Aphex Twin, a Brixton squat and a load of wet mattresses: revisiting Telepathic Fish, the heart of the 90s chillout boom

Before it became naff music for health spas, chillout was cool – and this London club night was key. As a new generation carry its spirit forward, the originators remember the beats and bedding

‘I remember looking up over the DJ booth in this huge squat,” says Mario Aguero, “and seeing a sea of mattresses with people lying on them, like some kind of Guinness record attempt. Which was great until someone stood up to go to the bathroom. Then they’d be lurching everywhere.”

This was the scene at Telepathic Fish in early 90s London, and co-promoter Kevin Foakes winces as he picks up the memory. “We’d dragged quite a few of the mattresses off the street.” The influential music journalist David Toop had come along, “and his report said the first mistake he made was to sit down on a wet mattress”.