Northern Soul

The duo behind Deptford Northern Soul Club have built one of Britain’s most authentically communal spaces from the ground up. Once you set foot on a dance floor overseen by Will Foot and Lewis Henderson, there’s no rule or routine to be followed. Each move is shared but separate: every night an ecstasy of shuffling. A flurry of narrow misses and couple’s kisses, dances with quick shifts and sudden switches. A get-together where movers come together. Doing things differently, and doing it as one: all to the sound of stomping soul, the heaviest horns and strings a-go-go.

Unique to its nights, DNSC offers the late-night stepper something so far away from the contemporary club experience and MIDI-sequenced modernity. In the eyes of many of the movers encountered across a single night at Hackney’s Moth Club with DNSC, it’s a place that provides something deeper, more purposeful. And isn’t that what soul is all about? Many of those we spoke with proved to be generational soulies, bringing their own idiosyncrasies to the sounds that had been passed down to them through the branches of a family tree replete with music-lovers.

With the induction of a new wave of youths into a growing circle of soul boys and girls up and down the country comes the talk of a “resurgence”. But don’t call it a comeback. Those in the know will testify that the scene’s never gone anywhere, and their claims are quickly corroborated. Just consider that Deptford Northern Soul Club has been going strong for over seven years now. The hordes of vinyl worshippers that have been spinning 45s non-stop from the 70s to today aren’t interested in talk of the TikTok-ification of Northern Soul. There’s definitely a keen Gen Z crowd, no doubt about it. Desperate to dance and unburdened by the awkwardness of their Millennial predecessors. Perhaps it’s that the new kids on the block are bolder – dare we say cooler – and a little more like the original soulies in their open and honest approach.

The irrepressible popularity of Deptford Northern Soul Club’s nights proves that some things never really go out of style. Valli’s vocals, high BPM breaks, the Fred Perry Shirt: they’re always there. They always will be. And whilst certain style codes have stayed true as time’s gone on, there’s no hard and fast soul uniform. Individuality is celebrated, and it’s sure to be on display and in abundance wherever Foot and Henderson pull up.

When we spoke to the pair, they emphasised the importance of a strong musical education. Having grown up as best mates since the beginning, they learned the ropes side by side, and remember well where it all started. “Our dads took both of us to see James Brown at Hyde Park when we were kids. I’m not sure if we really knew what was going on too much but something must have filtered through”. It’s perhaps as perfect an entry point to the world of soul as you could get, and other childhood memories spent together follow suit: “a song that always stood out for us was 'Get Ready' by Ella Fitzgerald. I remember rolling the rug back and skidding around in our socks to it – classic”.

Well, that’s what it’s all about. No rules, no room for self-consciousness: just a pure and physical appreciation for the music. It’s Lewis’ dad’s jukebox that Deptford Northern Soul Club still channels to this day, past the punk and pop, and deep in the Northern tracks.