Stephen and Tracy Holland, part owners of Connections Nightclub are celebrating their 21st year at the club this month. Sitting down to reflect on the milestone the couple share that the venue has changed dramatically over their tenure.
“When we started there were about twenty of us,” recalls Tracy,” and that was the entire staff, we did everything together, we worked together and partied together because we all had the same hours. Now we’ve got just under ninety staff.”
Tracy laughs as she recalls that doing the wages used to take just twenty minutes to put money in envelopes, while now the task takes a whole day on a computer.
The couple say the club was a different beast altogether when the first arrived back in the 90’s. “We used to work in the cloak room,” Tracy said, “When Steve was studying we both worked in there, and the behind us was just air, you could walk out on to the roof. When it was hot we’d just lay out there.”
Today the open air space that used to join the main club to the neighbouring building is enclosed. The burned out space beyond has been transformed into the club’s new cocktail bar, but they’ve kept all the marking on the walls from when the space was a storeroom and later an office.
While the couple have grown up in the club they have noticed that they’re relationship to other staff members has definitely changed.
“Stephen and I are of an age now where these kids that are coming through are of an age where if we’d have had babies, this is whole old they would be.” laughs Tracy, “Some of them give me Mother’s Day cards, it’s become a very strange relationship. I’ve turned into Mother Hen.”
While as part owners of the venue the couple now keep the crazy contingent of DJ’s, bar staff and drag identities in line, but not long ago they were the one’s creating the mischief.
Tracy recalls that the club used to run a queer talent show and she used to before under the name Beau Vine. When she kept winning every week Peter Robinson, the then owner of the club, said she had to be promoted to being part of the judging team.
“I was joining the panel with Mindy and Sue Rynge, who were two of the biggest drag personas you could every imagine.” Tracy said, ‘Peter said to me ‘You can keep them in check.” How was that eve going to happen?
“I was this girl in awe of drag at that point, I just followed them round like a puppy, if they were going to do something bad I wasn’t going to stop them, I was going for the ride!”
While Tracy is famous for her love of drag performers, Stephen argues that it’s an essential part of what makes the club different to other venues.
“Making it special is what used to drive everyone to stay back and become involved in putting a production together, it didn’t matter what you did, there was always something to do, and you could always help build a prop.”
The couple know that the club’s performers have been creating a special show based around all their favourite things, but will be in the dark about the show until it takes to the stage at their celebration party.
On Saturday September 6th Connections Nightclub is throwing a massive party to celebrate Stephen and Tracy’s contribution, labeled ‘The Queen of f#@king everything, oh, and him’, come down and celebrate their milestone.
