Thurston Moore

Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moore was ranked 34th in Rolling Stone's 2004 edition of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." In May 2012, Spin published a staff-selected top 100 ranking Moore and his Sonic Youth bandmate Lee Ranaldo together on number 1.

In 2012, Moore started a new band Chelsea Light Moving, with their first track, "Burroughs", released as a free download. Chelsea Light Moving's eponymous debut was released on March 5, 2013.

Moore was born July 25, 1958, at Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables, Florida, to George E. Moore and Eleanor Nann Moore, and moved with his family (including brother Frederick Eugene Moore—born 1953—and sister Susan Dorothy Moore—born 1956) in 1967 to Bethel, Connecticut. He attended St. Joseph's School in Danbury Ct followed by St. Mary's School in Bethel CT and attended from 1973–76 Bethel High School. He enrolled at Western Connecticut State University in fall 1976 but left after one quarter and moved to East 13th Street between Aves A and B in New York City to join the burgeoning post-punk and no wave music scenes. It was there that he was able to watch shows by the likes of Patti Smith and spoken-word performances by William S. Burroughs. In 1980 he moved in with Kim Gordon to an apartment at 84 Eldridge St. below artist Dan Graham, eventually befriending him, sometimes using records from Graham's collection for mix tapes.

Once in the city, Moore was briefly a member of the hardcore punk band Even Worse, featuring future The Big Takeover editor (and future Springhouse drummer) Jack Rabid. After exiting the band, Moore and Lee Ranaldo learned experimental guitar techniques in Glenn Branca's "guitar orchestras." Moore has spoken about influences on his music tastes at this time, including British bands Wire, the Pop Group, the Raincoats, the Slits, and Public Image Ltd ("I used to have these fantasies in the 70s about leaving New York and coming to London to hang out with Public Image").

Moore met Kim Gordon in 1980 at the final gig of The Coachmen, the band he was in with J.D. King, Daniel Walworth (replaced by Dave Keay), and Bob Pullin. Moore, with Gordon, Anne Demarinis and Dave Keay formed a band, appearing under names like Male Bonding and Red Milk and the Arcadians, before settling on Moore's choice of Sonic Youth just before June 1981. The band played Noise Fest in June 1981 at New York's White Columns gallery, where Lee Ranaldo was playing as a member of Glenn Branca's electric guitar ensemble as well as in duo with David Linton as Avoidance Behavior. Moore invited Ranaldo, who he had known when The Coachmen shared a CBGB stage with Ranaldo's 1970s band The Flux, to join the band. The new threesome played three songs at the festival later in the week without a drummer. Each band member took turns playing the drums, until they met drummer Richard Edson. The band signed to Neutral Records, then to Homestead Records, and then to SST Records.

Live in the Netherlands (with Sonic Youth), 1991

Moore and Ranaldo make extensive use of unusual guitar tunings, often heavily modifying their instruments to provide unusual timbres and drones. They are known for bringing upwards of fifty guitars to every gig, using some guitars for one song only. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Moore and Ranaldo the 33rd and 34th Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

In 2011, Moore and his wife, Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon, announced they had separated; shortly afterward, Ranaldo announced the indefinite hiatus of Sonic Youth. Though his marriage was ending Moore never claimed that Sonic Youth was finished.

In addition to his work with Sonic Youth, Moore has also released albums as a solo artist. He and Gordon released a few songs as Mirror/Dash. Moore established Protest Records as an online gesture of activism but the project has since lapsed. Moore has collaborated with scores of musicians, including Maryanne Amacher, Lydia Lunch, DJ Spooky, William Hooker, Daniel Carter, Christian Marclay, Mike Watt, Loren Mazzacane Connors, William Winant, The Thing, Nels Cline, Cock E.S.P., John Moloney, Glenn Branca, Yamantaka Eye, My Cat is an Alien., John Russell, Steve Noble, John Edwards, Haino Keiji, John Zorn, Yoko Ono, Takehisa Kosugi, and others.

