When we heard that Jak Hutchcraft and Melissa Locker were making a podcast exploring old music personal ads, we were intrigued. When we heard it was called “The Lonely Hearts Club,” we were fully on board. Now, in this exclusive first reveal, we speak to one half of the duo about how it started, what they’ve discovered, and what it will take to bring it out into the world.
LHC: For people who don't know you yet, who are you both, and what brought you to this subject?
JH: This project actually began back in 2018, and has grown into a written feature, forthcoming podcast, and exhibition. So, I’m Jak Hutchcraft, I’m a journalist, documentary filmmaker, and a massive music fan. My research can sometimes lead me deep into TV, magazine, music, film, and internet archives. I became fascinated with the pen pal and confidentials adverts I saw in old music magazines from the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. For a written piece, I really wanted to track down some of the hopefuls and find out how their lives panned out. Did they ever find that rock’n’roll romance? Did they start that band? Did they move to the big city? Do they still love Judas Priest and Whitesnake? In 2018 I was discussing my thoughts with the digital editor of Kerrang! magazine at the time, a lovely lad called Bob Foster. He encouraged me to explore the idea further, so I did. Kerrang! didn’t commission my idea in the end, but I kept working on it, and I took it to The Guardian in 2020 and they loved it. I started investigating and I wrote a feature for them, focusing on seven pen pals that had submitted adverts many moons ago. By speaking to the rockers, punks, and metallers from the backpages of Kerrang! and Punk Lives magazine, I found stories of love, loss, hope, adolescence, community, expression, identity, and a pure zeal for music.
LHC: What was the original spark for “The Lonely Hearts Club” podcast and what made you think this was a story you wanted to tell?
JH: Melissa Locker reached out to me and told me she loved my Guardian article. She explained that she runs the podcast company, Nevermind Media, and that we should adapt it into a podcast series. I already liked Nevermind after listening to their “Striped” podcast, which tells the story of The White Stripes. Her podcast proposition was music to my ears. I’d already found many other pen pal stories that were equally as interesting as the ones that made it into the Guardian article. Due to the newspaper’s deadline and word count, I had to just archive these extra interviews for a rainy day. After that, Melissa and I agreed on a format, an ethos, and style for the podcast, and off I went. Over the next year, I set out to find brand new stories, revisit interviews I’d already conducted, and find the most powerful, captivating, and diverse stories out there. In general, I was looking for music-related stories where pen-pal writing had been a catalyst for some kind of change in their lives. That change included things like; finding their tribe, becoming who they were destined to be, going on life-changing adventures, starting bands, or meeting their soul mate (some of which are still together now, forty-five years later!). As you can imagine, some stories were profound, some hilarious, some bizarre, and others deeply relatable. The Museum of Youth Culture in London is also a partner of the podcast. That’s a brilliant place. It’s just opened.
LHC: How do you actually find the people behind the lonely hearts ads?
JH: Many different ways…
Editor's note: This answer has been shortened at the interviewee's request since its original publication.
LHC: When you find people, how do you persuade them to tell their stories?
JH: When I find people, sometimes decades after they sent in their pen pal advert, there is a mix of reactions. Some people are mortified or embarrassed. Some are a bit weirded out, and others absolutely love it. Some people can’t remember sending the advert in, and for others it’s a really important part of their river of life. When it comes to sharing their story, we just have some preliminary chats, or I meet them for a coffee and discuss the project. There have been some people who don’t want to be involved and others who are excited to tell their story. The pen pals have often never been interviewed before, they’re usually just geeky music lovers like me. My people!
LHC: What is it about loneliness, connection, and the search for other people that particularly interests you?
JH: I grew up in the countryside, in a small, conservative town in North Yorkshire in England. Although I had a solid group of weirdo mates who, like me, were into alternative music, skateboarding, and films, in general I didn’t feel like there was a lot happening there for me. No music venues, no cinemas, no squat parties, heavy metal festivals, or all night raves. You know, the cultural pillars of a happy and healthy life. The town was safe and scenic, but when I turned eighteen, I left home and moved to London.
Years later when I came across the old pen pal adverts in the music magazines, they struck a chord in me. When I read the blurbs I related to those yearning to be where the gigs and the action was. I related to the obsession with music and the way they’d woven it into their identities. This connection through music was familiar, too, because the majority of my friendships were forged in music scenes, playing in bands, or just by being into the same tunes.
