Punk hellraiser all the rage

NO one tells Lydia Lunch what to do.

The counterculture icon of the New York 1980s “no wave” movement isn’t hamstrung by commercial imperatives, and she rides under the radar of censorship.

“First of all — who is going to tell me what to do?” she tells the Mercury from her Brooklyn hotel room.

“And also I’m telling the f...ing truth.”

The singer, spoken word artist, musician and actor is currently touring with her band Retrovirus — which features Sonic Youth drummer Bob Bert — and is en-route to Hobart, her first visit since Dark Mofo 2018.

Lunch, who has collaborated with the likes of Nick Cave, Roland S. Howard and Kim Gordon, is famed for her poetic lyricism with messages of empowerment for women and words of warning to men in power.

One of her warnings came in the form of a sardonic video love letter to Louis CK during 2014, in which she drolly suggests the pair engage in a voyeuristic affair.

The video came some three years before sexual misconduct allegations against the high-profile comedian came to light.

“He exposes himself, but at least he asks. That’s the difference between me and Louis CK,” she jokes.

Lunch, now 60 and as unapologetic as ever, says she’s still got the stamina to keep speaking out against powerful people and “liars”, including the “one in Washington” because of “stubbornness … sheer force of will”.

“Since I was very small, I just felt called to duty,” she says. “To me, the war is never f...ing over.”

She says nightfall is the best time to fight back.

“We have to rebel with pleasure, we have to rebel with art, we have to rebel with community — the coven goes on,” she says.

But her warnings aren’t just levelled at the powerful — she also reminds individuals to take back their own power rather than identify with victimhood.

This includes Lunch’s feminism. She says she doesn’t blame women for getting hurt, and believes parents need to take more responsibility for raising respectful sons, but encourages women to learn how to “crack a d…”

“I think we need a more intense form of feminism, not this intense force of victimhood that everyone seems to be wearing,” she says.

“Women need to defend themselves physically, psychologically, psychically.

“I think women need community. We need less internet and more covens in the living room.

“If you want to be my friend, you have to look me in the eye.”

Lydia Lunch and Retrovirus will perform at the Brisbane Hotel on March 1.

Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au