Murray Lachlan Young (born 14 March 1969) is a British poet, stand-up performer, broadcaster, playwright, screenwriter and children's author. He came to prominence during the Britpop era of the mid-1990s, when he became the only poet to sign a recording contract worth £1m.
Personal life
Murray Lachlan Young was born the youngest of two boys in Washington DC, to a Scottish father and an English mother.[citation needed]
He was brought up in Sevenoaks, Kent, where he attended Wildernesse School, graduating from Salford University with a degree in media performance.[citation needed]
In 1998, he married singer Zoë Pollock and after moving to a smallholding near St Leonards-on-Sea, they had two children.[1] They moved to St Levan, Cornwall later in 2004, but separated in 2009.[citation needed]
In 2014, he married singer-songwriter Elizabeth Cavendish and set up home in Dalston, London, before separating in 2016.[citation needed]
Young lives in London.[1]
Performances
Since Young's early shows supporting such acts as Julian Cope, the Pretenders and Dita von Teese on the music and cabaret circuit in London, live stand-up poetry has been a key part of his career.[citation needed]
Tom Hodgkinson, editor of The Idler magazine, writes "Murray is both an actor and a wit, a poet who can perform and a performer who can write poetry, rolled into one."[citation needed]
Live solo shows include:
- UK solo headline tours (2014 & 2016)
- Glastonbury Festival of Performing Arts (1996–present, except 2015)
- MTV Music Awards, US (1997)
- T in the Park Festival (1998 & 2001)
- Port Elliot Festival (2005–present)
- Latitude Festival (2006, ’13 & ’15)
- Goodlife Festival (2013, ’14 & ’15)
- Brighton Festival (2014)
- The Wilderness Festival (2014)
- 6 Music Festival (2014–present)
- Festival No 6 (2015–present)
- Poet in residence at The Union Club, Soho, London (1997–present)
- Poet in residence at The Arts Club, Mayfair, London (2014–16)
Books
- Vice & Verse (1997)
- Casual Sex and Other Verse (1997)
- How Freakin' Zeitgeist Are You? (2017)
- The Nine Dead Williams (2014)
- The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps (2018) [2]
Stage, film, dance and audio recordings
- Stage
- A Captive Audience (1992)
- The Fabulous Twister Brothers (1993)
- Modern Cautionary Tales for Children (2005)
- The Incomers (2013)
- Rehab (2016)
- Film
Features:
- Under Milk Wood (co-written, 2015)
- God’s Work (in development)
- The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps
- Summerset (writing)
Shorts:
- Desideratum (1992)
- Little Sucker Thumb (adapted, 1993)
- Plunkett and McClean (Gallows poem, 1997)
- Annie McClue (2011)
- The Story of Martin (animation, in production)
- Lycra Dad (in production)
- Dance
- Enjoy Your Stay (2010)
- Taste (2015)
- Audio recordings
- Live at Ronnie Scotts (1995)
- The Lost Album (1995)
- Simply Everyone’s Taking Cocaine (1997)
- Vice & Verse (1997)
- Casual Sex (1998)
- Murray Lachlan Young - Live (2011)
- The Alien Balladeer (2013)
Broadcasting
- Radio
- Poet in residence, The Breakfast Show, LBC (1996)
- Poet in residence, BBC 6 Music (2011–present day)
- Poet in residence, Saturday Live, BBC Radio 4 (2006–14)
- Regular contributor to Loose Ends, BBC Radio 4 (1995–present day)
- Regular contributor to Kaleidescope, BBC Radio 4 (1995)
- Regular contributor to The Arts Show, BBC Radio 2 (2014–present day)
- Regular contributor to BBC Radio 5 Live, including special commissions for Test Match Special, Cheltenham Gold Cup and City v United (2012–15)
- Scotland meet Murray Lachlan Young, BBC Radio 4 (2013)
- Alien Balladeer, BBC Radio 4 series (2014)
- The Symphony of Medinah, Narrator, BBC Radio 5 Live (2014)
- Cern, BBC World Service (2015)
- Television
- Murray Lachlan Young, MTV USA, series (1996)
- Vice Versa, BBC 2 television special (1997)
- Regular contributor, The Wright Stuff, Channel (2014–present)
- Contributor, Newsnight, BBC 2, (2014)
In 2021, Murray Lachlan Young teamed up with Orbital's Paul Hartnoll for a lockdown inspired album called The Virus Diaries under the name Hartnoll & Young.[3][4][5] In June 2021, the pair released a single from the album called "Garden Centre (Push the Trolley)"[6][7] as a follow-up to "I Need a Haircut".
References
- ^ a b "Life after million pound poetry". BBC News Online. 2006-01-13.
- ^ "Scotland Street Press | Bookstore | Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps". www.scotlandstreetpress.com. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ^ "Orbital's PAUL HARTNOLL and controversial poet and performance artist MURRAY LACHLAN YOUNG announce lockdown inspired album 'The Virus Diaries' | XS Noize | Online Music Magazine". www.xsnoize.com.
- ^ "Hartnoll & Young - The Virus Diaries - OUT NOW - News". May 27, 2021.
- ^ "Murray Lachlan Young". www.murraylachlanyoung.co.uk.
- ^ "BBC Radio 6 Music - Chris Hawkins, Manchester International Festival: Festival Square". BBC.
- ^ "Orbital's Paul Hartnoll & Poet Murray Lachlan Young release new single 'Garden Centre' | XS Noize | Online Music Magazine". www.xsnoize.com.
External links
- Official website
Media related to Murray Lachlan Young at Wikimedia Commons
Media related to Murray Lachlan Young at Wikimedia Commons