Whirlygig is a magical club, based in London, where global vibes collide head-on with uplifting trance, drum and bass, funky big beat and ambient dance, all fused together by DJ Monkey Pilot (with his back to the crowd!). Under the comfort of the pink parachute in the roof, the whole club is adorned with beautiful sari’s and wall hangings, all of which are bathed in a radiant spectral delight by the Zeeman Zap Light Show. Visually the Whirlygig club nights are spectacular, adding to the carnival atmosphere and complimenting the broad range of musical delights.

The stewarding is friendly and caring (something unheard of in any mainstream club) and yet very professional. There is no dress code; all you are asked to bring is warmth, enthusiasm and a friendly smile. Over in the chill-out room Myasthenia's Trance Teez Cafe provides appetizing vegetarian and vegan refreshments as well as a range of non-alcoholic refreshments in a relaxed and comfortable space, where the music still plays, yet at a tranquil volume.

Whirlygig's motto is "music and people of all ages and places"; this is a space where young and old alike can enjoy the freedom to express themselves in a community club environment where age, race, sex, sexuality and social status have no hierarchy, where the burdens and immoralities of day to day life can be washed away. It's a wonderful place, which over the years has been a source of inspiration to many. It was the birthplace of AZukx and also home to bands such as Astralasia, Banco-de-Gaia, Joi, Moodswings and Transglobal Underground, all of which have made numerous live appearances on the Whirlygig stage over the years.

The whole Whirlygig experience can only be described as a fairy-tale voyage, a journey that recreates the magic of a music festival in an enchanted club environment, although more fitting it has been described in fewer words by DJ Monkey Pilot as "an event difficult to describe, a moment difficult to miss".

Towards the end of the night the legendary Parachute Dance engulfs the dance floor, a ritual that stems from child psychology. Here a large silk parachute with everybody sitting under it is waved above peoples heads by a ring of people encircling the parachute, providing twenty minutes of relaxing ambient vibes, cool breezes and breath taking visuals to end the night on a chilled note.

Over the years Whirlygig has evolved and grown from its roots that span back over twenty years. The club began life as an event run by the Association Of Humanistic Psychology, for which Monkey Pilot was a manager. He later became the first resident DJ at Club Dog (Club Dog later evolved into MegaDog). Whirlygig really made its name during the 90's where its weekly slot at Shoreditch Town Hall ran successfully for many years, operating with the unusual hours of 8pm til midnight. Following Shoreditch was a short stint at Hammersmith Town Hall, which entailed a move across to the west side of London and a later 2AM music licence, although their weekly Saturday night slot was reduced to just once a month. After a couple of years local council politics resulted in Whirlygig moving yet again, this time to Camden Town Hall in Kings Cross.

More change was on the way as Whirlygig faced an ever evolving club scene in London, where bars and clubs with late night licences had become commonplace. In 2000 Camden Town Hall was awarded a late night 4AM music license and hence the monthly Whirlygigs ran from 10PM to 4AM, bigger and brighter than ever before. And as a testimony to its success, Whirlygig partied back through time on the 3rd August 2002, celebrating its 21st Birthday. Whirlygig enjoyed five long years at the Camden Centre, until a sudden change in heart at Camden Council meant that Whirly was no longer welcome at the Camden Centre. The gig in June 2004 was the last to be held there, and whilst the future was uncertain, the crowd saw the gig out on an emotional high.

In August 2004 Whirl-Y-Gig found a new home at the 291 Gallery in Hackney, which proved to be a truly inspiring space. The 291 Gallery is an art centre and converted church, and provided the perfect backdrop for Whirl-y-Gig. For the first time Whirl-Y-Gig ran regular events with a licensed bar (the gigs were no longer a BYO situation), but a limited late night licence of just 2am and long walks from the nearest tube station proved unpopular with the crowd. It was a difficult period for Whirl-Y-Gig, with the gigs consistently losing money due to large overheads and lower numbers than required attending the gigs. The irony was that Whirl-Y-Gig had never looked better than it did at the 291. On May 6th 2006 we hosted the last gig at the 291 Gallery, which was closing due to planned renovation and building work to the venue.

