From The Archives

Lydia Lunch
-Discography and Concert Chronology-

(1977 - present)

Teenage Jesus & The Jerks (1977) Beirut Slump (1978) Queen Of Siam (1979)

Spring 1977 in New York City. Lydia and James Chance form a band with Bradly Field on drum/cymbal (1 only) and Japanese guy Reck on bass. James Chance soon leaves (to form the Contortions) and after 4 line-ups (the last one with Jim Sclavunos) they disband at the end of the European tour in July 1979. Sort of reunited 2 times in 2008, a second time in 2009 with a slight return (just Lydia and Weasel Walter) in 2013. Discography and Chronology.

A short-lived New York City project (June 1978 - May 1979) which co-existed in parallel with Teenage Jesus & The Jerks. With film maker Vivienne Dick, Bobby (a.k.a. 'Berkowitz') and Liz Swope (brother/sister from Florida) and Jim Sclavunos. They rehearse for 6 months, but end up doing only 4 live shows. Ended 1979. Discography and Chronology.

A Fall/Autumn 1979 solo studio project with guest musicians, a.o. Robert Quine [The Voidoids], George Scott III and Pat Irwin [both The Raybeats]. The 8-Eyed Spy tour of February 1980 actually promoted this album. Discography and Chronology (2011).

8 Eyed Spy (1979) Devil Dogs (1980) 13.13/The Agony Is The Ecstacy (1981)

A band formed in September 1979 in New York City with (bass player) George Scott III [The Contortions/The Raybeats]. Again Jim Sclavunos takes part, as well as Michael Paumgardhen and Pat Irwin [The Raybeats]. After George Scott overdoses on 05-Aug-80 the remaining band members record 5 tracks at Bob Blank's studio and then split up in October 1980. Discography and Chronology.

A blues live project with Jim Sclavunos that lasted only a few months, from November 1980 till February 1981 (at the end of an Italian tour). Based on 10-15 blues songs provided by Robert Quine [The Voidoids]. No official recordings. Ended 1981. Discography and Chronology.

Lydia moved to Los Angeles during August/September 1980 and the next year forms 13.13 which toured a lot and had two line-ups. The second line-up had (all ex-Weirdos) Dix Denney on guitar, Greg Williams on bass and Cliff Martinez on drums. For an opportunity to tour European in November 1981 she employs Murray Mitchell (guitar roadie of Siouxsie and the Banshees), Steven Severin (Siouxsie and the Banshees) and Kristian Hoffman [The Mumps]. Ended in Europe late December 1981. Discography and Chronology.

with R.S.Howard/Birthday Party (1982) with Die Haut (1982) with Sonic Youth (1982)

Lydia met The Birthday Party in New York City during their October 1981 US tour. Between March and August 1982 she records and tours with their guitarist Rowland S.Howard and The Birthday Party in Europe. After their joint Shotgun Wedding project in 1991 they both perform together a few times more in 1993/94. Discography and Chronology.

Lydia's relation with the Berlin instrumental band Die Haut started in 1982, resumed in 1990 and lasted until October 1992. Discography and Chronology.

Lydia started collaborating with Thurston Moore in October 1982 [In Limbo], with the whole band in 1984 [Death Valley '69] and with Kim Gordon in 1988 [Harry Crews]. Thurston Moore also did the bass part on the Teenage Jesus reunion shows in 2008. Discography and Chronology.

Spoken Word (1982) with Jim G.Thirlwell (1983) Immaculate Consumptive (1983)

Together with Henry Rollins Lydia practically invented spoken word performances. She did her first spoken word show at the Lucky Strike Cafe, New York City on 04-Nov-82 and has done close to 400 to date, world-wide. She worked with Don Bajema, Exene Cervenka, Wanda Coleman, Emilio Cubeiro, Gene Gregorits, Karen Finley, Johnny Lanz, Josh Lazie, Henry Rollins, Hubert Selby Jr, Jerry Stahl, and many more... Ongoing! Discography and Chronology. update

Lydia met (Melbourne born) Jim G.Thirlwell during The Birthday Party's European tour of June/July 1982, when he was doing their press. Her first recording with him dates from May 1983. Their collaboration lasted until March 1991. Discography and Chronology.

A brief collaboration between Lydia Lunch, Marc Almond, Jim G.Thirlwell (a.k.a. Clint Ruin) and Nick Cave who were at the time all residing in London. Limited to 3 live dates in the USA around Halloween 1983. No (official) recordings. Chronology.

with No Trend (1984) Emilio Cubeiro (1986) Shotgun Wedding (1991)

From May 1984 till April 1985 Lydia worked a few times with Jeff Mentges' Ashton (Maryland) based band No Trend. She also joined them for 3 live concerts. Ended 1985. Discography and Chronology.

