Jack Fisk and David Lynch, 1967, near 19th and Chestnut | Photo: C.K. Williams

When I was 15 years-old, in Paris, I found out about Twin Peaks. Actually, Twin Peaks found me.

I remember exactly what I felt and who I was when I watched the show for the first time, thirty-five years ago. A very very different person. It may sound cheesy, but it’s true: falling into the David Lynch universe as a teenager changed my life. That experience shaped my taste in film, music, fashion, people—and just about everything else. It felt like an invitation.

I don’t think I would have moved to Philly without all that weird stuff showing me the way. And you know what? I had no clue Lynch had lived here during his formative years as an artist. I was aware of the references to Philly in Twin Peaks and Fire Walk With Me. But it’s not until much later, when I was already living here, that I realized Lynch would have been a different Lynch without Philadelphia. He would have made different films. And I would have been someone else. [Read “David Lynch called Philadelphia one of ‘the sickest, most corrupt, fear-ridden’ cities. That’s what makes it Lynchian” from the Inquirer.]

The new season of Hidden City’s podcast Song of Philadelphia with Julien Suaudeau is Song of Lynchadelphia

For the first anniversary of his passing, I built a sound portal between Lynch’s dreamworld and my adopted city. Here’s Song of Lynchadelphia—how David Lynch dreamed up his cinema in Philadelphia. The third season of Song of Philadelphia will have six total episodes:

E01: Smiling Bags of Death, Part One January 15 [Listen: Apple / Spotify], Part Two January 29
E02: Fuck You, Gordon Part One February 19, Part Two March 5
E03: Lynch Memories March 19
E04: We are like the Dreamer April 16

In the Fireman’s words to Agent Dale Cooper: “Listen to the sounds.”