Kim Gordon | |
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.jpg) Gordon performing in 2010 withSonic Youth | |
| Born | Kim Althea Gordon (1953-04-28)April 28, 1953 (age 71) Rochester, New York, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1981–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Musical career | |
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| Years active | 1981–present |
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Musical artist | |
Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and rapper best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist ofalternative rock bandSonic Youth. Born inRochester, New York, she was raised inLos Angeles, California, where her father was a professor at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles. After graduating from Los Angeles'sOtis College of Art and Design, she moved to New York City to begin an art career. There, she formed Sonic Youth withThurston Moore in 1981.[1] She and Moore married in 1984, and the band released a total of six albums on independent labels before the end of the 1980s. It then released nine studio albums on the labelDGC Records, beginning withGoo in 1990. Gordon was also a founding member of the musical projectFree Kitten, which she formed withJulia Cafritz in 1993.
Sonic Youth released its 15th and final studio album,The Eternal (2009), onMatador Records before disbanding in 2011 after Gordon and Moore separated. After the dissolution of Sonic Youth and her divorce from Moore, Gordon formed the experimental duoBody/Head withBill Nace, which releasing its debut album,Coming Apart, in 2013. She subsequently formedGlitterbust with Alex Knost, releasing a self-titled debut album in 2016. Body/Head released its second studio album,The Switch, in 2018. Gordon released her first solo album,No Home Record, in 2019. Her sophomore solo effort,The Collective, followed in 2024. Released to widespread critical acclaim, it has earned Gordon her first two Grammy nominations.
In addition to her work as a musician, Gordon has had ventures inrecord producing, fashion, and acting, and has worked consistently as a visual artist throughout her musical career. She debuted as a producer onHole's debut albumPretty on the Inside (1991), and founded the Los Angeles–based clothing line X-Girl in 1993. Beginning in the mid-2000s, Gordon began acting, making minor appearances in such films asLast Days (2005) andI'm Not There (2007) and guest-starring on several television series. In 2015, she published a memoir,Girl in a Band, byHarperCollins imprint Dey Street Books.
Kim Althea Gordon was born April 28, 1953,[2] inRochester, New York, the second child of Althea (d. 2002) and Calvin Wayne Gordon (1915–1998).[3][4][5] At the time of her birth, Gordon's father, a native ofKansas,[5] was a professor in thesociology department at theUniversity of Rochester.[6][7] Her mother, a descendant ofAmerican pioneers of theWest Coast,[8] learned to sew during her upbringing in theGreat Depression, and worked as aseamstress throughout Gordon's childhood.[3][9] She was described by Gordon as "reserved and usually anxious" and "an unfulfilled artist."[3] Gordon has one older brother, Keller (1949–2023),[3] whom she described as "brilliant, manipulative, sadistic, arrogant, almost unbearably articulate," and "the person who more than anyone else in the world shaped who I was, and who I turned out to be."[10]
At the age of five, Gordon and her family relocated toLos Angeles, California when her father was offered a professorship in the sociology department at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA),[11][10] where he later became theDean of Faculty.[3] As a child, Gordon attendedUniversity Elementary School, a progressive elementary school affiliated with UCLA, which she described as "learn[ing] by doing. So we were always making African spears and going down to the river and making mud huts, or skinning a cowhide and drying it and throwing it off the cliff atDana Point."[12] In her memoir, Gordon recounts spending summers with her family inKlamath, California, near theOregon border.[13] The family also lived inBritish Hong Kong for one year during her childhood.[3]
Gordon attendedUniversity High School in Los Angeles, and dated classmateDanny Elfman while a student there.[14] After graduating high school, she attendedSanta Monica College for two years[15] before transferring toYork University inToronto, Ontario, Canada.[16] Gordon soon grew homesick and chose to drop out of York at the end of the school year and return to Los Angeles.[17] "I was less and less happy as the bleak Toronto winter moved in," she recalled. "Without the benefit of California sunshine, my hair grew darker and darker, and I had no idea how to dress for the cold."[18] She decided to enroll at theOtis College of Art and Design,[19] which she said "changed my life."[18] Gordon lived inCulver City andVenice, Los Angeles, and worked at anIndian restaurant to pay her tuition.[18] She also briefly worked forart dealerLarry Gagosian as a side-job.[20] She graduated with aBachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1977.[21]
