Gimme Moore

"It’s definitely more of an acoustic album than the last solo record I made,” Thurston Moore says of his new solo record, Demolished Thoughts. “I mean, that did have lots of acoustic guitar, but it was more of a full band; I had Steve Shelley playing drums, J Mascis playing guitar on a few tracks, and I played bass. So, it had more of an electric vibe to it.”

This time around, would Moore say he’s looking to bring out his inner Bert Jansch?
“I love lots of acoustic guitar playing,” he enthuses. “I’m a big aficionado of American folk artists like John Fahey; I love his music and he was a friend of mine. I’ve always been enamoured of the history of British folk music, like Bert Jansch and Roy Harper. That music is all very inspirational to me, but those guys are masterful acoustic guitar players – and I don’t know how to play guitar at all! I taught myself how to play in a completely different way, it’s very unorthodox.”

Notably Demolished Thoughts is produced by Beck, whom Moore spontaneously asked to become involved when he and his partner (and fellow Sonic Youth member), Kim Gordon, met him whilst travelling the US west coast. The first track is called ‘Benediction’, a title with distinctly religious overtones. I have to say, Moore would never have struck me as a particularly devout man.

“I’ve always written lyrics that deal mostly with romantic ideas,” he explains. “A lot of it is very entwined with religious imagery. I mean, I was brought up a Catholic boy, so I’ve always been very enamoured of Catholicism, and how it comes into play with spiritual feelings towards love and heartbreak. I was very influenced on the record by this filmmaker from France called Robert Bresson, who had lots of religious, Catholic imagery in his films, which dealt with human nature and the human condition.”
Given this reference to Catholicism, and of course the surname Moore, I wonder if Thurston has any Irish in his background?

“There is some Irish in my blood, on my mother’s side,” he replies. “I always feel very at home in Ireland, I’m fair-skinned and I have red hair (laughs). So I always feel good when I’m in Ireland, I feel like I’m on the right planet! It’s probably two or three generations back. Irish, German and French is kind of where I’m at.”
Also on an Irish tip, Moore was mightily impressed by a My Bloody Valentine performance he caught at All Tomorrow’s Parties.

“They were fantastic,” he recalls. “I remember just sitting there, watching Kevin Shields, and he was so distinctive and unique in what he was doing. It’s just classic, through and through. I’m always curious what Kevin is up to, he’s so unassuming and quiet. He does his work at his own pace, and I really like that idea, that he doesn’t comply to the high velocity expectation of the music industry. I mean, you’re lucky to hear something from Kevin every ten years, but I think that’s kind of part of his charm.”
I’ve always wondered if Nirvana were MBV fans.
“I’m sure Kurt, Krist and Dave were aware of them at the time, because they must have been,” considers Moore. “I’m not sure what Nirvana’s take on it was. I would imagine it was something they would have liked, but I don’t really know.”
Well, you’d feel MBV were the kind of band Kurt Cobain would have liked.
“Yeah, definitely!”