SUZY MASON is the Co Founder of The Kit Kat Club, Vague and Speedqueen.

After running the clubs every week for nearly 20 years I initiated this project because there are many people who still tell me how important their clubbing experience was to them and how much it still influences their life today

I still meet people in shops or get messages out of the blue from people telling me what the club meant to them. Personally it changed my life in ways I could never have imagined.

I loved clubbing but was fed up with all the prejudice and disrespect in clubs. I was an ordinary girl from Leeds looking for somewhere where I could feel safe and free from judgement with a much more visual emphasis.  When it didn’t exist I decided to create it.

Although much 90’s dance culture is being documented very little is from the perspective of women, people of colour, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ community. I feel compelled to highlight the stories and experiences of the people who have too often been overlooked in clubland and to open up intergenerational conversations and collaborations.

A BIT OF BACKGROUND

1980s 

• Studied at Goldsmiths University London 
• Set up a silkscreen print workshop 
• Printed T shirts and made clothes for local bands and independent boutiques
• Worked in a launderette 

1990s 

• Co founded the widely acclaimed club nights The Kit Kat Club, Vague and Speedqueen 
• Clubs featured in numerous TV broadcasts and full page editorials including ID Magazine, The Face,The Observer Life, The Telegraph, The Financial Times, The Big Issue, Mixmag and DJ Magazine 
• Set up the only non gendered trans friendly Fashion and Accessories boutique and drop in centre to exist in Leeds with a policy of supporting students/ graduates/independent designers in their early stage careers 
• Organised, Designed and Choreographed Charity Fashion Shows for World Aids Day at The Hacienda, Manchester, The Warehouse, Leeds and Huddersfield University 
• Freelance stylist for Music Videos: FFRR, London Records and EMI 
• Featured on BBC Close Up North Documentary 
• Voted one of “Britain’s Most Inspirational Women” Company Magazine. 
• Special Talent feature in ID Magazine 
• Featured in Regina Magazine. Arts Transpennine Exhibition of International Contemporary Visual Arts. 
• Women of Achievement Yorkshire Post Award (Creativity Category)
• Judge on BBC2 The Design Awards (Packaging category) 
• Invited to guest lecture part time in Fashion Culture at Huddersfield University 

2000s 

• Speedqueen invited by SFOR (the Stabilisation Force for NATO) to tour Bosnia with the support of the British Army as part of peace building, reconciliation and tolerance initiatives for displaced young people after the Balkan Conflict in the early 90’s. This included running clubnights, primary and secondary school discos and  delivering music and circus workshops in camps for displaced youth , children’s homes and orphanages. YTV Documentary “BOSNIA: SPEEDQUEEN ON TOUR” commissioned and broadcast by Real Life Productions shown nationally and internationally
• Selected for the Self Portrait UK Exhibition at The National Portrait Gallery, London: A national competition conceived and sponsored by Channel 4. I was interviewed for The Observer newspaper and my submission was referred to on Women’s Hour BBC Radio 4 (a personal highlight)
• Spent 3 months living in Ecuador with my 3 year old daughter working at the University of Azuay, Ecuador, South America running a cross cultural design and marketing programme between students from Huddersfield University UK, students from the University of Azuay and a local Women’s Knitting Cooperative in Cuenca, Ecuador. Funded by The British Council.

2010s 

• Spent 2 years living and teaching at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Singapore with my 10 year old daughter 
• On returning, taught at Leeds Arts University for 3 years in the Fashion Dept 
• Speedqueen featured in Leeds City Museum Local History Project LGBTQ History Month 
• Academic Paper about Speedqueen written by Dr Kevin Almond: Masquerade in Clubland: A Safe Space for Glamour: Published in the Journal of Visual Culture and Gender Volume 6 inc. Cover photo. Presented at Subcultures Symposium – University of Huddersfield and at Music, Fashion and Fantasy: from Masquerade to Lady Gaga, The Costume Society Annual Study Day, London College of Fashion 
• An Exhibition and Film of personal collection of over 100 International Washing Powder Boxes, Packaging and Promotional Material dating from 1930 to present day exhibited at Leeds City Museum and The Discovery Centre, Leeds 
• Panel Guest ‘Inclusive Clubbing’ Discussion at Sheaf Street, Leeds 
• Contributor for West Yorkshire Queer Stories Archive Project 
• Guest on Chinwag for ‘One Foot In The Rave’ Exhibition’ Leeds International Festival 
• Featured in Fashion in Leeds’ Documentary by City Talking and BBC 
• Featured in Music in Leeds’ Documentary by City Talking and BBC 
• After an unfortunate cluster of events became a full time carer and started volunteering at council-run day care centres in Leeds, running art workshops to try and understand older people’s needs better 

2020s 

• Podcast Guest ‘An Englishman in The Balkans’ In Conversation with David Bailey, MBE Retired British Army Captain 
• Panel Guest ‘Past / Present / Future of Queer Scene in Leeds’ Orchard Conference, Headrow House, Leeds 
• Guest on Sable Radio Live Stream with Luscious / Leon Davis @ Eat Your Greens Leeds
• Podcast Guest Online/Offline episode ‘Connected Sounds’ Come Play with Me Leeds

LEON DAVIS is assisting with the production of the project, utilising his experience in media production, graphic design, DJing, and working in Leeds’ queer club scene. He loves to focus his creative practice on celebrating marginalised histories and imagining inclusive futures through storytelling, image-making and archiving.

Born too late to experience the aformentioned clubs, Leon grew up learning about club culture from his family and passion for electronic music. He first met Suzy when researching into the history of Leeds’s queer club culture during his studies at Leeds Arts University and was immediately drawn to the ethos and vibrance of Speedqueen, Vague and The Kit Kat Club – eager to learn more and bring attention to the legacy of the diverse crowds that came to these clubs.

He hopes that, by sharing these untold stories with new audiences, the project can bring light to the value of having inclusive spaces to express ourselves and to encourage love & understanding between our increasingly divided communities.

You can discover more about Leon’s work on his website