While she was a student at Otis, Gordon's older brother Keller suffered apsychotic episode on the day of his graduation from theUniversity of California, Berkeley, where he had earned aMaster's degree inclassics.[3] He was subsequently diagnosed withparanoid schizophrenia, and for a time lived inhalfway houses before becoming award of the state of California.[3] The song "Schizophrenia," which appeared on Sonic Youth's fourth studio album,Sister (1987), was partly inspired by her brother.[3]
After graduating from theOtis Art Institute, Gordon moved toNew York City in 1980, hoping to pursue a career in art.[22] There, she took art-related jobs to earn an income, such as working as a writer forArtforum,[23] and launched a "D.I.Y. project called Design Office, doing low-fi artistic interventions" in friends' apartments.[22] In 1981, she curated an exhibition atWhite Columns Gallery[22] that involved contributions fromMike Kelley andTony Oursler, among others. Around 1981, Gordon became interested in "no-wave" bands, recalling: "When I came to New York, I'd go and see bands downtown playing no-wave music. It was expressionistic and it was also nihilistic. Punk rock was tongue-in-cheek, saying, 'Yeah, we're destroying rock.' No-wave music is more like, 'NO, we're really destroying rock.' It was very dissonant. I just felt like, Wow, this is really free. I could do that."[12]
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In 1981, Gordon joined the short-lived band CKM,[24] with Christine Hahn andStanton Miranda, and met her futureSonic Youth bandmatesLee Ranaldo andThurston Moore through Miranda. At the time, Gordon, then 27 years old, had never played an instrument.[25] Gordon began dating Moore and, together with Ranaldo, the couple then formed Sonic Youth in 1981.[12] Originally the band released their first unnamed EP (considered by the band to be their first album) in 1982 and their first two albums,Confusion is Sex (1983) andBad Moon Rising (1985) on Neutral and Homestead Records, respectively, before signing withSST to releaseEVOL (1986) andSister (1987). Gordon and Moore married in 1984, three years after beginning Sonic Youth.[26] In October 1988, the band releasedDaydream Nation through Enigma Records.
In 1989, Sonic Youth signed ontoDGC Records, a subsidiary ofGeffen, and releasedGoo (1990), which became the group's first commercial hit.[27] Also in 1989, Gordon, Sadie May, andLydia Lunch formedHarry Crews, and released the albumNaked in Garden Hills.[28] To promoteGoo, Gordon toured with Sonic Youth extensively between 1990 and 1991, and a documentary titled1991: The Year Punk Broke documented the band's tour withNirvana,Babes in Toyland,Dinosaur Jr.,Gumball andMudhoney.[29] In early 1991,Courtney Love, who had been influenced by Sonic Youth and the no-wave scene, sent Gordon a letter asking her to produce her bandHole's debut record,Pretty on the Inside. Gordon, along with assistance fromDon Fleming, produced the album in March 1991, which received critical acclaim and later achievedcult status.[12] Gordon commented on the recording sessions that Love "was either charming and nice or screaming at her band" but that she was "a really good singer and entertainer and front person."[30] In 1992, Gordon released a single, "Electric Pen," with Mirror/Dash, a short-lived project she formed with Moore.[31]
Beginning in 1993, Gordon co-owned, with Daisy von Furth, a women'sstreetwear clothing company in Los Angeles, called X-Girl.[32] The company was a spin-off ofX-Large, a men's streetwear company co-founded byMichael Diamond of theBeastie Boys.[33] The first X-Girl store was opened in Los Angeles in 1994.[34] ActressChloë Sevigny served as a model for several pieces in the clothing line.[35] Also in 1993, Gordon formed the musical projectFree Kitten withJulia Cafritz.[36] On July 1, 1994, Gordon gave birth to her only child, daughter Coco Hayley Moore, with Thurston Moore.[37]
Free Kitten released their debut studio album,Nice Ass, in 1995, followed bySentimental Education (1997), both on the independent labelKill Rock Stars.[38] In 1993, Gordon co-directedThe Breeders' "Cannonball" music video withSpike Jonze,[39] and was also involved in an exhibition entitledBaby Generation at Parco gallery in Tokyo. Gordon's exhibitionKim's Bedroom was shown at MU in the Netherlands, and included drawing and paintings alongside live music and special guests.[40]