In answer to everybody's prayers a new home for Whirly had already been found. Whirl-Y-Gig moved south of the river to Jacks in the London Bridge area on 1st July 2006. Now, for the first time in Whirly history, we can run regular events with a 6AM licence, whilst still retaining all the key elements of Whirl-Y-Gig. And all just in time for the 25th Birthday party! So whilst the walls around us have changed a little, the Whirly magic, which is as strong as ever, lives on.

For myself personally, Whirlygig was one of the life changing experiences, although I didn't realise this when I first experienced it back in 1994. This may sound a little corny and clichéd, but it is true when looking back over the years that have passed since 1994 and considering all that I have achieved in terms of DJ'ing, Planet Angel, the people that I have met along the way, and quite simply all the good times that I have had since then - all of which would have been very different if it were not for the events of the Summer months of 1994.

Following the Glastonbury Festival in the June of that year I was invited to join friends at the Reading WOMAD festival. For the first time, Whirlygig were hosting their club night in the Rivermead Leisure Centre for three consecutive nights, with an exceptional live line-up including Astralasia, Banco-de-Gaia, Joi, Moodswings and Transglobal Underground (although at this time I'd never heard of these bands before). My ears were opened up to music that I never knew existed and all my pre-conceptions of the dance music scene were erased. I left WOMAD with a host of fond memories, and in the years that followed we frequented Whirlygig at its home in Shoreditch Town Hall in London as often as we possibly could, although since we were students living in Swansea this wasn't nearly as often as we'd liked.

In 1996 I started writing this web site as a means to share information about the music played at Whirlygig. At this time I didn't know any HTML and didn't have access to HTML editor; hence the site in its early days was extremely basic. However, armed with an old PC486 and a HTML tutorial download from the internet I started writing about the music that I’d been collecting over the previous couple of years. I hadn't started DJing at this point either - that was all to come in the following year as a direct result of this site.

I'm not entirely sure when I received an email from the author of the official Whirlygig web site, but it was towards the end of Whirlygig's stint at Hammersmith Town Hall. My web site, basic as it was back then, had been noticed and accordingly I was invited to Whirlygig as a guest. It was then that I really spoke to Mary for the first time, and I even managed to get a few words out of Monkey Pilot. Around about the same time a change in job meant that I had just moved to Surrey and hence was able to get into London easily - and more importantly regularly attend the gigs. It was around this era that I started showing more interest in the music and at one of the first gigs at the Camden Centre (Whirly's current home) I gave DJ Monkey Pilot a tape with a few tunes from my collection that I believed would be appropriate for Whirlygig. Monkey Pilot really picked up on one of the tunes, which was 'Heyo' by Syndrome - this went on to become a big Whirly anthem over the following years. This was the first of many tunes that I’ve since passed on to DJ Monkey Pilot.

Shortly after the Solar Eclipse Festival in Cornwall during 1999 I was prompted to join the crew at Whirlygig by one of the existing crew members. Since then I’ve become part of the team, rigging and de-rigging the gigs; however, during the gigs I don't work as a steward since my passion lies with the music and its only from being on the dance floor at Whirlygig that I can judge what works musically.

In 2000 I was asked by Monkey Pilot to design the artwork for the Whirl-Y-Waves Vol.2 Global Grooves double CD compilation. Inspired by the title of 'Global Grooves' I set about creating a series of eye catching designs based on a grooves theme; however, it was the rubber duck design that I threw in as a joke that caught Monkey Pilots eye. I spent about 4 months working on the design, and as always it was a last minute panic to get it finished in time for the pre-release at the Reading WOMAD Festival in July 2000; in fact, the first time I saw the finished CD was at WOMAD whilst we were rigging on the Friday afternoon. The CD sold well at WOMAD and later in the Autumn we had a proper release party at the regular Whirlygig venue in London.

And that, in a nutshell, is how I fit into the picture called Whirlygig. May I take this opportunity to thank Richard & Mary for their friendship, for all the magic & for giving me the opportunity to be part of the picture.