She has been challenging the audience since 70s and you either love her in a ‘coup de foudre’ style, either despise her passionately. There are no grey tones in an artistic relationship with her. Nevertheless, she is kindly offering you the opportunity to choose from an unconventional menu: spoken words, visuals, movies, visceral songs, historical collaborations with Nick Cave, Einstürzende Neubauten, Sonic Youth, Brian Eno, a caustic diary (‘Paradoxia: A Predator’s Diary’). If you missed her concert in 2010, don’t repeat the mistake in 2012 and book yourself a place in a front row, on 23rd of February, in Bucharest. And yes, you’re right, this was just a brief intro for an ‘on-the-road-in-between-gigs’ online conversation, I had the chance to have with Lydia Lunch.
OneDay: Which of your shows has been the most unpredictable so far (from your perspective) and why?
Lydia Lunch: Performing in Soviet Russia in the 1980′s to an audience of soldiers and their girlfriends. I thought I would be lined up against a wall and shot after the show. Maybe they had just run out of bullets….
OneDay: Do you still feel that ‘Popularity is so boring’?
Lydia Lunch: Nothing I have ever had to worry about, really. I am an extremely acquired taste…only for the most discerning palates. Those that understand black humor, intensity, obsession and blood lust. Could that be you my darling Livia? :)
OneDay: How would you advertise your book ‘Paradoxia’ in 3 sentences?
Lydia Lunch: A gruesome detailing of a sexual landscape populated by monsters and madmen, none of them quite as ferocious as the writer herself. All true. Terribly so.
OneDay: If you’d had the chance to pick up a book from the entire world, for which one would you’ve liked to perform a show at its launch?
Lydia Lunch: Marquis de Sade’s Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Man
OneDay: Barcelona for you: a safe heaven or a Gaudi inspirational resort?
Lydia Lunch: Barcelona, an outsider’s utopia where a history of violence and insanity has been replaced with beauty, art and architecture of the highest standing. A city of juxtapositions, conundrums and mystery.
OneDay: Looking back over the last years, are there any mind-blowing artists from your point of view?
Lydia Lunch: Viva Le Terror, Ruby Throat, Carla Bozulich and thousands of others.
OneDay: Should we trust the witches nowadays?
Lydia Lunch: I’m a witch you can always trust. Trust me. I’m a witch.
OneDay: Do you advise to cure ourselves of desire or are there other priorities?
Lydia Lunch: We need to cure ourselves of the desire to consume, to panic, to fear. We need to embrace real desire, understand and befriend our obsessions, and realize how many hours of every day are spent in the useless pursuit of online bullshit. With that, I end this interview. I have real work to do. And real pleasure to seek out.