(Credits: Far Out / IMDB)
Thu 26 June 2025 2:00, UK
As one of the most preeminent figures of the New York no wave scene that began in the late 1970s, Lydia Lunch will always be regarded as something of an underground hero who helped pioneer a singular style of music that still manages to sound just as fresh today as it did back then.
As a co-founder of the band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks alongside future Contortions frontman and saxophonist James Chance, Lunch would eventually go on to establish herself not just as an exemplary musician in the field, but also a prolific poet, actor and spoken word performer.
Having moved to New York City at the age of 16, she quickly found herself in social circles where she was hanging out with artists like Alan Vega and Martin Rev of Suicide, and would then befriend Chance before forming a multitude of short-lived projects. Her work was featured on the iconic No New York compilation that showcased a quartet of the city’s burgeoning underground acts from the no wave scene, with DNA, Mars, Contortions and her own Teenage Jesus project.
Later on, she would find herself collaborating with the likes of Sonic Youth, Henry Rollins and Nels Cline, firmly remaining anti-industry in her ethos throughout her career. It’s no surprise that given this, her own musical tastes follow this same pattern of being obscure, impenetrable, and as far away from the mainstream as possible, and the list of five artists she recommended during an interview with famed music blog Perfect Sound Forever are all fine examples of this.
In fact, by her own admission, Lunch has never had much room for the music of others in her life, and would prefer to listen to the sounds of the everyday. “Most people use [music] as a backdrop to their life,” she explained to the publication. “I love silence. I live on a giant park. I like hearing NOTHING. I like hearing the trees rustle. I’m already too exuberant.”
Despite many of her exemplary picks all being from disparate scenes, there’s one common thread that runs through them all, which she’s willing to acknowledge as being a parallel to her own personality. “All of these are instrumental because I find that with instrumental music allows my brain the space to breathe,” Lunch declared. “I have too many words going through my head and flowing from my mouth. The last thing I need is more words spinning around my head.”
Five obscure artists that Lydia Lunch recommends:
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