In the early 1990s, Moore formed the side band Dim Stars, with Richard Hell, Don Fleming, Steve Shelley with a guest appearance by Robert Quine. Moore performed solo on the side stage of the 1993 Lollapalooza tour. Additionally, Moore also contributed guitar work and backing vocals on "Crush with Eyeliner", which appeared on R.E.M.'s Monster. He played Fred Cracklin in the Space Ghost Coast to Coast episode dedicated to Sonny Sharrock. Since 2004, he has recorded and performed with the 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., which Moore curated, named in reference to Sonic Youth's 1992 song "Youth Against Fascism". Moore curated the "Nightmare Before Christmas" weekend of the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in December 2006.

On June 21, 2007, Moore revealed to Spin Magazine that he would be releasing a solo album titled Trees Outside The Academy. The album was recorded at J Mascis' studio in Amherst, Massachusetts. The album features Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley and violinist Samara Lubelski. The album also features collaborations between Mascis and Charalambides' Christina Carter, who performs a duet with Moore on the track, "Honest James." The album was released on September 18, 2007, on Moore's label Ecstatic Peace.

On September 24, 2008, Pitchfork Media reported that Thurston was working on a song with former Be Your Own Pet vocalist Jemina Pearl, a cover of the Ramones song "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker." The song was recorded for the teenage drama Gossip Girl and was featured in the episode "There Might Be Blood".

Since 2008, Moore has provided narration for a variety of documentaries on the National Geographic Channel. His work includes Inside: Straight Edge and the Hard Time series about life in prison.

In 2012 Moore and Kim Gordon announced that they were working on a collaborative album with Yoko Ono to be titled Yokokimthurston. The album was released on September 25 through Chimera Records.

Moore announced in 2012 that he was to start a new band called Chelsea Light Moving. Their first track, "Burroughs", was released as a free download. Their eponymous debut album was released on March 5, 2013. The release coincided with the 2013 SXSW Festival where they made numerous appearances including a free show at Mellow Johnny's bike shop.

In July 2012 Nachtmystium vocalist/guitarist Blake Judd announced that Moore had joined the black metal super group Twilight.

On November 24, 2013, he played guitar to "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" alongside Ron and Russell Mael in a Sparks concert at the Union Chapel, Islington, London.

In September 2014, Moore released The Best Day, a solo album featuring Steve Shelley and My Bloody Valentine's Debbie Googe as rhythm section, and James Sedwards on guitar.

Work on film soundtracks

Thurston Moore performing with Sonic Youth at the 2005 Roskilde Festival.

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 movie Backbeat. In 1998 Moore played on the soundtrack of the film Velvet Goldmine as a member of Wylde Ratttz. Moore composed original music for such films as Heavy (1995), Bully (2001), and Manic (2001). In 2007, Moore also appeared with noise/improv group Original Silence, featuring Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, guitarist Terrie Ex, Jim O'Rourke, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and bassist Massimo Pupillo. The group released the live album The First Original Silence in 2007, on Oslo (Norway) label SmallTown Superjazz, and a second album The Second Original Silence in 2008.

Moore and other Sonic Youth members published the irreverent music zine Sonic Death. Moore runs the 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 Arthur Magazine in a column entitled "Bull Tongue" written jointly with Byron Coley. Since the demise of Arthur, Bull Tongue exists as a fanzine edited by Coley an features a wealth of underground music writing. Moore created, with Chris Habib, the website Protest Records, named for its protest against United States' invasions in the Middle East. Moore was the editor/overseer of the 2005 book Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture. He published a highly influential list of collectible free jazz records in Grand Royal magazine.

Ecstatic Peace Library is the book publishing company founded by Thurston Moore and visual book editor Eva Prinz in 2010. The company publishes mainly poetry, but also a collection of books about Norwegian Death metal, experimental jazz from the 70s and other niche subjects.

On June 9, 1984, Moore married Sonic Youth bassist/vocalist Kim Gordon. The pair have a daughter: Coco Hayley Moore (born July 1, 1994). On October 14, 2011, the couple announced that they were separating and they divorced in 2013. Moore currently resides in London.

