Gonzo Today’s latest recruit – Scottish Celtic Singer, Australia

Q. Who is Martin Lynch?
I grew up in Glasgow in Scotland and served an apprenticeship as a machine printer for Harper Collins publishers.

On reflection, I stumbled across Hunter S Thompson’s work by chance. It was one of the many books coming off the conveyor belt at the time and one that I picked up was none other than ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.’ As a rebellious teenager eager to “test the bounds of reality” as Jim Morrison famously once said – I devoured this book and many others of a similar flavor. About the same time we were printing numerous books about Eastern Philosophy so the Dalai Lama and Buddhism became another interest and ‘Seven Years in Tibet’ by Heinrich Harrer was one of many I enjoyed reading.

A few years later I migrated to Australia – a country where the sun is actually visible from the earth’s crust. Scotland is a wonderful country steeped in history – but the weather is cold, damp, arthritic, and the sun is obscured by maximum cloud cover. As the Scottish comedian Billy Connolly once pointed out, there are two seasons in Scotland – June and winter. I initially arrived in Sydney and lived there for about six years or so before heading north to the Gold Coast in Queensland.

A couple of years ago I had a midlife crisis of sorts and suddenly declared myself a ‘Celtic folk singer.’ I was a lead singer in my earlier years in Glasgow in a few original bands and felt I had something to prove to myself. I subsequently located two mega talented musicians and formed the Celtic folk group ‘Black Stove.’

Here we are belting out the Celtic folk tunes at the Lansdowne Road Irish Tavern in Surfers Paradise:

Q. How did you discover Gonzotoday?
It was a chance cyber encounter with Cody S Decker. Cody and I share a love for the work of Charles Bukowski. Cody is actually a poet of some merit. He introduced me to the world of gonzo and I’ve never looked back. It didn’t take me too long to work it out, Gonzotoday have some seriously creative folk in their ranks. Frankly, I’m humbled to have anything to do with them.

Q. Was the position of Colonel And Commander in Chief of Gonzo Operations in the Southern Hemisphere hotly contested?
No, I was the only applicant. I’ve been told they only accepted me as they receive subsidy for hiring persons of foreign extraction with diminished capacity.