Lach is an American singer-songwriter associated with the anti-folk movement. As a songwriter, Lach founded the anti-folk art and music movement, which is cited as a main inspiration by contemporary performers like Beck,

Jeffrey Lewis Jeffrey Lewis (born November 20, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and comic book artist. Early life Lewis was born in New York City and grew up on the Lower East Side. He attended State University of New York at Purchase, graduating i ...

, Hamell on Trial,

The Moldy Peaches The Moldy Peaches were an American indie group founded by Adam Green and Kimya Dawson. Leading proponents of the anti-folk scene, the band has been on hiatus since 2004. The appearance of their song "Anyone Else but You" in the film '' Juno'' ...

and

Regina Spektor Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (russian: Регинa Ильинична Спектор, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian–born American singer, songwriter, and pianist. After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in ...

in the US and

Laura Marling Laura Beatrice Marling (born 1 February 1990) is a British folk singer-songwriter. She won the Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards and was nominated for the same award at the 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 Brit Aw ...

in the UK. Lach has released six albums, a book of poetry, and has a regular series on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

called ''The Lach Chronicles''.

Early life

Lach was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York and raised in suburban

Rockland County Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of t ...

. He learned to play classical piano at a young age, but turned to rock music after discovering

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

bands like

the Sex Pistols ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

the Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

, the Damned, and

the Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1 ...

. Lach went to college but quickly dropped out to live in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, resuming his education at Boston University, where he met his later bassist

Geoffrey Notkin Geoffrey Notkin (born February 1, 1961) is an American actor, author, and entrepreneur. Notkin is known as one of the hosts of ''Meteorite Men'', a documentary reality television series from Science Channel, which ran for three seasons. He is the ...

Career

Lach moved to

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

in New York City in 1983, looking to play the renowned

Folk City Gerdes Folk City, sometimes spelled Gerde's Folk City, was a music venue in the West Village, part of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, in New York City. Initially opened by owner Mike Porco as a restaurant called Gerdes, it eventually began to presen ...

club. Having been rejected by the club's bookers, who believed his music was too "punk", he moved to the Lower East Side, opening his own illegal after-hours club, the Fort. The opening of the Fort coincided with the New York City Folk Festival, so Lach held an event at his club called the New York Antifolk Festival, which remains a popular event in the East Village. In 1990, Lach put out his debut CD, ''Contender'' on the Goldcastle label. The album received rave reviews in the press and considerable radio play, but the record label folded three months later. Lach moved to San Francisco releasing an EP, ''Family Values Pack'', containing "The Hillary Clinton Song" which aired on over 600 stations during

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

's first campaign. In 1993, Lach returned to New York City and started The Fort up again at The Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village, ushering in a new wave of anti-folk. In 1997 Lach started his own label, Fortified Records, and released, in conjunction with Shanachie Records, ''Lach's Antihoot: Live from the Fort''. Fortified subsequently released downtown comedian

Rick Shapiro Rick Shapiro (born April 13, 1959) is a Los Angeles-based comedian and actor. Life and career Shapiro was born in New Jersey. Spending his early years in New York City and New Jersey, Shapiro started his career in the early 1980s as a comedia ...

's ''Unconditional Love'', produced by Lach (1998) and

Major Matt Mason USA Major Matt Mason USA is the recording project of Matt Roth, an American musician and record producer active in the anti-folk and DIY music scene of New York's East Village.(May 28, 2004). "Matt at front of 'anti-folk'", ''Coventry Evening Teleg ...

's ''Me, Me, Me'' (2000). In 1999 Fortified released Lach's second album ''Blang!'', produced by

Richard Barone Richard Barone is an American rock musician who first gained attention as frontman for the Bongos. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and record producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created concert event ...

. September 18, 2001 saw the domestic release of ''Kids Fly Free'', again produced by Richard Barone with a 16-page lyric booklet illustrated by

Daniel Johnston Daniel Dale Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 11, 2019) was an American singer, musician and artist regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded a ...

. Tours of the UK by Lach and other NYC anti-folkers such as

, Hamell On Trial and

sparked the beginnings of the UK scene, inspiring such British artists as

Milk Kan Milk Kan is a musical duo from south London, England, formed in 2003. Their EPs, the acoustic "Bling!" (2003) and "Wat U See Ain't Wat U Get" were followed, in December 2005, by a single, "Bling Bling Baby" and their later single, "God with an ...

