This month, Amy Lamé will be celebrating the Vauxhall Bacchanal at Southbank Centre, but in the meantime she found time to chat to us about the history of Vauxhall and Duckie, the infamous clubnight she co-founded there. Amy is arguably as much of a fixture of London life as the Royal Vauxhall Tavern itself where she started the Olivier-award-winning performance-club-night and collective with Simon Strange back in 1995. Since then you might have read her writing, heard her on the radio, or on her podcast, seen her on TV or performing her show Unhappy Birthday, or even as mayoress of Camden from 2010-2011. Amy's the sort of time-poor, taste-rich London-lover Run-Riot lives for.

KA: You reportedly earned only £50 per episode when presenting alongside Danny Baker on BBC London- this must have been somewhat annoying given the sums many radio 1 DJs are paid?

AL: Yes, the media is very good at exploiting and underpaying talent, as well as overexposing and overpaying talent. I presented alongside Danny Baker for 10 years and every single show was like a radio masterclass. We all fought hard to increase our pay, but unfortunately it fell on deaf ears. The show won a slew of awards and is still held dear in so many listeners' hearts…as well as mine. It is a great shame it ended.

KA: You co-founded and co-present weekly podcast HomoLab- are podcasts set to replace traditional radio?

AL: Recent reports have shown that radio listenership is up- but this is because people are listening differently- on their mobile phones, for example. I think podcasts are the future- they will never replace traditional radio, but podcasts can be a much more personalised, varied and intense listening experience. homoLAB is a free to download weekly rundown of queer culture and current affairs, and we are just about to celebrate our 100th episode. I think the reason it's so successful is that my co-presenters Lucio Buffone and Baylen Leonard- are good friends who feel as passionately as I do that the issues and topics we are interested in are just not represented on the radio So we decided to do something about it. Now, we have well over 2 million downloads with listeners from across the globe.

KA: You co-founded Duckie back in 1995 and hosted the world's first Lesbian beauty contest in 1997. With the recent legalisation of gay marriage, do you feel like the LGBT community has come a long way, or is it just depressing that we're still even debating this stuff?

AL: There's no doubt the LGBT community has come a long way. 1997 was an important year- it was when Labour came back into power and made LGBT equality a central part of their manifesto. Every single advance for LGBT rights in the UK- abolishing Section 28, Gays in the Military, Civil Partnerships, Equal Age of Consent, Adoption Rights, Equal Goods & Services…the list goes on... is down to the commitment of the Labour Party to making that happen. It really bothers me that Equal Marriage is seen as something the ConDem coalition have achieved…it would have never happened without the great advances made by the previous government.

KA: You'll be interviewing historian David Coke about the history of Vauxhall at the Vauxhall Bacchanal- I can't wait for this as I've lived in Vauxhall for the last 6 years and have always found the history of the pleasure gardens fascinating. As Duckie's home too, have you always been interested in the local history of the area?

AL: I became fascinated with the history of the area the moment I stepped into the Royal Vauxhall Tavern 20 years ago. There's a spit and sawdust spark there because drunken shenanigans and saucy entertainment have been happening on that very land since 1661- the year the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens opened. The Tavern was built in 1863, four years after the Pleasure Gardens were demolished. I like to think at Duckie- every Saturday night- we are carrying on that tradition of bawdy, rowdy, sexy revelry. Did you know in 1750 the Pleasure Gardens stayed open till 4am every Saturday night? It makes us modern folk look like lightweights.

KA: What's been your best Duckie memory? And has anything ever gone spectacularly tits-up?

AL: There are too many great moments to list- and things go tits up all the time. we are committed to experimental performance and taking chances with what we put on stage, so things are bound to go wrong- but our punters know that's part of the Duckie charm! Every week for me is special because I always wanted to have my own club night where the DJs could play The Smiths REAAAALLLLY loud and I could jump up and down and dance with my friends. So each Saturday is like a dream come true.

KA: If you had a limitless budget and the venue of your choice, where would you take Duckie?

AL: We've taken Duckie shows all over the world…New York, Berlin, Sydney…er, Nottingham… But we are so truly so in love with Vauxhall and the Tavern that, given a limitless budget, I'd just stay in SE11 and create a permanent, modern day version of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. I think London desperately needs authentic honky-tonk and progressive working class entertainment.

See details of events at The Vauxhall Bacchanal here.