As a part of Sonic Youth, Gordon released several albums in the mid–late 1990s, includingExperimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star (1994),Washing Machine (1995), andA Thousand Leaves (1998), all on DGC Records.[41] They subsequently releasedNYC Ghosts & Flowers in 2000, andMurray Street in 2002.[42] In 1999, after selling her share of X-Girl,[3] Gordon relocated with Moore from New York City toNorthampton, Massachusetts, to raise their daughter.[22] Around 2002, Gordon became involved with The Supreme Indifference, a musical collaboration that involved Gordon, Jim O'Rourke and Alan Licht.[43] The band appeared on the 2002 compilationFields and Streams, though their contribution was deemed "annoying" and the project "self-indulgent" by critic Adrian Begrand ofPopMatters.[43]
In 2003, Gordon was featured in theGothenburg Biennale and exhibitedClub In The Shadow, aninstallation art collaboration with artistJutta Koether, at Kenny Schachter's Contemporary Gallery in New York City.[44] In 2005, she submitted another collaboration with Koether for theHer Noise exhibition in London, United Kingdom, entitled "Reverse Karaoke."[45] In the same year, anartist's bookKim Gordon Chronicles Vol. 1 was published and featured photos of Gordon throughout her life.[46] The following year,Kim Gordon Chronicles Vol. 2 was released and featured her drawings, collages, and paintings.[47]
Beginning in 2005, Gordon began appearing in minor or supporting parts in films, first as a record executive inGus Van Sant'sLast Days.[48] She then had a small role portraying a textile exporter in the 2007 French thriller filmBoarding Gate,[49] and inTodd Haynes'sI'm Not There (2007), inspired by the life ofBob Dylan.[50] The same year, she played a street troubadour in the season six finale of the television seriesGilmore Girls, along with husband Moore and their daughter Coco, performing the song "What a Waste" from the albumRather Ripped.[51]
In September 2008, Gordon launched a limited-edition fashion line called Mirror/Dash (also the name of a musical side project that was created with Moore),[31] inspired byFrançoise Hardy and based on the idea that "there's a need for clothes for cool moms."[52]
Sonic Youth released their final studio album,The Eternal, in 2009.[53]Rolling Stone journalist Will Hermes wrote of the album: "It's amusing to think that the fiercely freaky Sonic Youth were a major-label act for nearly 20 years.The Eternal marks their literal return to indie rock – and that's no big whoop, since they've always done pretty much what they want anyway. The irony is thatThe Eternal might be their most concise record ever. It's also a rock & roll ass-kicker."[54] The same year, Gordon, along with the rest of Sonic Youth, made an appearance in the television seriesGossip Girl and performed an acoustic version of the song "Starpower".[55]
In 2011, Gordon and Moore separated after 27 years of marriage.[56] The next month, bandmate Ranaldo said Sonic Youth had disbanded,[57] after having been together 30 years.[a] After their divorce was finalized in April 2013, Gordon revealed that she had confronted Moore about a text message from another woman which was then followed by counseling sessions, and the separation occurred because Moore continued his extra-marital relationship. Gordon said her ex-husband was "like a lost soul."[12]
She also said she had been diagnosed withDCISbreast cancer during her divorce, which was successfully treated with surgery.[12][58]
Following the announcement of Sonic Youth's hiatus, Gordon commenced touring withIkue Mori, Tokyo-born drummer of late-1970s bandDNA—Gordon had performed with Mori previously at events such as the NoFunFest in 2004.[59][60][61] The duo completed a European tour in mid-2012 and Gordon explained during a corresponding interview: "You sorta want to get lost and you hope that the audience gets lost with you ... You can feel if they're listening, you can feel if there's some connection."[62] Together with Bill Nace, Gordon and Mori were selected for the June 2013All Tomorrow's Parties event that was curated by the bandDeerhunter.[63] Around 2012, Gordon formed a noise guitar project with Nace, entitledBody/Head, and a single called "The Eyes, The Mouth" was released in 2012 on Belgian label Ultra Eczema.[64] The band's debut albumComing Apart was released on September 10, 2013, on theMatador Records label and the band completed a U.S. tour during the fall of 2013.[65]
I almost feel like I'm making up for lost time. I feel like I owe it to myself. Because my whole life I wanted to be a visual artist. I really got sidetracked into music.
