Liam Lynch (Director)

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Liam Lynch (born September 5, 1970 in Akron , Ohio) is an American musician , puppeteer and director .

Liam Lynch was best known as a director of music videos . Examples are the music video "Times Like These" by the band Foo Fighters or that of the band Tenacious D for the song "Tribute" . He also directed the Tenacious D film Kings of Rock .

Life

The early years

Liam Lynch was born in Akron, Ohio . When he was three years old, he was given a cassette recorder and began to record his own "programs".

At the age of nine he and his family moved to a small town in Hudson, Ohio . There he began to rebel against those around him. Lynch learned to play the guitar and wrote his first stories. During this time he also met his best friend and future creative partner, Matt Crocco, who had moved to Hudson from New York City .

In the fifth grade, Lynch took part on a test basis in a program for gifted students. In this program, three school days a week were set aside to meet with academics, work in a television studio, take poetry classes, and visit museums to develop students' creative skills. At the time, he was diagnosed with color blindness , dyslexia , poor concentration and a visual disorder.

In the tenth grade, Lynch decided to record his own album. He saved the money he earned from part-time jobs and flea markets and went to a local recording studio with it. There he recorded his solo album, where he acted as composer and producer and recorded all instruments.

At the age of seventeen he produced another album, which he financed with the income from his appearances in the area. With the money he was supposed to earn with the second album, he wanted to set up a scholarship for gifted children with learning difficulties.

After graduating from Hudson High School, he enrolled at Kent State University. His friend Matt Crocco soon followed suit. "The people on Kent are even bigger freaks than I am," Lynch said of the university. He attended courses such as writing, African history, glass blowing and sculpture.

While Lynch was a student, his parents moved to Louisville, Kentucky. There he met Michael Taylor and the composer Phil Copeland. Meanwhile, Lynch lost interest in Kent University and moved to Belmont University in Nashville , Tennessee . However, he left this university after only three days of school. It is believed that he moved to Nashville because of Copeland.

He continued to devote himself to music and played as the front man of the band "Owen's Ashes" at that time . The band's music was theatrical and very complex. He rented a studio and threw the Nashville music scene into turmoil with his new band. During this time he was introduced to Brian Hardin, who recorded some demos with Owen's Ashes. That happened at 16th Ave Sound, the Quad Studios and Sound Barrier. During this recording, Lynch claimed that his time with the band was a mistake: "Playing in run-down bars, touring and washing dishes for three years."

The 1990s

A close friend found an article in Rolling Stone magazine: Sir Paul McCartney wanted to open a unique performing arts school (LIPA (Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts)). He gave Lynch information on how to apply there. Lynch, then 26 years old, was one of 40 musicians selected worldwide. He was even one of the five students who were handpicked by McCartney for one-on-one guitar lessons. Liam then worked in some recording studios, among others, with the Beatles - producer George Martin or his fellow colleagues of the ex- Roxy Music member Brian Eno .

During this time he developed the concept for the "Sifl and Olly Show". Lynch wanted to do something that would also use the old music recordings he and Matt Crocco once made. As a Christmas present for Matt, he wanted to make a stop-motion film . Liam had neither the money nor the equipment for such a project. All he found was socks. From these he made dolls, borrowed a video camera and Sifl & Olly were born. Later Lynch said: "It could have been buckets too ..."

In 1996 Lynch sent some of the videos to MTV Europe with the idea of ​​showing them as short films between shows or video clips. After a year these short films were already half-hour shows. In 1997 he returned to Nashville from Liverpool to continue working on the Sifl and Olly Show with old friends Matt Crocco and Michael Taylor. He briefly went back to Liverpool to complete his studies. MTV USA started broadcasting the Sifl & Olly Show (July 1998) but the show only lasted two seasons. This gave rise to a fan cult known as “sockheads”. There were plans to post a third season on the MTV website, but this was never carried out. The third season is only available on DVD today.

The song "United States of Whatever" was played in one of the MTV episodes of Sifl & Olly during the second season. After the show ended, Lynch took this song and released it on a sampler CD. To his surprise, “United States of Whatever” entered the top ten of the British charts. The song was quickly released as a single and also became popular in the United States. The song was also used to advertise the video game Tony Hawk's Underground. Tony Hawk also made a guest appearance on the third season of Sifl & Olly.

The 2000s

During the second and third seasons of the Sifl & Olly Show, Liam recorded a solo album called Fake Songs . This album was released by EMI in the US on April 9, 2003 (UK followed in June 2003). Together with the CD, a DVD entitled "Fake Movies" was released. Among other things, there was puppet theater (stop motion), computer animation, music videos, satires and home videos as well as a “behind the scenes” section.

While working on the album, Lynch also worked for the Foo Fighters (UK version of the song “Times Like These”), produced a DVD for No Doubt , Tenacious D , and Eagles of Death Metal and composed the music for the MTV animation series “Clone High".

In 2005, Lynch directed the Sarah Silverman film "Jesus is Magic".

In 2006 Lynch released the album How to Be a Satellite . He also directed the Tenacious D film Kings of Rock - Tenacious D and played guitar on the accompanying soundtrack album The Pick of Destiny .

Podcast

Liam Lynch is currently running a very popular podcast under the name LynchLand . This contains video animations, songs from his albums and performances by special guests. Around 90,000 people currently subscribe to his podcast. In order to run this service for free, he sells albums, t-shirts and other merchandise.

Discography

  • Eel
  • Fake songs
  • History of America? (with Matt Crocco)
  • Camp Sunny Side Up (with Matt Crocco)
  • We're All Nighters
  • How to Be a Satellite
  • United States Of Whatever

Trivia

  • Dhani Harrison , the son of George Harrison , made an appearance on the third episode of LynchLand. He is a personal friend of Lynch.
  • United States of Whatever is the record holder for the shortest song to reach the top 10 of the British charts (duration: 1 minute and 26 seconds).
  • Lynch is a big believer in cloning . He is one of the few owners of a commercially cloned pet. His favorite cat, Frankie Forcefield, was killed in March 2006. He bought a successful clone in September 2006 from Genetic Savings and Clone . That cat is called Finnigan Forcefield.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lynch, Liam
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American musician, puppeteer, and director
DATE OF BIRTH 5th September 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH Akron , Ohio