Thurston Moore

Thurston Moore
Image:Thurston Moore.jpg
Background information
Birth name	Thurston Joseph Moore
Also known as	Mirror
Born	July 25 1958 (age 50) Coral Gables, Florida, USA
Genre(s)	Alternative rock Noise rock No Wave Art rock
Occupation(s)	Singer Guitarist Songwriter Record producer
Instrument(s)	Vocals Guitar screwdriver drum stick
Years active	1980 - Present
Label(s)	Geffen SST Ecstatic Peace!
Associated acts	Sonic Youth Ciccone Youth Mirror/Dash Dream/Aktion Unit Bark Haze Dim Stars Even Worse

Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958 in Coral Gables, Florida) is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the band Sonic Youth. He has participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running a small record label.

Early years

Moore was born in Coral Gables, Florida, but was raised in Bethel, Connecticut. Although he enrolled at Western Connecticut State University, he opted to move to New York City instead to join the burgeoning post-punk/no wave music scenes.^{[citation needed]} There, he and Lee Ranaldo learned experimental guitar techniques in Glenn Branca's No Wave "guitar orchestras."^{[citation needed]}

Sonic Youth

He and Ranaldo soon co-founded Sonic Youth, serving as the band's guitarists, with Moore on lead vocals. His vocal style was generally described as a deep "surfer" drawl, and has always been peppered with obtuse "hipster" lingo.^{[citation needed]} His lyrics often go on Beat poet-inspired stream of consciousness tangents.^{[citation needed]} The band signed to Neutral Records, then to Homestead Records, and then to SST Records, becoming what is widely considered the most influential American underground rock band of the 1980s.^{[citation needed]}

In 1985, he married Sonic Youth bassist/vocalist Kim Gordon; the pair have a daughter, Coco Hayley Gordon Moore. Thurston is known for playing Fender Jazzmaster guitars, along with a host of other Fender models, like the Mustang and Jaguar.^{[citation needed]} Thurston is notorious for being very harsh on his guitars, sometimes smashing or abusing them during concerts.^{[citation needed]} He and Ranaldo often heavily modify their instruments to provide unusual timbres and drones, and they are known for bringing upwards of fifty guitars to every live gig.^{[citation needed]} (They use some guitars for one song only.) In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked he and Ranaldo the 33rd and 34th best guitarists in music history. Their playing style is very innovative, and they both use a variety of avant-garde methods, such as the so-called "3rd Bridge" screwdriver technique, though their playing style became more traditional/conservative after the 1980s.^{[citation needed]}

Work outside of Sonic Youth

In addition to his work with Sonic Youth, Moore has also released albums as a solo artist (one under the moniker David Adelmen), including 1995's Psychic Hearts. He and Gordon released a few songs as Mirror/Dash, a reference to their respective nicknames. ("Mirror" being an alliterative pun on "Moore," and "Dash" being a pun on Flash Gordon.) He has collaborated with scores of underground musicians, including Lydia Lunch, DJ Spooky, William Hooker, Christian Marclay, Mike Watt, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Nels Cline, R.E.M., Cock E.S.P., and My Cat is an Alien. Most of his solo/duo collaborations have been instrumental (vocal-free), and generally improvised and/or noise based.

In the early 1990's, Moore formed the side band Dim Stars, featuring punk legend Richard Hell of the Voidoids. Moore performed solo on the side stage of the 1993 Lollapalooza tour.

Since 2004, Moore has recorded and performed with the all-star noise collective To Live and Shave in L.A., the lineup of which also features Andrew W.K.. He recorded with the band at Sonic Youth's former studio in Manhattan, and later performed with them at the George W. Bush "anti-inaugural" Noise Against Fascism concert in Washington, D.C., named in reference to S.Y.'s 1992 song "Youth Against Fascism." Moore curated the "Nightmare Before Christmas" weekend of the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival, in December 2006.

Moore is said to be preparing a solo album for release in 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Record label and writings

Moore and other S.Y. members published the irreverent music zine Sonic Life. Moore runs the independent record label Ecstatic Peace!. Beginning in 1993, this label jointly released records with rock critic Byron Coley's label, Father Yod, as Ecstatic Yod Records.

Moore reviewed new music in the recently-defunct (as of early 2007) Arthur Magazine. He manages the website [Protest Records http://www.protest-records.com], named for its protest against music piracy laws. Moore was the editor/overseer of the 2005 book Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture.

Additional information

• In the early '80s, Moore was briefly in the hardcore punk band Even Worse, featuring future The Big Takeover editor (and future Springhouse drummer) Jack Rabid.
• In 1994, Moore teamed up with Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs, Don Fleming of Gumball, Mike Mills of R.E.M., and Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters, to form the Backbeat Band, which recorded the soundtrack album to the Beatles-inspired movie Backbeat. Dulli had lead vocal duties.
• Contributed to the 2005 UNICEF benefit song, "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?".
• Is a member of director Jim Jarmusch's "secret club," The Sons Of Lee Marvin.
• Directed the music video for Pavement's song "Here," from Slanted and Enchanted.
• Dyed his hair blond from most of the 1980s to the early '90s.
• Is mentioned in the songs "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone" by Sleater-Kinney, and "Gimme Indie Rock" by Sebadoh.
• At 6'6" (1.98m), is considered one of the tallest men in rock. Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers, Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, Joey Ramone of The Ramones, Angus Andrew of Liars, and Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil are his main competition in this area.
• Guest-starred (originally billed as Fred Cracklin) on Space Ghost Coast to Coast episode #23 (Sharrock).
• Inspiration for the characters of the Thurston family (Axel, Adrock and Renton) in the anime Eureka Seven.^{[citation needed]}
• Befriended actor Michael Pitt on the movie set of Last Days, while serving as the project's music advisor. Ecstatic Peace! released Pitt's album Pagoda in 2006. ^[1]

References

Wikipedia information about Thurston Moore This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Thurston Moore". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.