The idea of writing letters intrigues me, as well. A slow and considered type of communication. It just feels so different to the instant messaging we have now online, and the swiping left or right on dating apps. You’re right, there is definitely loneliness in the pen pal adverts, but there’s also hope. As I wrote in my Guardian article, the ads would generally convey a passion for music, but between the lines were cries for connection, pleas for love. When I was growing up I wasn’t lonely, per se, but I felt like the world I belonged to was somewhere else. So it was curiosity and familiarity that really drew me to this project.
LHC: What's the most surprising thing someone you've interviewed has taught you?
JH: Good question. I think it’s always important to get a glimpse of life through somebody else’s eyes. One surprising thing was when I interviewed someone who’d had a pen pal for forty years. The two women lived in different parts of the U.K. and they’d been writing since they saw each other’s adverts in Kerrang! magazine in the early ‘80s. They became friends and would write often at first. They continued their friendship into adulthood, writing less frequently, on Christmas and birthdays mainly, and chatting on the phone occasionally. Over the years they’d been through thick and thin together, they’d each had children, been married, moved house, and shared their lives, their problems, and triumphs through letters and phone calls.
The woman I interviewed then told me that they’d never met in person(!). I got excited when I heard this and my first thought was, “Let’s get them to meet for the first time! We can record it for the podcast! They’re going to love this!” The U.K. isn’t a very big country, relatively speaking, and I was ready to arrange travel for them and bring them together. To my surprise, they both were not up for meeting in person. They were happy with how things were. That reminded me that people see things differently.
LHC: Is there one person or story from the podcast that has really stayed with you?
JH: There’s an episode about a punk from Chile who fled to the U.S. with her family in the early ‘80s. They were escaping Augusto Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship and their journey to the States was so dangerous that they are lucky to have survived it. Through writing to pen pals via Maximum Rocknroll magazine, she’d made friends with a motley crew of punks, rebels, artists, and immigrants who were waiting for her when she arrived. It was an arduous journey, and as a Latina girl, she faced outrageous racism when she arrived in the U.S., but these punks made her feel welcome. Four decades later, she’s very much still a punk rocker. I can’t wait for people to hear this episode.
LHC: Do you think the way we look for love and connection has fundamentally changed, or are people ultimately still looking for the same things?
JH: I think people are looking for the same things they did back then, but I think dating apps and social media are potentially complicating everything. Those sites and apps are precision-engineered to be addictive and to keep you on there. While I’ve been working on this project, I’ve wondered if, given the option, people nowadays might enjoy writing letters to each other for a change. Writing down your thoughts and feelings, putting it in the post, and waiting for a reply. Or spending time making a mixtape for someone. That whole process feels quite exciting and alternative these days.
LHC: Where are you with the podcast now, what do you need to get it finished, and what would funding unlock for you?
JH: We have the first season, six episodes, recorded. Six unique and enthralling global stories that take place within Britpop, hardcore punk, boyband, heavy metal, and goth fandom. Harvested from magazines such as Smash Hits, Punk Lives, Maximum Rocknroll, Kerrang!, and others. We are working with the talented sound designer and editor Dylan Keefe to make it sound perfect. We have the pilot episode ready for potential investors to listen to. We just need the money and backing to edit and sound design the rest of the episodes, and then get the podcast out into the world. This money could come through a sponsor or an investor.
On top of that, I have already found several stories and interviewees for the second series and beyond. We’ll also be inviting stories from our listeners too.
I’m putting together an exhibition with pen pal letters and fan club ephemera, homemade band merch, friendship books, and much more. I’ve been gathering items to exhibit, and I have a gallery in the U.K. interested. As you can probably tell, I really believe in this project, and I hope others will too.
LHC: If people reading this would like to get involved with the podcast, how best would they go about it?
JH: Share this interview far and wide. Direct anyone you know who might be interested to this interview so they can learn about the project. Any funders or sponsors can contact us at jak_hutchcraft@hotmail.co.uk and melissa@nevermind.fm.
If anybody reading this lives near East Sussex, I’ll be speaking about this project at the Catalyst Club in Shoreham on December 8 and in Lewes on January 13. I’ll even be playing exclusive clips of the podcast.
LHC: How do you feel about our revival of personal ads? Would you like to place an anonymous ad (romantic or platonic) in the next issue?
JH: I absolutely love it, and yes I will definitely place an ad in the next issue. Who knows where it might lead…
Thank you for the interview. I’m grateful for the opportunity to tell the world about this.
jakhutchcraft.comnevermind.fmThis interview originally appeared in Issue 10, published in October 2026. It was published online on November 5, 2026.