Nomy Lamm

Naomi Elizabeth "Nomy" Lamm^[1] (born September 1, 1975)^[2] is an American singer/songwriter and political activist. Lamm has described herself as a "bad ass, fat ass, Jew, dyke amputee."^[3][4] Her left foot was amputated at age three, in order to be fitted with a leg prosthesis, to treat a bone growth disorder. This trauma influenced Lamm's later work concerning body image. She is also known for her obesity and activism on the issue of fat acceptance.

Biography

1990s

Lamm was involved with musical theater during her youth. She became part of the queercore scene in Olympia, Washington, where she performed with various musicians. In 1991 she published the first of three issues of a zine titled I'm So Fucking Beautiful. The zine's visual narrative of vulnerability deliberately counters its textual power where she expresses her anger at her treatment as a young fat woman.^[5]

In 1999, Lamm released a solo debut album of punk rock music with revolutionary themes, titled Anthem. Originally, the record company Talent Show sought to compile the work of the various bands with whom she performed as frontwoman, but Lamm chose to re-record the music as a solo project. Later in 1999, Lamm released The Transfused, a soundtrack to the anti-corporate rock musical that she created with The Need. Lamm also toured as part of Doctor Frockrocket’s Vivifying Reanimatronic Menagerie and Medicine Show. Effigy, released by Yoyo Recordings, represented a departure for Lamm, with electronica replacing the sparse production of her previous work. "What I'm doing now is total disco-pop," she said at the time, "but it’s still punk because it was created through punk channels using punk ethics." Thematically, Effigy continued Lamm's call for a revolution, but this album's focus was on an internal, rather than external revolution.

2000s

Lamm continued to publish zines, and she also gave theatrical college lectures on fat oppression, sometimes dressed in fairy wings and waving a magic wand. For this, Lamm was nominated for Ms. magazine's "Woman Of The Year" award.^[6] Lamm also toured as part of the spoken word performance troupe, Sister Spit, and wrote as a regular columnist for Punk Planet magazine.

From January 2004 until May 2005, Lamm co-hosted a monthly genderqueer open mike variety show called The Finger with Ana Jae. The show was held at a feminist sex toy store in Chicago, called Early to Bed, and it featured live poetry, improv, comedy, dance, storytelling, video exhibition, folk music, rock music, and performance art. The Finger was said to inspire local queer people to take artistic risks and express themselves freely.

Lamm's music is featured in the 2006 documentary, Young, Jewish, and Left.^[7] An interview with her about the connections between punk rock and Judaism appear in the DVD extras. Lamm's most recent group musical venture is with the band Tricrotic with Marcus Rogers and Erin Daly. They have recorded one EP.^[8]

2010s

Her current project is entitled nomy lamm and The Whole Wide World, which is a platform for collaborations with other artists of any genre, such as Dylan Shearer, Mirah, Annah Anti-Palindrome, EPRhyme, and Felonious. She writes for make/shift magazine in the section called Dear Nony.^[9] She also performs with a Bay Area organization called Sins Invalid, a non-profit arts organization, which features performances about sexuality and disability and centralizes the work of people of color and queer people.^[10] Lamm is working on her first novel, titled The Best Part Comes After the End In 2012 Lamm was a keynote speaker at the biannual Femme Conference. She has just completed writing her first book, for her MFA, a series of short stories about trauma and transformation called 515 Clues.^[11]

Discography

Albums

• Nobody Knows What We've Been Through, self-release 2008
• Effigy, Yoyo Recordings, 2003
• The Transfused, (with The Need), Yoyo Recordings, 2000
• Anthem, Talent Show Records, 1999

See also

• Fat acceptance movement
• Fat feminism

References

External links

• Official website
• Intercourse 2002: a Sex and Gender Spoken Word Recipe for Revolution Interview with the Portland Mercury