Go Back   Sonic Youth Gossip > Sonic Gossip
Reload this Page Thurston interview
Register FAQ Members List Mark Forums Read

 
Thread Tools
Old 06.11.2006, 08:26 AM   #1
Moshe
Super Moderator
 
Moshe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 5,896
Moshe kicks all y'all's assesMoshe kicks all y'all's assesMoshe kicks all y'all's assesMoshe kicks all y'all's assesMoshe kicks all y'all's assesMoshe kicks all y'all's assesMoshe kicks all y'all's assesMoshe kicks all y'all's assesMoshe kicks all y'all's assesMoshe kicks all y'all's assesMoshe kicks all y'all's asses
http://www.timeout.com/newyork/Detai...uper_sonic.xml

Super Sonic
Twenty-five years after Sonic Youth sprouted from the New York underground, alt-rock icon Thurston Moore is still letting loose.
By Mike Wolf
 

“After the first jam I was like, ‘Dude, can we put your record out?’ ”
Illustration: Rob Kelly

Things seem pretty sweet for Thurston Moore. It’s Sonic Youth’s silver-anniversary year, and the band has made its best and most direct album in years, Rather Ripped. Besides looking forward to a hectic summer of global touring, Moore recently inked a deal with Universal to distribute his label, the vastly respected Ecstatic Peace—and promptly signed a wad of new bands, including hyped Nashville teenage quartet Be Your Own Pet and TONY faves Awesome Color. While Moore, 45, is considered an NYC legend, he’s been enjoying life in relatively sleepy Northampton, Massachusetts, for years with his wife, Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon, and their preteen daughter, Coco—and all three of them just appeared on the season finale of their favorite TV show, Gilmore Girls. Yup, sounds rough. We reached Moore by phone, where he was at home after enduring a strenuous day of “jamming, record shopping and grilling out.”



Rather Ripped is great—was it refreshing to write regular rock songs again?
Since [guitarist-producer] Jim O’Rourke wasn’t going to be on the record, I wanted a situation that was more immediate; it’s what the title’s about. It’s an aspect of songwriting I really like, that quick-take rock & roll. We’d gotten so involved with noise extrapolations lately that I felt like maybe it’d be a good thing not to utilize that element.
You just signed a major-label deal for Ecstatic Peace. Why make that move now?
Because I get so many people soliciting me with things to put out, and some of it is very straight-up indie rock, stuff that could have a competitive margin out there. But I don’t have time to do all the work, and I definitely don’t have the business acumen.
I heard you signed Awesome Color without having seen them play.
That’s true—they played up here and I missed the gig, but I was really intrigued by the name. A friend who went said nobody was there when they went on but that they were this totally rocking, incredible thing, so I went to their MySpace page. After 30 seconds of the first jam, I e-mailed [frontman] Derek Stanton and was like, “Dude, can we put your record out?” He wrote back, “Fuck yes!” [Laughs]
How long have you lived in Northampton?
Since, like, ’99.
Were you looking for a better place to raise a kid?
It worked out that way, but it wasn’t our motive. Coco started getting older and we were getting crowded out of our Manhattan apartment. We looked around NYC but couldn’t afford anything. We came to look at a house on the Smith College campus, and it had a huge basement and a backyard, and it was half the price of things we were looking at in NYC. Days like today, the beautiful first days of summer, make it all worthwhile.
You have a show at CBGB coming up. Would you be playing there if the club weren’t about to close?
I don’t know. [Pauses] I was walking past CB’s one afternoon and Hilly [Kristal, the owner] was there. Nothing was going on and the beer lights were on, and it felt so iconic. Hilly’s always been good to me, even before Sonic Youth. What always made that place special is that the booking was dictated by whatever artistic movement was going on. In a way, that’s fantastic; any joe could get a gig and at least get this one chance. But no one looks for talent there anymore ’cause it got so watered-down.
How did the Gilmore Girls appearance come about?
I was flipping channels in a hotel room one morning and it came on; my daughter said, “Stop!” The dialogue blew my mind—all these arcane literary references and clever repartee—and I got addicted. There was an episode where one character said to another, “You’re boyfriend and girlfriend. You can’t be in a band together; it won’t work.” The other one said, “Oh yeah, what about Sonic Youth?” And my fucking jaw dropped. So I called our management, and they made a couple of calls, and the show’s people—Amy Palladino and her husband, Daniel, who are supercool—invited us to come on. So me, Kim and Coco played “What a Waste” from the new album. We weren’t Sonic Youth—we were this horrible thing that annoys the whole town.
Rather Ripped is out Tuesday 13. Sonic Youth plays CBGB Tuesday 13 and McCarren Pool August 11 and 12.
Moshe is offline   |QUOTE AND REPLY|
Old 06.11.2006, 09:16 AM   #2
greenlight
invito al cielo
 
greenlight's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 5,131
greenlight kicks all y'all's assesgreenlight kicks all y'all's assesgreenlight kicks all y'all's assesgreenlight kicks all y'all's assesgreenlight kicks all y'all's assesgreenlight kicks all y'all's assesgreenlight kicks all y'all's assesgreenlight kicks all y'all's assesgreenlight kicks all y'all's assesgreenlight kicks all y'all's assesgreenlight kicks all y'all's asses
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moshe
How did the Gilmore Girls appearance come about?
I was flipping channels in a hotel room one morning and it came on; my daughter said, “Stop!” The dialogue blew my mind—all these arcane literary references and clever repartee—and I got addicted. There was an episode where one character said to another, “You’re boyfriend and girlfriend. You can’t be in a band together; it won’t work.” The other one said, “Oh yeah, what about Sonic Youth?” And my fucking jaw dropped. So I called our management, and they made a couple of calls, and the show’s people—Amy Palladino and her husband, Daniel, who are supercool—invited us to come on. So me, Kim and Coco played “What a Waste” from the new album. We weren’t Sonic Youth—we were this horrible thing that annoys the whole town.
Rather Ripped is out Tuesday 13. Sonic Youth plays CBGB Tuesday 13 and McCarren Pool August 11 and 12.

