Senior Lecturer, Music

Johny is a senior lecturer specialising in the study of popular music. He is a songwriter, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who, under the name Thirty Pounds of Bone has released six albums (one in collaboration with Dr Philip Reeder) and three EPs to consistent critical praise. In 2019 he began releasing music as J.Lynch where he could explore electronic music that sits outside of Popular Music, embracing more experimental compositional styles and modular synthesis. The releases so far have been in collaboration with research based label Difficult Art and Music. Johny has also appeared as a musician on a further 31 international releases since 2005. He has toured extensively throughout Europe as both solo artist and session musician.

Johny has worked on some more unusual projects including The Ship's Log as part of Lone Twin’s Boat Project for the Cultural Olympiad and Still Every Year They Went, a collection of maritime songs recorded at sea on a commercial fishing boat with composer/phonographer Dr Philip Reeder. A short film of this project was published by the Performance Research journal. He also collaborated with Jarman award winning artist/filmaker Seamus Harahan to develop a piece in response to Mercier and Camier for the first International Samuel Beckett Festival in Enniskillen and composed songs for the Cornish town of Hayle as part of the award winning Hayle Churks oral history app. His doctoral research was concerned with songwriting's relationship to place, and the making of alt-folksong. He has a particular interest in fidelity and multi-format recording.

He co-founded and led the Drift Collective for five years (a successful DIY artist led record label). Johny began teaching at Falmouth as a research student and started his current post in February 2013. Johny co-runs the POST- ensemble with Will Parker, which brings together analogue synthesis, prepared guitar and noise making devices in order to promote musical co-operation, close listening and a tactile and haptic engagement with electronic music.

Johny also writes music reviews for The Quietus.

External Links

Contact details

Qualifications

Qualifications

Year Qualification Awarding body
2014 PhD University of the Arts London
2004 MA Digital Media University of Sussex
2000 BA(Hons) Visual Performance Dartington College of Arts

Research Interests

Research interests and expertise

Johny's research interests include: Alt-folk as a means of articulating the experience of place, the aesthetics and ideologies of recording and production, autobiography in songwriting, atavism and postmodernity in approaches to folk music, modular synthesis, composition, and fidelity and ontology in production.

Research centre and group affiliations

Sonva

Research Outputs

Publications and research outputs

  • Lamb, Johny

    (2023), J.Lynch - Work of Progress & Etudes, online
  • Lamb, Johny

    (2021), J.Lynch The Tender Appropriation, online and limited edition physical release.
  • Lamb, Johny and Reeder, Philip

    (2019), Still Every Year They Went, Item availability may be restricted.
  • Lamb, Johny

    (2019), J.Lynch - Skipholt 31, Reykjavik, Iceland, Item availability may be restricted.
  • Lamb, Johny

    (2018), J.Lynch - Extended Play
  • Hayman, Darren and Lamb, Johny

    (2016), Herodsfoot, Cornwall - Thankful Villages #16, In: Thankful Villages volume 1, rivertones, UK
  • Lamb, Johny

    (2015), The Taxidermist (Thirty Pounds of Bone), Item availability may be restricted.
  • Lamb, John

    (2013), I Cannot Sing You Here, But For Songs Of Where
  • Lamb, Johny, Reeder, Philip and Frears, Lucy

    (2013), Churks, Clidgy & Doodle-Dashers songs
  • Lamb, Johny

    (2012), Have Done with the Celtic Phantom
  • Lamb, Johny

    (2012), The Ship's Log
  • Lamb, Johny

    (2010), Method
  • Lamb, Johny

    (2009), And They Go Down To It In Ships
  • Lamb, Johny

    (2006), The Homesick Children of Migrant Mothers
  • Lamb, Johny

    (2021), The Tender Appropriation., Difficult Art and Music, Bandcamp physical release, ISBN: N/A, Item availability may be restricted.
  • Lamb, Johny

    (2019), Dead Animals Ontologies of recorded songs through the analogue of taxidermy, In: Performance Research, Taylor and Francis, online and print, 24 (1), pp. 115-119, ISSN: 1352-8165
  • Lamb, Johny and Reeder, Philip

    (2016), 'Still Every Year They Went': Studio performance at sea, In: Performance Research, Taylor & Francis, Online, 21 (2), pp. 79-80, ISSN: ISSN 1469-9990, Item availability may be restricted.
  • Reeder, Philip and Lamb, Johny

    (2016), BBC Radio 3 Late Junction Radio Playback of 'still every year they went' composition 'Farewell To Grog'
  • Lamb, Johny and Reeder, Philip

    (2016), Farewell to Grogg, BBC Radio 3
  • Reeder, Philip and Lamb, Johny

    (2015), Project Report: 'still every year they went', In: Innovation In Music 2015, 8 June 2015, Anglia Ruskin University, (Unpublished)
  • Lamb, Johny and Reeder, Philip

    (2015), Reeder, Philip and Lamb, Johny (2015) Project Report: 'still every year they went'. In: Innovation In Music 2015, 8 June 2015, Anglia Ruskin University. (Unpublished), In: Innovation In Music 2015, 8 June 2015, KES innovation in Music, Anglia Ruskin, (Unpublished)
  • Ferrett, D

    Lamb, Johny, (2015), Dark Sound: Destructive Pop 2015, AMATA, Falmouth University
  • Lamb, Johny and Singh-Barmi, Kuldip

    (2022), Noise Drawings 1, 3, & 2, In: Music and/as Process, 17th September 2022, Online

Research Students

Current research students

Johny is currently supervising three PhDs.

