I'm a 35 year-old fat bird and few things in life give me greater pleasure than shaking it shaking it shaking it to some loud rock n roll in a sweaty club with my mates and sundry beautiful people. I'm not a fashionable club kid, I wear chubby lady clothes, I don't like drugs, I don't really drink anything stronger than shandy, and late nights do me in, but hell, I'm a dancin' fool.

I used to be a boring white snob purist about what I would and wouldn't move it to. R n B? Nope. Britney? No way. Then I met Tamsin and Ruth and they sneakily got me dancing to all kinds of previously forbidden music, slipping it in between The Sonics and The Ramones. I knew the jig was up the last time they played and I requested Sean Paul.

These gals are the best. They have this weird talent for creating a happy room of madly dancing pals. In their world everyone is a friend, they are so smart and funny, look unbelievably cute together, and they know everything there is to know about hot shit music. Luckily for you, they now have a regular club night, Unskinny Bop, at the Pleasure Unit in Bethnal Green, plus residencies at other nights in London. You'd be crazy to miss them.

Wanna know more? Of course you do, so read this li'l interview and come on down.

Who are you and where are you from?
We are Tamsin and Ruth and we are from a planet called Tha Shiznit.

What is U-Bop and how did it come about?
The idea came about to create a disco which would celebrate the achievements of fat people in pop, from Meatloaf to Missy Elliott, and encourage the chubbier amongst us to get on the dancefloor and shake that badonkadonkdonk, free from inhibition. We were inspired by Beth from The Gossip's pro-blubber war-cry and on-stage strip at Ladyfest Glasgow in 2001, and a review of The Gossip's record which reduced Beth's coolness to "ironic corpulence".

At our inaugural night at Ladyfest London we counted down the Top 10 of Podge Pop and distributed 'This Is Ironic Corpulence' badges. A limbo is planned for future events, as well as a pie-eating contest.

But aside from the fat stuff, we pride ourselves on playing great pop, rock 'n' roll and soul music in an environment conducive to dancing, drinking and making new friends, whatever your size. We hate the idea that clubs are for posing and that the music played is dictated by trends and traditions, even if it's crap (by which we mean electroclash and bang-bang-bang gay music.) Discos are for getting loose and getting happy and definitely not for feeling intimidated by skinny fashion clones/old bald men in vests. There are enough discos for those people. Unskinny Bop is for everyone else.

Why is the shallow pleasure of dancing to music in clubs so important in life?
Because it's about losing yourself and having fun. People in most clubs these days don't look remotely like they're having fun, they look like they're there to be seen. We think that good music, a decent dancefloor and an emphasis on inclusiveness can facilitate shy or self-conscious people kicking off their heels, jumping up and down, losing their inhibitions and forget about cool points or self-esteem issues.

What are your punters like?
Girls, boys, fat, round, lumpy, love-handled, bony, tall, short, medium-sized, bearded, balding, bewigged... Most importantly, they are smiling. They are also dancing. That makes them cool. Some are gay, some aren't. We don't discriminate.

Who does what when you're DJing together?
Tamsin sets all the technical stuff up beforehand, but due to her nervous disposition most of the time it's Ruth twiddling the knobs when we're actually playing. We pack the records and choose what songs to play together.

Finish this sentence: "I know I will have conquered the universe when..."
An article appears in one of those dreadful style magazines like Sleaze Nation proclaiming "Fat is the new thin!"

Unskinny Bop is the name of a Poison song. What would you say to Bret Michaels or C.C. DeVille if you met them?
"Please don't sue us."

Who would you rather be for a day: Meatloaf or Cher?
Ruth: I would like to be Meatloaf dragged up as Cher.

Tamsin: I would be Cher and would get Chastity to take me out gay clubbing in New York. I would be surrounded by adoring gays all night and then I would get up and do a PA of 'Gypsies Tramps and Thieves,' 'Dark Lady' and 'Believe.' For the encore, Meatloaf would come on and we would do 'Dead Ringer For Love.' I would also make time to inspect my butt tattoos in the mirror, close-up.

Tell us about your current favourite dance moves
Usher's 'Teapot' (from the Yeah video) is pretty impressive but we haven't yet mastered it. We are also long time fans of the leggy dance performed by Northern Soul kids everywhere. When things are going well behind the DJ booth we like to punch the air in unison, and we've also been known to essay the various clapping motions popular in R n B videos these days.

Who are your favourite chubbers?
Tracey Turnblad, Amy Lame, Beth Ditto, Meatloaf and Elvis.

Who is the anti-Unskinny Bop, and why?
Trash nightclub and Nag Nag Nag and all those horrendous places where you have to queue round the block to get in, only to lose the contest for Most Lopsided Hairdo and Most Skintight Trousers Tucked Into Most Rumpled Pointy Boots and Most Belts Worn At Once and Most Sunken Eyes and Most Pained Expression and not get hand-picked out the queue by some twat with a mullet and allowed in to listen to their mind-numblingly dull trend-setting punk-funk and art-rock and get stared at for looking different. Wankers. Unskinny Bop hates staring, guest-lists and queues -including toilet queues!

I know you love Zombina and the Skeletones, but what other bands are you championing right now?
Nobody tops Zombina and the Skeletones! Tamsin has been listening to Morningwood who are going to be the next Yeah Yeah Yeahs. We also heard a song by the Schalala's recently which was fantastic - rock n roll girl group action featuring Delia from The A-Lines. Other than that we are currently all about Fantasia Barrino and Jennifer Hudson from American Idol. Sorry.

Anything else you want to say?
We've got lots of other happenings in the pipeline aside from the bi-monthly Unskinny Bop at the Pleasure Unit, including a residency at Club Motherfucker Mayfair, starting in June. We'll be taking over the downstairs room and playing a whole host of random good shit (hip hop, 60s, rock and roll) that might usually be a bit too obscure for the U Bop repertoire. Come and say hi!

www.unskinnybop.co.uk