Lydia Lunch

Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959; Rochester, NY), is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress. Her work usually takes a confrontationalist approach. She has maintained an anti-commercial ethic, operating independently of major labels and distributors. Lunch's moniker was given to her by the rock artist Willy DeVille, because she stole food for her friends.

She moved to New York City in 1976 and started her first band, Teenage Jesus and The Jerks, a short-lived No-Wave band, which has been recently revived at times in the past years. After a couple more bands (Beirut Slump and 8-Eyed Spy), she released her first solo album "Queen of Siam" in 1980. This was an experimental delivery featuring No Wave and Punk Jazz and it is probably her best-known music album. Two years later, she pulled out another album, "13.13," in which she took a darker approach. This trend would continue in subsequent releases like "In Limbo" and "The Drowning of Lucy Hamilton."

Overall, she has been a very prolific artist, either solo, or with other musicians like: J. G. Thirlwell, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Marc Almond, Steven Severin, Sadie Mae, Rowland S. Howard, Michael Gira, The Birthday Party, No Trend, Einstürzende Neubauten, Die Haut, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. She has also recorded and performed as a spoken word artist. Some of her collaborations feature Exene Cervenka, Henry Rollins, Wanda Coleman, and Hubert Selby Jr.

Lately, she has been recording and touring with her two current bands: Big Sexy Noise, featuring members of Gallon Drunk; and Retrovirus, including Bob Bert and Weasel Walter, in which she revisits all her catalog since the 1970's. She has, as well, collaborated recently with Philippe Petit, Mia Zabelka, and Cypress Grove.

She has also authored several books:

• AS-FIX-E-8 (with Mike Matthews & Nick Cave)
• Bloodsucker (with Bob Fingerman)
• Incriminating Evidence
• Adulterers Anonymous (with Exene Cervenka)
• Toxic Gumbo (with Ted McKeever)
• Paradoxia
• The Gun is Loaded
• Will Work for Drugs
• The Need to Feed: Recipes for Developing a Healthy Obsession with Deeply Satisfying Foods 

As an actress, she has appeared in movies by directors like Vivienne Dick, Scott B and Beth B, Nick Zedd, Richard Kern, Asia Argento, and Virginie Despentes. She wrote two of those movies as well: The Right Side of My Brain, and Fingered.

I was lucky to know who she was in the late 1990's and became a fan by the early 2000's. I saw her live for the first time in 2005. Since then, I have lost count all of the times I have seen her. It also helped the fact that she lived in Catalonia, my home country, for 10 years. That meant that she would perform home often. In addition, we became friends in 2008. That, in fact, serves in case anybody asks for the source of all this information: I got it first hand. And last, but not least, she happened to be my matchmaker.

You can learn more about her here.