Teaching

Areas of teaching

  • Popular Music
  • Songwriting
  • Composition
  • Music Recording and Production

Courses taught

  • BA(Hons) Popular Music
  • BA(Hons) Music
  • BA(Hons) Creative Music Technology
  • MFA

Professional Engagement

Independent professional practice

  • Thirty Pounds of Bone. 2022. When I Was On Horseback. Armellodie. (Produced)
  • J.Lynch. 2021. The Tender Appropriation. Difficult Art And Music (Produced)
  • J.Lynch. 2021. Oh! Teresa (On Brexshitting compilation). Difficult Art And Music (Produced)
  • Thirty Pounds of Bone. 2021. whence, the. Armellodie. (Produced)
  • J.Lynch. 2019. Skipholt 31. Holt. (Produced)
  • Thirty Pounds of Bone. 2018. You Made Me (Home Taping is Music 4). Woodland Recordings. (Produced)
  • the small. 2018. Lungcutters. Holt. (Produced)
  • Thirty Pounds of Bone & Philip Reeder. 2017. Still Every Year They Went. Armellodie.
  • Thirty Pounds of Bone. 2015. The Taxidermist. Armellodie. (Produced)
  • Thirty Pounds of Bone. 2013. I Cannot Sing You Here, But For Songs Of Where. Armellodie. (Produced)
  • Thirty Pounds of Bone. 2013. Have Done With The Celtic Phantom. Woodland Recordings. (Produced)
  • Thirty Pounds of Bone. 2012. The Ship's Log. Lone Twin. (Produced)
  • Thirty Pounds of Bone. 2010. Method. Armellodie. (Produced)
  • Thirty Pounds of Bone. 2007. And They Go Down To It In Ships. Woodland Recordings. (Produced)
  • Thirty Pounds of Bone. 2006. The Homesick Children of Migrant Mothers. Drift Records. (Co-Produced)
  • With other bands
  • Jim Bob 2021. Who Do We Hate Today? Cherry Red.
  • Martha Tilston 2017. Nomad. Squiggly Records.
  • The Pure Conjecture 2017. No Ghosts. Armellodie.
  • The Diamond Family Archive 2016. Ye Poor and Maimed. Map.
  • Darren Hayman 2016. Thankful Villages Vol.1. Rivertones.
  • The Great Park 2016. Turn Your Back on the Crown. Woodland Recordings.
  • The Diamond Family Archive 2015. Would I Were a Swift or a Skylark Be. Map.
  • Haunted House. 2014. Woodland Recordings
  • Jim Bob 2013. What I Think About When I Think About You. The Ten Forty Sound.
  • Darren Hayman and the Long Parliament. 2013. Bugbears. Fika Recordings
  • Chris T-T and the Hoodrats. 2013. The Bear. Xtra Mile Recordings 
  • Jim Bob. 2012. Day Job. The Ten Forty Sound
  • Binoculers. 2012. There Is Not Enough Space In The Dark. Hafenschlammrekords
  • Cuddly Shark. 2012. Body Mass Index. Armellodie
  • The Pure Conjecture. 2012. Courgettes. Armellodie
  • The Great Park. 2011. Now Wash Your Hands. Woodland Recordings
  • Le Reno Amps. 2011. Appetite. Armellodie
  • The Masked Eldorados of the Americas. 2011. If You Are Prepared To Kill It, You Can Eat It. Lynched Recordings
  • The Diamond Family Archive. 2011. Lakes, Meres, Ponds and Waters. Dinosaur Club
  • King James. 2010. King James. Bleeding Hearts Records
  • Jim Bob. 2009. Goffam. The Ten Forty Sound 
  • Cottonmouth Rocks. 2008. Witch Doctor. Drift Records. (Produced) 
  • The R. G. Morrison. 2008. Farewell My Lovely. Loose. (Produced) 
  • Matt Eaton. 2008. Finish Your Chips. Drift Records
  • Actress Hands. 2008. Come the Summer Days. Life is Easy
  • Actress Hands. 2007. Boys Need Jazz. Life Is Easy
  • Actress Hands. 2007. Snack Horse. Life is Easy
  • Palm Springs. 2007. No Hurt Like A Broken Heart. Random Acts of Vinyl
  • Tandy Hard. 2007. Tandy Hard. Drift Records
  • Actress Hands. 2006. Half an Hour. Life is Easy
  • The R. G. Morrison. 2005. Learning About Loathing. Drift Records. (Co-Produced)