Christopher McCrory’s new HALO charity queer community is aiming to redefine London’s club scene.

As part of the Queer London scene, Christopher McCrory and Oliver Volquardsen are changing the nightlife experience. Becoming regulars into the safe space of expression, love and finding your chosen family, both McCrory and Volquardsen wanted to create something that feels positive and open to all, whilst still bringing love and dance to the forefront of the experience.

Bringing together four floors of different music and vibes, HALO represents an open ability of choice - be who you are, love who you want and express yourself however you find best - find your piece of the puzzle of identity. With its first inaugural night having occurred on August 25th with the space redefined with bouncy castles, art installations, vintage stalls and gem artists, this is much more than a club night, but a welcoming letter of love to the community. Aiming to stage more events each month and continue engaging all parts of the community, and connect both the physical and metaphysical spaces by building a truly open floor of expression.

Speaking to Perfect, founder Christopher McCrory expresses what prompted him to get into the idea of HALO, and how exactly he wants to change Queer nightlife for the better.

Angel: How did the idea of HALO come about? What inspired you to do it?

Christopher McCrory: I spent my teens in Spain, and from a young age I had always gone to Pacha and loved the energy of their club scene. From Pacha's performances, displays and spectacular visuals, I was inspired to follow through and spread the fun myself. Once I started floating around London's club scene, I felt there was something missing. The music was hard, dark, intense and a lot of it situated in an industrial setting. There needed to be some light. HALO was birthed to light the way out of the shadows. With charity in mind and a voice for the less heard, I wanted to celebrate joy, love and bring a ton of silliness to the scene. An infusion of art, high hitting music, giant unicorn bouncy castles and decked out, immersive rooms felt like the perfect remedy.

Angel: Queer venues have been severely affected post-COVID, what was your experience putting this night together?

Christopher McCrory: I would like to say that we are recovering and going strong. The community stick together and hold each other up. Ultimately, the queer community love to party and will never be stopped. My experience was pretty gruelling! Two months of no sleep is really showing on my face. Non the less it was worth it to see everyone come together, spread joy and celebrate one another. So many people come together in the queer scene, there are huge nights and its fulfilling to raise awareness for communities and hopefully some money to support them. As HALO gets bigger, I want to be able to raise more donations and bigger impacts on the scene and outside of the scene.

Angel: What was your experience on the night seeing everything come together?

Christopher McCrory: It was truly great. To see the fruits of my labour and everyone else that contributed their time and energy - I think we can all say that it was worth it and a big success. To see everyone come together, have a big ole silly time was so fun to whiteness.. not that I saw a lot as I was running around, crazed and in angel wings for 24hours.

Angel: How would you like to see HALO develop with its future installations?

Christopher McCrory: I would love to continue to fundraise for those with less of a voice. Spread joy, raise smiles, support artists, communities and ultimately spread the light. I plan on hosting a HALO art auction later this year and will be taking HALO worldwide. Miami Art Basel and a collaboration with Pacha Ibiza would top it off for me. Oh, and HALO Hotel would be fabulous. Investors and sponsors hit me up, please. Currently planning HALO's next moves so keep your eyes peeled and your panties clean as you never know what's going to happen or when.