Life

QUALMS

UP entertainer comes home

HANCOCK -- Al Lynch's speaking voice can be described as gritty, composed and deep. But when singing, the 33-year old U.P. native is animated and lively. His downtempo, soulful, electronic r&b moves those who listen to it. A veteran of the music industry, Lynch has worked in Grand Rapids, Detroit and Los Angeles -- he now returns to the U.P. to pursue a solo recording career as QUALMS.

Lynch said he has been playing music since he was ten. 23 years later, the story is the same: music is his livelihood. "After a while I started writing my own music in my early 20s with keyboards and started kind of getting into electronics and met producers that show me how to produce music and write," he said.

Lynch moved down to Grand Rapids from the U.P. in the mid-2010s and started performing under his name, rather than as a part of a band. He said his style back then was more reminiscent of an indie rock sound -- soon signing with Assemble Sound label in Detroit.

"It started out at this old church that they kind of found and started building studios in," he said. "I kind of just kept showing up every weekend from Grand Rapids to get in there. They were basically like, 'well, you're here so much that we can't say you're not a part of it.'"

Lynch moved to Detroit and hit the studio, working with many different kinds of artists. From hip-hop, electronic, rock and r&b -- he is a man with many hats. It's the kids of opportunities most musicians from small towns would kill for.

"It was really super exciting being given so many opportunities. Being somebody from Norway, Mich., which is 1,500 people in this one-stop town. So, it took me some time to adapt to cities and figuring that out," he said. "Over time, it's become kind of just who I am -- being involved in music scenes that are super ambitious."

Before moving back to the U.P., Lynch spent some time in Los Angeles. He said he relocated there in 2019, right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

"The first six months I was there, I kind of got invited into this big studio that was filled with these pop producers," he said. "They are just at the top of their game. Just being around them, getting to soak up their experience... that feeling that I was talking about of things feeling accelerated -- that was a different thing."

Lynch spent most of his LA-stint indoors on zoom calls, he said. His itch for performing subsided as he took a backseat and honed his producing craft. After a few years, he finally made the decision to move back to the U.P. -- spurred on by his old bandmate, Alex Arseneau of rock band Cattle Dogs.

The 33-year old music industry veteran is looking forward to releasing new music and playing at local venues in the Keweenaw. While Lynch does not an official slated release date for his solo work, he said he hopes to release some music in September, along with headlining a Sept. 26 show at The Orpheum.

Joining Lynch in this chapter of his career is local artist, Helen Belopavlovich -- who goes by the moniker "Lahja." Belopavlovich is Lynch's Art Director and manages stage plots, ambience and the general direction of QUALMS.

Belopavlovich said working with Lynch and managing this portion of his career has been eye-opening for the them.

"It's been a really interesting experience getting to know someone who just has lived in so many different places, but let alone has stuck with one thing -- and that's his music," they said. "As a person who's trying to find their own path, with their own art and realize that I have the ability to show it to people; I really wanted to expand that for another person as well on an organizational basis."

Both Lynch and Belopavlovich will be at Digital Bloom today in Houghton.