Emilio Cubeiro, a (performance) poet, playwright, potential rock star and actor became publicly known at the age of 27 in 1974. A young Lydia Lunch saw him perform @ CBGBs after she had ran from home at the age of 16. Lydia worked with Emilio from 1986-1990. Emilio died in 2001. Chronology and Biblio-/Video-/Discography.

A band with Rowland S.Howard, his brother Harry and -once more- Jim Sclavunos as the core. The band was initially named Gashouse and located in (Lydia's then preferred city) New Orleans. Later they renamed themselves Shotgun Wedding and recorded an album in Memphis in May 1991. They did 2 main tours in November 1991 (Europe) and September 1994 (Australia). Discography and Chronology.

Matrikamantra (1997) with Anubian Lights (2001) Willing Victim/Retrovirus (2003/2012)

Homage to Romanian philosopher poet EM Cioran. A project with Joseph Budenholzer [Backworld] that started as a live performance in Barcelona in May 1996 and the recording of a studio album in New York City in 1997. The material was toured extensively. Terry Edwards [Gallon Drunk] was part of each live line-up. The last concert was in Belgium on 28-May-99. Discography and Chronology.

Mid 2001, when she was residing in Glendale-Los Angeles, Lydia Lunch started her collaboration with Tommy Grenas and Len Del Rio. The Anubian Lights toured this material until in 2002/2003 and another line-up did a few dates in Russia in March 2004. Evolved into the Smoke In The Shadows project. Discography and Chronology.

A retrospective series with all star line-ups Willing Victim (2003): Nels Cline, Algis Kizys [Swans,Foetus], Norman Westberg [Swans] and Vinnie Signorelli [Foetus,Unsane];
Retrovirus (2012-2023): Weasel Walter [The Flying Luttenbachers], Tim Dahl [Child Abuse] and Bob Bert [Sonic Youth,Pussy Galore,Chrome Cranks] or Kevin Shea [Storm & Stress]. Final show on November 19, 2023! Discography and Chronology. update

Smoke In The Shadows (2004) The Real Pornography (2006) Voice-Visuals-Sounds (2007)

Started in January 2000 as a studio project in Los Angeles with the recording for a big band jazz album initialy titled "Torcher". Toured in Europe with Terry Edwards [Gallon Drunk] in September/October 2001. In Spring 2003 the album ("Smoke In The Shadows") was completed in Los Angeles with The Annubian Lights. Toured extensively with several line-ups in 2004/2005 until the final performance at the All Tomorrows Parties festival in the UK on 03-Dec-05. Discography and Chronology.

Collaboration with (Spanish visual artist) Marc Viaplana. Audio/video spectacle operating out of Barcelona (Lydia's home town from 2004-2012). Only live dates, with David Knight and Ian White. Ended 2007.Chronology.

Illustrated word with soundscapes and visuals. Psycho-ambient music about sex, the desert, ghosts and the war. A collaboration initially with Mark Cunningham, Marc Viaplana and Les Aus in Spain. Started as "Hangover Hotel"/"Ghosts Of Spain", later versions labeled as "Blood is just memory", "Sick with desire", "Toxic Lust", "Dust and Shadows", "Horribly True Confessions", "Drums - Voice - Brutality", "Brutal Measures", "Verbal Burlesque", "Rise Above", "Murderous ... Again", "Sinister Impulse". Ongoing! Discography and Chronology. update

Big Sexy Noise (2008) Marc Hurtado (2012) The Lydian Spin (2019)

The collaboration with Gallon Drunk (UK) started in 2007. Big Sexy Noise's first recording was done in 2008, their first gig in 2009. Discography and Chronology. Ended 2014. Resurrected a few times. Final show on June 22, 2019!

Collaboration with Marc Hurtado [Étant Donnés]. Suicide/Alan Vega tribute live shows. Discography and Chronology update

Lydia and Tim Dahl started this weekly one-hour podcast series ("Uncensored interviews with the avatars of counterculture") on July 19, 2019. 233(!) podcasts so far.Chronology Ongoing! new

Collaborations I (1978) Collaborations II (1998) Photo exhibitions/Installation works

From 1978 (with James Chance) till 2014 (with Eduard Escoffet), Lydia Lunch has collaborated with dozens of diverse artists. Discography and Chronology. Ongoing! update

Longer term collaborations with David Knight (1993), Minox (1998), Les Aus (2007), Philippe Petit (2008), Mia Zabelka (2009), Cypress Grove (2009), Putan Club (2012) and Sylvia Black (2018). Discography and Chronology.

When living in New Orleans (1991-1993) Lydia Lunch starts taking photographs. Later in Pittsburg (1995-1999) she also creates voodoo boxes, voodoo dolls and body casts. In later years (2000-to date) installations, film stills and photo montages are created. Photography.


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