Lynks has one instruction for Boomtown: "F*cking dance!!!!"

After years of building a reputation as one of the UK’s most gloriously unhinged live performers, Lynks is finally bringing their full-force, genre-scrambling spectacle to Boomtown. 

Armed with three EPs, sold-out UK tours, a freshly minted deal with Heavenly Recordings, and a rapidly growing congregation of devoted fans, this is not just a set - it’s a sermon.

Lynks arrives at Boomtown fresh from unveiling their debut album “Abomination”, a record that swings wildly between filthy euphoria and gut-punch vulnerability. It’s an album that drags modern queer life into the spotlight - from casual hook-ups and Catholic guilt to pop culture obsession and unrequited desire - all delivered with razor-sharp wit and total fearlessness.

Sonically, Lynks exists in a universe of its own. Imagine a club night thrown into a blender with Peaches, M.I.A, Courtney Barnett and Janelle Monáe, then served up with glitchy synths, lo-fi pop moments, punk energy and spoken-word chaos. 

While earlier releases thrived on relentless pace and maximalist chaos, Abomination gives Lynks space to breathe, explore and experiment. There are still outrageous concepts and laugh-out-loud moments, but there’s also tenderness, reflection and storytelling.

Lynks is pure Boomtown energy because they exist entirely outside the rules musically, visually and culturally. Their work thrives in the space the festival was built for: where genre collapses, queer identity is celebrated, and chaos becomes community. 

Like Boomtown itself, Lynks embraces the absurd, confronts the uncomfortable, and invites everyone watching to become part of something bigger, stranger and more liberated than everyday life.

Boomtown has always been a home for artists who don’t fit neatly anywhere else. This summer, Lynks steps onto that stage not asking for permission, but demanding attention.

We caught up with Lynks ahead of his set on Nexus...

Your live shows have become legendary for their chaos. For someone who's never seen you perform, what should they expect before your Boomtown set?
The Lynks live show was once described as “like watching a Sugababes gig on a fistful of shrooms” and I really liked that. Basically, it’s a lot of bangers, a lot of bass and some big, big choreographed madness.

You've sold out venues across the UK, but a festival crowd can be a different beast. How do you approach a set where some of the audience might not know who you are yet?
To be honest I kind of love it? It’s like hanging out with an old friend versus making a new friend. Both are great, but there’s something very cool about taking a cold crowd and warming them up. Feels like you've won a game. The show is so mad though, I feel like everyone gets on board pretty quick….

How has your creative process changed since you first started Lynks?

When I first started I was creating music for an audience of zero and I think that informed the kind of “do whatever the fuck you want” spirit of it. If anything, as I’ve gone on, the hard part has been to try and hold on to that spirit while the audience has got bigger. I reckon it's always a good idea to try and create for an audience of zero. That’s when you make the most unique stuff.

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The choreography is a massive part of a Lynks set. How do the routines come together? Does the process go hand in hand with the music production?

It depends! In the past, I’d generally come into rehearsals with a veeeery loose idea for the choreo, and then me and my dancers (Jacq, Cam and Kate) would kind of build on it and tighten it up together. For the most recent shows though, we’ve been dividing the new tunes up, and each taking one to choreograph before we go to rehearsals. It’s amazing, and makes everything way smoother, but they’re also literal professional dancers so my limited dance talents are being stretched a wee bit.

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Boomtown thrives on immersion - people don't just watch, they become part of the world. Your shows work the same way. How do you think those two energies are going to collide?

I feel like it’s hopefully gonna be kind of ideal? I feel Boomtown’s one of those festivals where you don’t plan out every minute - you just kind of hop around and see what mad stuff happens. And I reckon a Lynks show is like the perfect mad thing to stumble upon while bopping about slightly off your face.

The outfits and visuals have always been a huge part of the project. How does that side of Lynks evolve - do you plan it out or does it happen instinctively?

An interesting one! For a long time I think I just aimed for whatever would have the most “visual impact”. So I'd kind of just chase whatever visual I felt “looked good”. But recently I’ve realised that meant my aesthetic didn’t feel particularly true to me anymore. I reflected on it a bit, and thought about how I actually WANTED to look, and have ended up in this current aesthetic. It’s objectively very tacky, very ugly but spiritually very “me”. It’s hideous and I’m loving it. People seem to like the tiny shorts too.

Your sound has covered a lot of ground - dance, punk, pop, something completely unclassifiable. Where do you feel like it's heading next? Is there any genres you think people would be surprised that you’re digging at the moment?

I’ve been very immersed in DJ world for the last couple of years, and that’s rubbed off in quite a heavy way on my new tunes. My new tunes really make me want to dance in a way that not all my older stuff has, which is very satisfying for me. So for now we’re very in dance-land, touching on electroclash, tech-house, hyperpop, speed garage, lil bit of bubbling and baile thrown in there too. But I listen to a very wide mix of genres day to day so who knows where the next batch of tunes will go… I always have fantasies about going a bit analog… Watch this space I guess!

"Abomination" has real vulnerability in it alongside the bangers. When you're building a festival setlist, do the quieter, more personal tracks survive - or does the field demand chaos from start to finish?

I don’t think it’s one or the other! Some of my most personal are also the biggest chaotic bangers you know? 

Ideally I like to build a set that balances keeps the energy as high as possible, keeping in as many of the bangers people love in there, and including enough new stuff to make it exciting for me and my dancers.

If you could give one instruction to everyone walking into your Boomtown set this August, what would it be? 

Fucking dance!!!!

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