Custom

Duane Lavold, performing under the name Custom, spent his early years in rural Canada. His initial recognition came through cinema when he wrote and directed the short film Loafing, which earned the Audience Award at the International Slamdance Film Festival in 1997. An unreleased project titled Limp included a role for INXS singer Michael Hutchence and was ultimately shelved following Hutchence’s suicide. Lavold later relocated to New York City with ambitions of establishing himself in music. As Artist Direct Records’ first signing, he cut his debut album, Fast, inside a home studio constructed alongside his father and performed nearly all the instruments on the record himself. In 2002 the video for his debut single “Hey Mister,” which he had also directed, drew public attention when MTV refused to air it. Fast arrived in March 2002 and reached number 124 on the Billboard 200. Plans to return to filmmaking prompted additional recording sessions, yet none of the resulting material saw release. Lavold suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on December 18, 2021, during a visit to Greece at the age of 54.