ABOUT

Scared To Dance are independent club night, live music, film screening and book event promoters founded by Paul Richards in 2009.

The club plays post-punk, indiepop, new wave and art rock music and is on the first Saturday of the month at The Victoria and the third Saturday of the month at The Shacklewell Arms in London. We also host club nights in Berlin, Glasgow and Brighton.

Those who have guest DJed at the club include former professional footballers Gaizka Mendieta and Pat Nevin, comedians Rose Matafeo, Lolly Adefope, Elis James, Josie Long, Ivo Graham, Sophie Duker, Robin Ince and Celya AB, broadcasters Gideon Coe and Colin Murray, writers Jon Ronson, Pete Paphides and Simon Price and poet laureate Simon Armitage. Bands who have DJed include Belle and Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand, Porridge Radio, Big Joanie, Public Service Broadcasting, Warmduscher, Superorganism, Teleman, Edwyn Collins, Pond, Heartworms, The Pastels, Girl Ray, The Goon Sax, Penelope Isles, Veronica Falls, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Holiday Ghosts, Pictish Trail, Slow Club and more.

We promote gigs across London with the best new and established artists at venues such as Moth Club, The Lexington, Oslo Hackney, The Shacklewell Arms, The Mildmay Club, St Matthias Church, St Pancras Old Church, Sebright Arms, Bermondsey Social Club and The Ivy House. We also have a monthly residency at The Victoria with a focus on new bands. Artists that have played at our shows include bdrmm, Allo Darlin’, Rozi Plain, The Wave Pictures, Whitelands, Peaness, Ex-Vöid, Laetitia Sadier, Sweet Baboo, The Tubs, Adwaith, The Surfing Magazines, Darren Hayman, The Spook School, Withered Hand, GHUM, Es, Stanley Brinks, CIEL, Tigercats and many more.

We host music-related film screenings with Picturehouse Cinemas across their UK cinemas. We invite guests to curate an evening featuring their choice of film or documentary preceded by a Q&A with the host Paul Richards. Guests have included Alex Kapranos, Jeremy Deller, Jon Ronson, Rose Matafeo, Sophie Duker, Elis James, Josie Long, Robin Ince and Stuart Murdoch. The current season includes screenings of Meet Me in the BathroomDance Craze, Pretty in Pink, Tommy, The Harder They Come, Empire Records and God Help the Girl. The film night was previously at the independent arthouse Genesis Cinema with screenings of The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Ladies and Gentlemen… Mr. Leonard Cohen, Head and Mistaken For Strangers.

We also promote book events and release monthly new music podcasts and have published several fanzines. We have been featured in The Guardian, The Times, VICE, The Athletic, ELLE, Time Out, NME, Evening Standard, DIY and many more publications.

We perform DJ sets at a variety of music festivals including Wide Awake Festival, South Facing Festival and Indietracks Festival. We have played DJ sets for brands such as Dr. Martens, The Totally Football Show, The Five Points Brewing Company and Signature Brew as well as DJing in New York, Oslo, Bergen, Edinburgh and Dublin.