Gordon also immersed herself in producing art, having felt that music had "sidetracked" her career as a visual artist.[22] She held several art exhibitions in 2013, including "The Show Is Over," atGagosian Gallery in London, and the survey "Design Office with Kim Gordon–Since 1980," at White Columns, New York,[12] the latter a revival of a project she had begun in 1980.[22] In 2014, she presented newly createdWreath Paintings throughoutRudolf Schindler's iconic Fitzpatrick-Leland House under the byname of Design Office.[66] In January 2014, she appeared in the season three premiere of the seriesGirls as Mindy, a recovering drug addict in a rehab support group.[67] She then appeared as herself in a March 2014 episode ofPortlandia.[68]
Gordon published amemoir,Girl in a Band, on February 24, 2015, byHarperCollins imprint Dey Street Books.[69] The memoir explores her childhood, life in art andSonic Youth, and marriage to and divorce fromThurston Moore. Its title,Girl in a Band, stems from a lyric in "Sacred Trickster" from Sonic Youth's final album,The Eternal (2009). The lyric goes, "What's it like to be a girl in a band?/ I don't quite understand."[70] The same year, Gordon appeared inThe Nightmare (2015), a Germanhorror film in which she portrayed a schoolteacher, which was released at theLocarno International Film Festival. She also contributed to its soundtrack.[71][72] In November that year, Gordon relocated from the Massachusetts home she had shared with Moore and their daughter to her hometown of Los Angeles, purchasing a home in theFranklin Hills neighborhood.[73]
Also in 2015, Gordon formed the experimental musical groupGlitterbust with guitarist Alex Knost, releasing a self-titled debut album in March 2016.[74] Gordon then appeared inTony Oursler's filmImponderable, which screened at theMuseum of Modern Art in June 2016.[75] On September 12, 2016, Gordon released her first solo single, "Murdered Out", followed on August 20, 2019, by a second solo single, "Sketch Artist". A third track, "Air BnB", was released on September 11. All tracks appear on her first solo record on Matador Records,No Home Record, which was released on October 13, 2019.[76][77]
In 2017, Gordon had a small role on theHBO seriesAnimals,[78] followed by a supporting role in Gus Van Sant's comedy-drama filmDon't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot.[79] Her albumNo Home Record was rated number 8 of Paste Magazine's "20 Best Punk Albums of 2019".[80]
Kim Gordon: Lo-Fi Glamour, Gordon's first North American museum solo-exhibition, opened atThe Andy Warhol Museum in 2019. The exhibition features a commissioned score forAndy Warhol’s 1963–64 silent filmKiss in conversation with text paintings, figure drawings and erotic sculpture.[81]
In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked Gordon the 39th greatest bassist of all time.[1]
In December 2021, Gordon recorded a 7" single on Sub Pop Records withJ Mascis titled "Abstract Blues" backed with "Slow Boy".[82]
"Bye Bye" was released as a single in January 2024. The track is from Gordon's albumThe Collective, which was released in March 2024. The song is accompanied by an official video starring her daughter Coco Gordon Moore.[83][84]
Gordon possesses acontralto vocal range.[3] A 2016 review fromPitchfork noted her voice as "one of the great instruments in post-punk history, though she doesn't always get credit for the variety of her technique."[85] Despite her prolific career in music, Gordon told journalistEvan Smith in a 2015 interview that she never considered herself a musician, explaining that she had been "drawn into the world" of the music scenes happening in the 1980s, and that she "felt like an outsider" once part of it.[86] Gordon's instrumental work as a guitarist has been described as "free-form"[87] and experimental.[88]
Several female musicians influenced Gordon. She stated in 2015:
Initially, I was really inspired byThe Slits andThe Raincoats, andSiouxsie Sioux,Patti Smith. Then, there wasThe Runaways,Janis Joplin,Tina Turner – who is the ultimate performer – andBillie Holiday.[89]
