiling give it a certain home-made feel. It has a sense of exclusivity to it, everything seems to have been thought out and cared for; from its hand-crafted membership cards and badges to the stamp on my hand as I walk in which tell me in well-thought out letters that I am ‘LOVED’. How Does It Feel To Be Loved fulfilled everything that I hoped it would be; it was refreshing and fun and its personal touches went a very long way to making it stand out from the crowd. It certainly felt wonderful to be ‘LOVED’." - Pennyblack Music (Nov 2008)
"Bedsit indie, girl-group classics, great lost singles and the pick of the Sarah and Postcard labels, plus live turns by the Ballet, Help Stamp Out Loneliness and Pocketbooks." - Top Five Clubs Of The Week, Ed Potton The Times (3/1/09)
"We wouldn't really know how it feels. Best ask Ian Watson, who once more
rounds up smitten indie and girl group classics at HDIFTBL?" Top Five Clubs Of The Week, The Guardian (3/1/09)
"Sensitive souls who assume clubbing might not be the ideal weekend diversion for them because they'd be better off at home cataloguing Raincoats 7" records and sewing new buttons on to their cardigans should think again - cult night How Does It Feel To Be Loved is the perfect nightclubbing comfort blanket. Twee in the best possible sense, the club's staunch music policy means that your eardrums will always survive the night intact as the DJs pleasantly skip around from classic, soul-swelling indie and 1980s jangle to the dancefloor friendly sway of 60s pop, northern soul and vintage girl group giddiness - no big scary guitars or brain-bashing techno allowed. They're also more than open to requests here, so don't hold back on asking to hear your favourite Françoise Hardy number. Tonight's guest DJs have been plucked delicately from lo-fi popsicles the Wave Pictures." The Guardian (16/5/09)
"C86 is um... C09. C86 was the birth of ‘indie’ as a genre and the secret inspiration behind every guitar ever set to ‘jangle’. And now it’s back! Indie pop has come full circle, bringing with it a wide-eyed generation of soppy alt.romantics ramming clubs like Twee As Fuck and How Does It Feel To Be Loved?" NME (6/6/09)
"We were in for a treat afterwards when the How Does it Feel to be Loved night took over the onsite marquee. Spinning the finest in heart-wrenching Northern Soul, Motown, ‘60s girl groups and ‘80s miserablism, this non-conformist indie disco is prime territory to spot and observe the twee-pop dance in its glory; a sort of self-conscious pogo or half-hearted shake; horn-rimmed spectacles and record bags bopping long into the night." God Is In The TV, Indietracks review (4/8/09)
"How Does It Feel To Be Loved? is my favourite club night, and I really mean that. It caters for the unashamedly twee, with a taste for 60s girl groups (yes!), indie pop (yes!) and early soul and Motown classics (woop!). And it does all of that without a jot of pretention. Get along to this Soul and Sixties Special and, quite probably, check out my dance moves when The Shangri-Las get a play." We Got Tickets (22/8/09)
"Veteran London indie-party organisers How does it feel to be loved? take over two rooms of the legendary Brixton Windmill for a one-off '60s extravaganza. As tonight happens to be Halloween as well, expect the rock 'n roll and soul sounds to be supplemented by spooky songs from the era of beehive haircuts and horn-rimmed specs. Jon Slade from Born Bad guests on the decks and the onus is most definitely on getting up and cutting a rug to the Shirelles, Ike and Tina Turner rather than staring at your (blue suede) shoes all night long." Flavorpill London (31/10/09)

A great review of the John Peel Tribute Night on LondonNet.Com
http://www.londonnet.com/ln/out/ent/clubs-howdoesitfeel.html

And a few kind words from Jo who attended the January night. A text message apparently sent from Jo to Chris.

"Ta again for helping me find the holy grail of nightclubs!"

Go here for some other kind words from HDIF-goers

Thank you all!