finaly gilmore girls explanation. nice interview. thanks moshe!
greenlight is offline   |QUOTE AND REPLY|
Old 06.11.2006, 09:50 AM   #3
PAULYBEE2656
invito al cielo
 
PAULYBEE2656's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: wexford, rep of ireland
Posts: 6,930
PAULYBEE2656 kicks all y'all's assesPAULYBEE2656 kicks all y'all's assesPAULYBEE2656 kicks all y'all's assesPAULYBEE2656 kicks all y'all's assesPAULYBEE2656 kicks all y'all's assesPAULYBEE2656 kicks all y'all's assesPAULYBEE2656 kicks all y'all's assesPAULYBEE2656 kicks all y'all's assesPAULYBEE2656 kicks all y'all's assesPAULYBEE2656 kicks all y'all's assesPAULYBEE2656 kicks all y'all's asses
yeah, moshetastic again!!!!
__________________
PAULYBEE2656 is offline   |QUOTE AND REPLY|
Old 06.11.2006, 10:26 AM   #4
screamingskull
invito al cielo
 
screamingskull's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: england
Posts: 5,580
screamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's asses
good to hear a gilmore girls explanation from Thurston, ive been watching the show since they announced their appearence on it, havent seen their episode yet, but the shows alright, the dialogue gets a bit annoying sometimes though.
screamingskull is offline   |QUOTE AND REPLY|
Old 06.11.2006, 11:15 AM   #5
whorefrost
invito al cielo
 
whorefrost's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Arrived in Smoke, Arrived in Gold
Posts: 2,569
whorefrost kicks all y'all's asseswhorefrost kicks all y'all's asseswhorefrost kicks all y'all's asseswhorefrost kicks all y'all's asseswhorefrost kicks all y'all's asseswhorefrost kicks all y'all's asseswhorefrost kicks all y'all's asseswhorefrost kicks all y'all's asseswhorefrost kicks all y'all's asseswhorefrost kicks all y'all's asseswhorefrost kicks all y'all's asses
gilmore girls is on a channel called hallmark in UK. i watched a few minutes of it once and really loathed it.
whorefrost is offline   |QUOTE AND REPLY|
Old 06.11.2006, 11:21 AM   #6
screamingskull
invito al cielo
 
screamingskull's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: england
Posts: 5,580
screamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's assesscreamingskull kicks all y'all's asses
yeah it's on hallmark at 5.00pm everyday, it used to be on nickelodeon on sundays at 6.00pm too.
screamingskull is offline   |QUOTE AND REPLY|
Old 06.11.2006, 04:05 PM   #7
krastian
invito al cielo
 
krastian's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Baltimore
Posts: 7,808
krastian kicks all y'all's asseskrastian kicks all y'all's asseskrastian kicks all y'all's asseskrastian kicks all y'all's asseskrastian kicks all y'all's asseskrastian kicks all y'all's asseskrastian kicks all y'all's asseskrastian kicks all y'all's asseskrastian kicks all y'all's asseskrastian kicks all y'all's asseskrastian kicks all y'all's asses
Thanks man.
__________________
Confusion is next and next after that is the Truth.
krastian is offline   |QUOTE AND REPLY|
Old 06.11.2006, 07:05 PM   #8
Magic Wheel Memory
the end of the ugly
 
Magic Wheel Memory's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Nowhere, NJ
Posts: 836
Magic Wheel Memory kicks all y'all's assesMagic Wheel Memory kicks all y'all's assesMagic Wheel Memory kicks all y'all's assesMagic Wheel Memory kicks all y'all's assesMagic Wheel Memory kicks all y'all's assesMagic Wheel Memory kicks all y'all's assesMagic Wheel Memory kicks all y'all's assesMagic Wheel Memory kicks all y'all's assesMagic Wheel Memory kicks all y'all's assesMagic Wheel Memory kicks all y'all's assesMagic Wheel Memory kicks all y'all's asses
I'm glad to hear the Gilmore Girls explanation. How shocked some people must be that THURSTON MOORE could enjoy such a "silly, mainstream" TV show! It just shows he's human, too. I enjoy the show, although the rapid-fire dialogue is a bit annoying. I find it somewhat intriguing that such incredible, innovative music can come from people living a relatively "normal" suburban American lifestyle.
Magic Wheel Memory is offline   |QUOTE AND REPLY|
Old 06.11.2006, 08:16 PM   #9
umjammer atomsk
the end of the ugly
 
umjammer atomsk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 889
umjammer atomsk kicks all y'all's assesumjammer atomsk kicks all y'all's assesumjammer atomsk kicks all y'all's assesumjammer atomsk kicks all y'all's assesumjammer atomsk kicks all y'all's assesumjammer atomsk kicks all y'all's assesumjammer atomsk kicks all y'all's assesumjammer atomsk kicks all y'all's assesumjammer atomsk kicks all y'all's assesumjammer atomsk kicks all y'all's assesumjammer atomsk kicks all y'all's asses
Nice interview, thanks. I really don't like the show but I could care less if Thurston does. The jaw-dropping thing was really funny though.
__________________

umjammer atomsk is offline   |QUOTE AND REPLY|


Thread Tools

All content ©2006 Sonic Youth