Gordon is apopular culture icon, epitomizing an "ineffable, magnetic coolness"[22] and "a certain brand of aloof, downtown cool."[90] Some journalists have noted her as a public figure who has "never given much away" about herself.[89]Adam Horovitz of theBeastie Boys commented on Gordon's persona, stating: "Wherever Kim ends up, she is the coolest person in the room. But I know her, and I know she'd rather be at home grilling hot dogs."[3]
Gordon has also been cited as "a modestpolymath" given her varied career pursuits in art, music, fashion, and acting.[91] While observations were made by the media of Gordon being "dauntingly impressive and self-assured" during her tenure with Sonic Youth, she commented in a retrospective interview that she was "pretty insecure about my image and where I fitted in."[91] Describing her image, she said: "I knew I couldn't achieve some kind of cool, stylised image, that just wasn't me... It was a reaction to corporate style. So it was kind of just being yourself, you know walking on stage wearing a t-shirt."[89]
Upon the release of her 2015 memoir, Gordon received some criticism for comments made about other musicians,[92] among themLana Del Rey: "Naturally, [she]'s just a persona. If she really truly believes it's beautiful when young musicians go out on a hot flame of drugs and depression, why doesn't she just off herself?"[93] Gordon also reflected on working withCourtney Love in 1991, writing: "No one ever questions the disorder behind her tarantula LA glamour –sociopathy,narcissism – because it's good rock and roll, good entertainment! I have a low tolerance for manipulative, egomaniacal behavior, and usually have to remind myself that the person might be mentally ill."[93] Gordon clarified her comments on Del Rey in a subsequent interview, stating: "Initially it was about just seeing something in the paper... something about how rock stars should just like kill themselves with drugs, andFrances Bean [Cobain] had really reacted to that and I felt really actually weirdly protective of Frances. So I was basically just trying to point out that it was a persona and I just offhandedly said what I said... I guess I could have articulated the whole thing a lot better."[94]
On May 21, 2015, Gordon was honored atThe Kitchen's Spring Gala.[95]
On May 5, 2018, she received anHonorary Doctorate from theEmily Carr University of Art and Design.[96]
Gordon and her contributions in Sonic Youth are considered by critics and music scholars to have been key influences in the development ofgrunge music andriot grrrl, both musical movements which began in the early 1990s.[91][97] Among those who have cited her as an influence are filmmakerSofia Coppola,[98] musicianKathleen Hanna, and Irish singerRóisín Murphy.[99] Hanna explained in 2013:
She was a forerunner, musically. Just knowing a woman was in a band trading lead vocals, playing bass, and being a visual artist at the same time made me feel less alone. As a radical feminist singer, I wasn't particularly well liked. I was in a punk underground scene dominated by hardcore dudes who yelled mean shit at me every night, and journalists routinely called my voice shrill, unlistenable. Kim made me feel accepted in a way I hadn't before. Fucking Kim Gordon thought I was on the right track, haters be damned. It made the bullshit easier to take, knowing she was in my corner.[12]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | The Whole World is Watching: Weatherman '69 | Bernadine Dohrn | [103] | |
| 1992 | 1991: The Year Punk Broke | Herself | Documentary film | [104] |
| 2005 | Last Days | Record Executive | [48] | |
| 2006 | Gilmore Girls | Cool Mom Troubadour | Episode: "Partings" | [51] |
| 2007 | Boarding Gate | Kay | [49] | |
| 2007 | I'm Not There | Carla Hendricks | [50] | |
| 2009 | Gossip Girl | Herself | Episode: "Rufus Getting Married" | [105] |
| 2013 | Une Danse Des Bouffons | Maria Martins | Short film | [106] |
| 2014 | Girls | Mindy | Episode: "Females Only" | [67] |
| 2014 | Portlandia | Herself | Episode: "Pull-Out King" | [68] |
| 2015 | The Nightmare | English poetry teacher | German title: "Der Nachtmar" | [71] |
| 2016 | Imponderable | Madame Vesta | [75] | |
| 2016 | The Realest Real | Herself | Short film | [107] |
| 2017 | Animals | Tulip | Episode: "Rats" | [78] |
| 2018 | Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot | Corky | [79] | |
| TBA | The Chronology of Water | [108] |
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