Moore is known for using a large selection of Fender guitars during Sonic Youth gigs, most frequently a Jazzmaster. His primary stage amp has been the Peavey Roadmaster paired with a Marshall cabinet. He has used the ProCo Rat, Big Muff, and MXR Blue Box pedals in various combinations to achieve his unique distorted and feedback-laden guitar sound.

Since Ranaldo and Moore, together with Elvis Costello, J. Mascis, Nels Cline, and Kevin Shields, are known for being key figures in the popularization and resurrection of the Fender Jazzmaster, in 2009 Fender introduced a Lee Ranaldo signature edition of a Sapphire Blue Transparent version featuring two Fender Wide Range humbucking pickups and a Forest Green transparent finish for Moore, equipped with a pair of Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Jazzmaster single-coil pickups.

In 2016 Yuri Landman made a special ten string drone guitar on request of Premier Guitar for Thurston Moore

• Psychic Hearts (1995, Geffen Records)
• Trees Outside the Academy (2007, Ecstatic Peace!)
• Demolished Thoughts (2011, Matador Records) (UK chart peak: #119)
• The Best Day (2014, Matador Records) (UK chart peak: #78)
• Rock n Roll Consciousness (2017, Caroline) (UK chart peak: #65)

• Root – Remix Project (1998, Lo Recordings)
• Solo Acoustic Volume Five – Part of the VDSQ (Vin Du Select Qualitite) acoustic guitar series (2011)

• 2013 – Chelsea Light Moving

• 1990 – Barefoot in the Head – with Jim Sauter & Don Dietrich, liner notes by Thomas Pynchon
• 1993 – Shamballa – with William Hooker & Elliott Sharp
• 1995 – Klangfarbenmelodie & the Colorist Strikes Primitive – with Tom Surgal
• 1996 – Pillow Wand – with Nels Cline
• 1996 – Piece for Yvonne Rainer – with Yoshimi & Mark Ibold
• 1997 – MMMR – with Loren Mazzacane Connors, Jean-Marc Montera & Lee Ranaldo (Numero Zero Audio)
• 1998 – Foot – with Don Fleming & Jim Dunbar
• 1999 – The Promise – with Evan Parker & Walter Prati
• 2000 – New York – Ystad – Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley, Mats Gustafsson
• 2000 – TM/MF – Thurston Moore, Marco Fusinato
• 2001 – Three Incredible Ideas – Thurston Moore / Walter Prati / Giancarlo Schiaffini
• 2012 – Yokokimthurston – Yoko Ono, / Thurston Moore / Kim Gordon
• 2013 – "@" – John Zorn / Thurston Moore
• 2014 – Cuts of Guilt, Cuts Deeper – Merzbow / Balázs Pándi / Mats Gustafsson / Thurston Moore

• 2006 – Flipped Out Bride 12'' (2006, Blossoming Noise), Limited Edition of 500 blue marbled vinyl
• 2006 – Free / Love EP (2006, Blossoming Noise), Limited Edition of 90 Cassettes only
• 2007 – Black Weeds - White Death (2007, Meudiademorte), Limited Edition of 200 Cassettes only
• 2008 – Sensitive / Lethal
• 2008 – Blindfold (Destructive Industries), Limited Edition of 200 Cassettes only
• 2008 – Built For Lovin' (Lost Treasures of the Underworld), Limited Edition of 500 vinyl only
• 2010 – Suicide Notes For Acoustic Guitar EP
• 2010 – Schwarze Polizei (with Kommissar Hjuler, Goaty Tapes), Limited Edition of 50 Cassettes only

• 2004 - Thurston Moore - Kapotte Muziek By Thurston Moore ( CD, Korm Plastics, Kapotte Muziek)
• 2007 – The Roadhouse Session Vol. 1 [Thurston Moore / Chris Corsano / Paul Flaherty / Wally Shoup 4tet]
• 2008 – Untitled [Paul Flaherty / Thurston Moore / Bill Nace]
• 2011 – Les Anges Du Péché [Jean-Marc Montera / Thurston Moore / Lee Ranaldo]
• 2013 – "@” [John Zorn / Thurston Moore]

