June 2: No Wave singer, poet, writer Lydia Lunch is 54-years-old today.

 

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Born Lydia Anne Koch, on June 2, 1959 in Rochester, New York, Lunch moved to New York City at the age of 13 in 1973 with what she described having nothing but "a small red suitcase, a winter coat, and a big fucking attitude."

Lunch moved into a communal household of artists and musicians in NYC, including Kitty Bruce, daughter of Lenny Bruce. Soon Willy DeVille gave her the name "Lunch" because she often stole lunches from The Dead Boys.

After befriending Alan Vega and Martin Rev at Max's Kansas City, she founded the short-lived but influential No Wave band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, with James Chance. Both Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and The Contortions, Chance's subsequent band, played on the No Wave compilation No New York, produced by Brian Eno. Lunch later appeared on two songs on James White and the Blacks album, Off-White.

She appeared in two films by directors Scott B and Beth B. In the 1978 film, Black Box, she played a dominatrix, and in the 1983 film, Vortex  she played a private detective named Angel Powers. During this time, she also appeared in a number of films by Vivienne Dick, including She Had Her Gun All Ready and Beauty Becomes The Beast.  

In the mid-1980s she formed her own recording and publishing company called "Widowspeak" on which she continues to release her own material, from music to spoken word. She also wrote, directed and acted in underground films, sometimes collaborating with underground filmmaker and photographer Richard Kern. She has also authored both traditional books and comix.

Lunch released her studio album Smoke in the Shadows in November 2004 through Atavistic Records and Breakin Beats after a six-year break from music. In 2007, Lunch appeared on a viral video that was recorded backstage after a Joe Rogan comedy show, in which she attacked Joe Rogan for making jokes about "dumb women" in his comedy act.

In 2009, Lunch formed the band Big Sexy Noise. The group features Lunch on vocals, James Johnston (guitars), Terry Edwards (organ, saxophone and guitar) and Ian White (drums). A six-track EP was released on June 1, 2009 through Sartorial Records.

In 2011, Big Sexy Noise released Trust The Witch, her second album with Big Sexy Noise. Lunch and her band have made concert tours around the world.

In 2011, Lunch appeared in Mutantes: punk, porn, feminism, a film directed by Virginie Despentes, also featuring Annie Sprinkle and Catherine Breillat.

In 1997, Lunch released Paradoxia, a loose autobiography, in which she documented her early life, sexual history, substance abuse and mental health problems.

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For more about Lydia, visit her Website at –

http://www.lydia-lunch.org/

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