Filthy Pedro Filthy Pedro is an antifolk musician based in London. Born Simon Parry in Anglesey, Wales, he moved to London in the late 1990s. Parry had grown interested in antifolk after hearing Beck's '' Stereopathetic Soulmanure'' album (1994). However, it w ...

, David Cronberg's Wife, Sgt. Joe Buzzfuzz and

. The 12 Bar Club began hosting monthly anti-folk nights called Blang! In 2002 Lach signed with the Agency Group as his exclusive European booking agent, and with Steve Hawkins as his tour manager.

Track Records Track Record (a.k.a. Track Records) was founded in 1966 in London by Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, then managers of the rock group The Who. It was one of the first British-owned independent record labels in the United Kingdom. The most succe ...

released ''Kids Fly Free'' in the UK on May 7. Lach was also featured on ''Antifolk Vol.1'' (Rough Trade), compiled by

. In 2004, Sanctuary Press released ''Waking Up in New York City: A Musical Tour of The Big Apple'' by Mike Evans, with a chapter devoted to Lach. Lach's band 'Lach and The Secrets', featuring

Billy Ficca William Joseph Ficca (born February 15, 1950, in Delaware) is an American drummer who was a founding member of the rock groups Television and The Waitresses. Career Italian origins, Ficca was a childhood friend of Tom Verlaine (aka Tom Mill ...

on drums and Roy Edroso on bass, arrived in the UK In March that year for eight shows in eight nights including a show at The Basement Club organized by Strokes producer

Gordon Raphael Gordon Raphael is an American record producer and musician from Seattle, Washington, and New York, currently living in Hebden Bridge (UK), after a few years in Berlin. Raphael is most widely known for his work with The Strokes, whom he met while ...

. Lach and The Secrets released their album, ''Today''. Lach toured UK and France as a solo artist, performing 35 dates supporting Suzanne Vega,

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and The Fine Young Cannibals. In 2005, he toured the UK including five dates sharing the bill with The Casbah Club. In 2006, Lach organized the biggest 'Fortified Summer Antifolk Fest' yet with a concert in

Tompkins Square Park Tompkins Square Park is a public park in the Alphabet City portion of East Village, Manhattan, New York City. The square-shaped park, bounded on the north by East 10th Street, on the east by Avenue B, on the south by East 7th Street, and on ...

, an anti-folk parade and special guest set from Suzanne Vega. Lach toured the UK including an Anti-folk Fest at

The Barfly The Barfly was a chain of live music venues in the United Kingdom originally started by Nick Moore, Jeremy Ledlin and Be Rozzo on Valentine's Day 1997. Club nights and events tended to feature rock, alternative and independent music. The flags ...

in London featuring Lach headlining a show with nine other UK anti-folk acts. In 2007, Lach signed with Primary UK Booking Agency. Lach finished his fifth album ''The Calm Before'' recording once again with

, Mike Visceglia,

Chris Barron Chris Barron (born Christopher Gross; born February 5, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of Spin Doctors. Biography Christopher Gross was born February 5, 1968, in Honolulu, where his father was statio ...

and Lydia Ooghe at Studio G in Brooklyn. In 2008, Lach said goodbye to Sidewalk Café and his weekly Antihoot, New York's longest running open mic ("A Manhattan Institution"). A subsequent documentary on Lach's farewell was filmed YouTube. ''The Calm Before'' was released on Fortified Records and Lach toured the US for the first time as well as the UK and the Netherlands. The album hit the College Charts, becoming Fortified's best seller. In 2009, he toured the UK with

Neil Halstead Neil Halstead (born 7 October 1970) is an English musician, widely known as singer, primary lyricist, and guitarist of shoegaze band Slowdive. He has been hailed by AllMusic as "one of Britain's most respected songwriters", and '' Time Out'' as ...

. In 2010, Lach completed a new album, ''Ramshackle Heart'' which was recorded in the UK with Halstead. Lach took on running two nights a week (the 'Tuesday Antihoot' and Wednesday's 'Lach Presents' series) at the

Webster Hall Webster Hall is a nightclub and concert venue located at 125 East 11th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, near Astor Place, in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. It is one of New York City's most historically significant ...

in New York. Lach subsequently took on the role of executive producer of the venue. After debuting his one-man show 'The Day I Went Insane' in the UK, Lach was discovered by

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Early life

Career

Discography

References