Lydia Lunch, Doomsday Student @ Trans-Pecos, Queens

I never thought I’ll go see show at Ridgewood, Queens. Especially a Lydia Lunch show, but I did and it was great!

Trans-Pecos located few blocks away from the Myrtle-Wyckoff L & M stop is a totally rad spot for avant-garde shows like the one tonight and is an absolute must-check spot! The entrance is very speakeasy – no sign in front, but you get to know you’re on the right place by the alternative looking people hanging out in front. The venue is long and narrow with plenty of space & a huge backyard. The “backstage” is in a separate building, resembling a lumber house with the smell of woods and basically nothing besides few chairs and tables inside. Trans-Pecos has a calendar of shows almost every day this month with highlights like San Francisco’s psychedelic electronica project Psychic Reality on the 15th and minimal-techno show organized by Bunker Limited on the 19th of this month featuring Objekt, Leisure Muffin & more.

The show was announced scheduled kind of early (5 PM) and we were all expecting the bad, bad weather related to the upcoming Hurricane Arthur. So the barbecue part was kind of cancelled and the show was set up inside.

When I arrived around 8 PM Long-Island’s loud avantgardists Doomsday Student were about to hit the stage. Totally insane performance! I LOVED IT SO MUCH! Ultra loud and ultra crazy, the frontman Eric kept putting the mic in his pants and the whole band was just all over the place.

Literally. On the stage, in the audience, even under the stage. EVERYWHERE! I think everyone rocked out super hard and it was chaotic and awesome fun. All band members were wearing the same tacky orange sneakers which made it even more weird. Check out short video of their performance below to get the bare idea how crazy it was!

Hiding from the rain I end up at the backstage area, where I caught up with the frontman Eric. The first question I asked him was of course why are they wearing the same sneakers!

We’re wearing the same sneakers in a similarity with the Heaven’s Gate cult. For some reason we’re very intrigued by death cults. And we happened to be on a tour a couple cities away from San Diego when they killed themselves so we visited the house two or three days after the mass suicide happened and we felt a deep connection to it. Ever since then when we wear the sneakers! When we perform we want to dehumanize the way we look and take away our own personal identities to just look sort of matching. We still think of Heaven’s Gate cult often.

Are there other death cults you’re interested in?

We feel connected to the US cults, cause we’re here in America, right. Jonestown – it’s kind of American, cause it started in San Francisco, the suicide didn’t happen here, but still we feel connected to it. And there is one in Portland, where people would spread vegetables, I forgot how it was called. And we like the Children Of God – that one is pretty rad! You know one of the early members of Fleetwood Mac left the band to join Children Of God.

Would you join a cult like that?

We are our own cult! We have a lot of stuff that happens around us. Please don’t tell anyone about that!

Tell me about it!

I can’t. It’s part of the cult! I can’t talk about it…

And what was first – the obsession with cults or the band?

Probably the band. We’ve been all playing music together since we’re teenagers. This band is just three years old, but before that we were in a band called Arab On Radar, some of us were in The Chinese Stars, Steve was in Athletic Automation and we reconnected in Doomsday Student out of boredom and love!

Was stage appearance was very intense, I really dig it…

It’s out of anxiety. We’re all very anxious people.

Does that come from being an American?

Yes! East Coast! We all grew up in very strange environments that led to the anxiety that we have, so now it becomes an art form. We’re not as anxious as we used to be, but now we don’t know how to make other art besides anxious art!!!

How do you like Ridgewood, Queens? Have you been here before?

Actually no. We usually play at Death By Audio and we play there quite often, we play at Cakeshop in Manhattan sometimes too. It’s our first time here and it’s really nice. It’s unfortunate that the storm put strange vibe to it, but I kind of like it.

Violent weather…

We brought the rain, you know!!!

You’re in the process of releasing an album…

Yes! We have a record coming out in October out of Three One G records. Our last album came out two or three years ago and this is our new one and in October we’ll start touring again.

Which bands inspired you most?

We’re all big fans of Chrome. We also like Pill and a lot of free jazz like Albert Ayler, Sonny Rollins, all that stuff!

Once I turned, I noticed that Lydia Lunch entered the room! She was all super cool & friendly and we chatted a little bit before the show and she mentioned that really digs performing in Eastern Europe and especially in Romania. Minutes later she was already rocking the stage big time! Not only she’s the nihilistic no wave queen, but also a true underground legend that never gave herself to the mainstream and kept working and expressing her views in diverse art forms including music, writing, spoken word & film.

Lydia insisted on fixing the sound at the beginning of her performance and when it was just about right we heard some of her underground classics – “Afraid Of Your Company”, “The Gospel Singer”, “Burning Skulls”, as well as a cover of Suicide’s “Frankie Teardrop” that Lydia dedicated to her “first friends in NYC – Alan Vega & Martin Rev”.

Her performance was raw, powerful and noisy and provoked a massive moshpit! Lunch gracefully mixed spoken work with music & interactions with the audience – to the shout of a guy “I love you Lydia” she responded with “Oh, I’m so easy to love, darling!”, Lydia told the audience how she went to chase serial killers on the West Coast (you can hear this part in the video below) and more & more…

For her tour, which last performance was this one, she partners with Weasel Walter on guitar – currently playing with Cellular Chaos and Brooklyn’s experimental metal band Behold… The Arctopus, notorious bass player Tim Dahl and former Sonic Youth drummer Bob Bert.

After the show we caught with Lydia for few quick questions.

How do you feel being in Ridgewood in 2014?

Walking another dive and the right people are there – it’s great. It doesn’t matter where – they’re here. I’m a nomad I’m here now but in few minutes I’ll be gone. I go to the people instead of them coming to me.

Do you have some very memorable moment from the tour that ends with tonight’s show?

There’s not one moment, it’s not one thing. What defines me in life and as an artist is the fullness of the life, the creation and the collaboration. One moment – it’s another moment. And I am a full body.

What do you enjoy doing spoke word or music more?

I like doing spoke word, music, photography, exhibitions…I like all of it. But the words are the most important. Sometimes I put down the music or I just put some ambient music behind them. Words are the most important, yeah.

How do you write your lyrics?

In ten minutes or less. When I’m ready I write. I don’t sit there and rewrite

What about your book Paradoxia?

I wrote it in three months. Everyday between 6 and 9 AM. Discipline.

And how much of it is truth and how much fiction?

I don’t write fiction, darling. How much did I leave out is the question. It’s only hundred and twenty pages.

You first moved here in 1976 and you saw NYC changing so much, do you think it’s for good?

No, it’s grotesque. It’s bullshit this place. It sucks. It’s ugly, it’s expensive and everybody who lives here has a problem. There are other cities. Stop paying crazy rent. I’m on a rent strike!