• 1996 – Piece for Jetsun Dolma - Live improvisation with Tom Surgal and William Winant at Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville), released on Les Disques VICTO
• 2012 – Play Some Fucking Stooges - Mats Gustafsson & Thurston Moore, on tour in 2009. Limited edition of 450 copies.
• 2013 – Vi Är Alla Guds Slavar - Mats Gustafsson & Thurston Moore, Cafe OTO, September 22 & 23, 2012. Limited Edition of 1000 copies.
• 2013 – The Only Way to Go is Straight Through - Thurston Moore & Loren Connors, NYC 2012. Limited Edition of 3,000 copies.
• 2013 – Comes Through in the Call Hold -Clark Coolidge, Thurston Moore, Anne Waldman], the Harry Smith cottage at Naropa, June 30, 2012, and released by Fast Speaking Music.
• 2013 – Last Notes- Joe Mcphee, Thurston Moore, Bill Nace, Roulette NYC, May 31, 2012. Limited Vinyl LP Edition of 250 copies.

• 2012 – Fundamental Sunshine (Antwerp-Paris-Rotterdam-Amsterdam March 20–23, 2012. Cassette)
• 2012 – Caught on Tape (Recorded live to cassette in Europe – March 2012. Limited edition of 133 hand numbered copies)
• 2013 – Acting the Maggot (recorded at the Beachland Ballroom 2012. Limited edition of 120 lps)
• 2013 – Fundamental Sunshine (Cassette)
• 2013 – Banjaxed Blues (Recorded in Baltimore, MD in December 2012 and Belfast, Northern Ireland in January 2013. Edition of 45 copies)
• 2013 – Irish-American Prayer (Live in Brooklyn December 2012. Limited CDr)

• 2001 – Diskaholics Anonymous Trio (Recorded at Kulturbro Ystad-Österlen, Sweden, 2000)
• 2006 – Weapons of Ass Destruction (Recorded Live, Ystads Teater, Sweden, October 6, 2002)
• 2006 – Live in Japan Vol. 1 (Recorded Live, Tokyo, Japan, 2002)

• 2007 – The First Original Silence (Recorded Live, Teatro Ariosto, Reggio Emilia, Italy, September 30, 2005 )
• 2008 – The Second Original Silence (Recorded Live, Brancaleone, Rome, September 28, 2005 )

• 1981 – Symphony No. 1 "Tonal Plexus" (w/Glenn Branca, Lee Ranaldo, Anne DeMarinis & others)
• 1982 – Symphony No. 2 "The Peak of the Sacred"
• 1983 – Symphony No. 3 "Gloria" – Music for the first 127 intervals of the harmonic series

• 1979 – Failure to Thrive

• "Sputnik" 7" (1997) Thurston Moore and Don Fleming on one side, Pete Kember aka Sonic Boom on the other. Gilltery vinyl.
• "Wonderful Witches" single (2007)
• 1995 – "The Church Should Be for the Outcasts, Not a Church That Casts People Out" (7") [as Male Slut]

• From the Earth to the Spheres (2004, split with My Cat Is An Alien)
• Thrash Sabbatical (2008, Deathbomb Arc, four-way split 12" + 2x7" w/ Men Who Can't Love, Barrabarracuda, Kevin Shields)
• Mature, Lonely + Out of Control/Alternative Hair Styles (2008, Nihilist Records, split LP with Graham Moore)

• 1992 – Do You Wanna Dance (by Dim Stars)
• 1994 – Monster (by R.E.M.)
• 1997 – Legend of the Blood Yeti (by XIII Ghosts & Derek Bailey)
• 1998 – Velvet Goldmine – Music From The Original Motion Picture ("T.V. Eye" with the Wylde Ratttz)
• 2006 – The Voloptulist [The New Blockaders, with Thurston Moore (track 1) / Jim O'Rourke (track 2)]
• 2007 – Touch The Iceberg (by Owl Xounds Exploding Galaxy)

• Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture
• Grunge (with Michael Lavine)
• No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York. 1976–1980. (with Byron Coley)
• Punk House: Interiors in Anarchy (with Abby Banks, Timothy Findlen)
• Alabama Wildman
• James Hamilton: You Should Have Heard Just What I Seen (with James Hamilton)