Suzi's first band "The Uglies" was inspired by Punk and bands such as The Clash, The New York Dolls and Iggy Pop.  Having gone to many gigs as a teenager, she was inspired to form a band of her own. Some people thought being in a band was something 'other people did ' , but tenacious Suzi was having none of that!  She set about forming a band with her older brother on guitar and a few friends and found it to be the most exciting thing in the world.

Suzi had grown up in a house where music was as important as eating and sleeping. Her parents were into Rock 'n' Roll and influenced her and encouraged her to write and perform. The Uglies' first gig was at Sussex University; their second at The Alhambra on the Brighton seafront. Suzi's mum managed to talk her boss into letting the band borrow the work's van for the weekend, but when they returned it on the Monday morning, it had a few more dents and scratches on it than when it had left the premises - the result of driving up a one -way street the wrong way and having to make a quick escape when the police were spotted!  All their gig money had to be handed over for the minor repairs and a respray!  After a couple of years of playing all the usual venues in London and Brighton and with everyone's musical directions changing, it was time to move on.

While rehearsing at Alaska Studios in Waterloo, South East London, Suzi met a young man who she thought had an amazing voice and wrote brilliant songs. The two of them decided to put together an act that no-one could ignore.  Meanwhile, The Uglies had a reshuffle. Paul the drummer changed to second guitar, a new drummer, Suzi's young cousin Alan (then aged 14) on sax and a new singer. This reshuffle heralded the birth of the infamous `King Kurt'.

Suzi's new band 'Igor's Night Off' , the legendary sexadelic horror band took the pubs, clubs and college circuit by storm with their fire-eating jugglers, brass section and backing singers. A thirteen-piece band was an absolute nightmare to organise. Trying to get everyone together for rehearsals etc proved impossible, so the band was scaled down to a six-piece, swapping the brass section for a violin player who also did backing vocals and just the two jugglers. It was still sheer mayhem on stage but that made it fun. Nothing was predictable and the audience would leave not knowing what had hit them. Their first single ' We're Having a Party (ooh ooh)' was released and snapped up by Annie Nightingale to be used as her radio jingle on her Sunday evening show on Radio One. They were sought after by many a record company but decided to release their own material for fear of being told what to do and how to dress etc. This band was so unique that they felt that no one else would know how to market them. With hindsight, Suzi believes they should have signed to a label who had the finances and clout to promote them.

During this time, Suzi was making ends meet by doing session work, singing on a track with Gary Glitter (long before his downfall). Suzi says "At the age of twenty-three, he would never have been interested in me!" . Suzi appears on 'Wreck 'a' Party Rock' with King Kurt, performed with Gothic act Kirlian Camera and worked on an anti-heroin movie called 'Wings of Death' starring Dexter Fletcher. She was also approached by a well-known song writer to sing on his entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, but declined. She worked with many bands, some not credible enough to mention, but they paid well!

The constant thirst to try something new and more riotous led Suzi to form an all girl band who wanted to play 'mind-blowin noisy rock'. They were a four-piece band known as 'The Ball-Breakers' but then changed their name to 'The Spunk Puppets'. They looked great, but the cacophony that escaped the studio walls didn't quite match up to their looks. Maggie and Gloria the rhythm section were fine but the guitarist couldn't speak much english and she couldn't play guitar either! - She quit and moved back to Japan.

A few years and two sons later, 'The Mosquitos', a brilliant 'Tarrantino inspired' six-piece covers band was formed by work colleagues. Their employers thought them so good that they built a rehearsal studio for them in the basement of their Government office building in return for playing at Government functions for free. More time was spent down in the rehearsal room than at their desks and they were constantly getting their colleagues to cover for them (and all the time getting paid for it!). Suzi recalls.....

" One afternoon we packed away our gear after making a racket under the Conference rooms to return to our desks, only to find the building completely empty apart from a group of uniformed men and their sniffer dogs. There had been a mass evacuation (bomb scare) and we had been oblivious to the alarms and fire wardens. They had forgotten about us! Everyone else in the band were concerned that we might have been blown up. I was amazed at what a wonderful sound-proofing job had been done on our little studio."
The Mosquitos split when Suzi left her job.

Throughout this time, Suzi's repertoire grew to include Soul and Blues as well as the Rock which inspired her so much. The precocious teenager had become a fiesty woman with one of the finest voices you are ever likely to hear in the flesh.
Feeling a bit down on a cold and rainy January afternoon in 2007, Suzi answered an advert in Loot. A phone call and an audition later she had found the band she was looking for. Four brilliant like-minded people who could play so well, she just hoped they felt the same way about her when they heard her sing. A few rehearsals and a new name and 'The Hotlicks' were born. In Suzi's opinion....

"Rehearsals are fun and playing live in front of an audience is even better. Being in The Hotlicks is the most fun you can have with your clothes on!"