Pictish Trail

Under the name Pictish Trail, Johnny Lynch has since the early 2000s developed a solo project born in Edinburgh and rooted in the Scottish indie scene, blending offbeat folk, lo-fi pop, and electronic textures. Active since 2002, he first released several handmade recordings before the album Secret Soundz Vol. 1 in 2008, then In Rooms in 2010, a brief format built around miniatures, and Secret Soundz Vol. 2 in 2013. Based on the island of Eigg, Pictish Trail also played a structuring role in this ecosystem by running Fence Records until 2013, before founding Lost Map Records. His music evolves toward a broader, more synthetic writing with Future Echoes in 2016, produced by Adem, then Thumb World in 2020, Island Family in 2022 and Life Slime in 2025, without abandoning a taste for oblique melodies, domestic arrangements, and an often slightly surreal tone. In parallel, Johnny Lynch has collaborated with James Yorkston and Malcolm Middleton, and formed the duo Silver Columns with Adem on the album Yes, and Dance in 2010. A longtime presence on British DIY scenes, Pictish Trail remains connected to the Green Man festival, which he frequents and where he has played since its early days.