Kim Gordon became alternative rock royalty in her 30 years singing and playing bass with no-wave band Sonic Youth. They released 16 albums together. Gordon will be at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro tonight to talk about her new memoir, "Girl in a Band."
The book covers Gordon's upbringing and creative inspirations in California and New York. But, most notably, it describes the rise and fall of Sonic Youth, which she formed with guitarists Lee Ranaldo and, Gordon's husband of 27 years, Thurston Moore.
Gordon says "Girl In A Band" title is a reference to the way music reporters treated her as a token member in the 1980s and 90s. Gordon was a style icon, and offered an experimental influence to Sonic Youth. She sings lead in their song, "Kool Thing."
'Lee never said a word. Whenever Thurston spoke to me sharply or bluntly, it seemed to make him uncomfortable, and it was probably hard for Lee and Steve to figure out the boundaries of where Thurston and I started as a couple, and stopped as band mates.' - Kim Gordon, 'Girl In A Band'
Gordon writes that she and Moore had complementary tastes and usually agreed on mixes and album art. Any arguments, she writes, tended to center on how Thurston spoke sharply to her. She recalls Richard Edson noticing the dynamic and standing up for her.
Sonic Youth played its last show in 2011, around the same time Gordon and Moore separated.
These days Gordon lives in Massachusetts' Happy Valley. She says there's a burgeoning experimental music scene in the region. Gordon now plays in an improvisational guitar duo with longtime friend Bill Nace.
They're called Body/Head.
She says music depends on the personalities making it. She says Sonic Youth was heavily arranged. With Nace, Gordon says they improvise until they find cohesive sections and then reshape them.
"Bill has a certain vocabulary of sounds and sensitivity and I like to say girl energy, although he'd probably hate me for that, as I do too."
Here's the video for their song, "The Last Mistress".
Tonight, Kim Gordon will sit down with Superchunk drummer and humorist Jon Wurster at the Cat's Cradle to share more about her story and her music. Her book, Girl in a Band is out this week.
