Ep551: Lydia Lunch - Confrontationalist, Poet, No Wave Pioneer

Lydia Lunch unpacks the raw origins of No Wave, her squatting-and-surviving New York story, and why after five decades of confrontational art, pleasure remains the ultimate rebellion. Australian tour tickets and show info here. Topics Include: Lydia Lunch is touring Australia and New Zealand in June She's performing Suicide and Alan Vega covers across multiple cities Australia holds deep personal meaning — Roland S. Howard, Tex Perkins, lifelong friends Lydia considers herself a comedian; most people are just too afraid to laugh Words are her primary art — music is just the machine gun She sleeps in two-hour shifts and wakes famished at 5am every day Creativity has no fixed time — she writes song lyrics in five minutes flat She self-publishes through 48-hour printing, selling books for $20, cost $4 True crime forensics and Matthew McConaughey in Magic Mike are her guilty pleasures Daily she rotates between war, politics, and apocalyptic comedy — Dear Ivanka included She's actively promoting new bands: Genra's Death, Bog Creeper, New City Slang Instrumental music — Budos Band, Yusef Lateef, Baba Zula — is her listening diet Suicide and Mars were already playing when she arrived in New York Suicide actually coined the term "punk rock" on flyers back in 1972 No Wave wasn't a movement — it was personal insanity in a decaying city The name "No Wave" just came out of her mouth in one interview If you couldn't play, you had to be brutally tight — or else She taught a homeless man she'd befriended to play drums for Teenage Jesus Teenage Jesus songs were written on a borrowed bass she barely understood She squatted an abandoned Tribeca building, running electricity from neighbours to rehearse Teenage Jesus singles on Migraine Records likely preceded the No New York compilation Beirut Slump was horror rock — described as a slug over a razor blade She arrived in New York with $200, a suitcase, and zero contacts Seeing Suicide at Max's Kansas City with ten people changed everything instantly Martin Rev gave teenage Lydia vitamins; Alan Vega was leather-bound and irresistible She boycotted Bowie and Iggy in Rochester — accidentally saving them from a drug bust Mick Ronson's Slaughter on 10th Avenue: the glam record Bowie quietly stole from Lou Reed — always a dick; Warhol — vapid, but his car crashes were great She owns every recording, every publishing right — everything she's ever made <li class= "fo