Kim Gordon: the epitome of a badass front-woman, absolute bass god, and total punk rock purveyor. For any girl who’s ever dreamed of slaying in their own band, Gordon has served as musical messiah. She’s an unconventional and adventurous musician, visual artist, and fashion designer, who has left a remarkable imprint on not only the music world, but the creative community as whole, with her uncompromising nature to just make art.
Most commonly known for her prominence in Sonic Youth, Gordon, before her 80s stardom, started off in an all-girl band where she met Thurston Moore, her future bandmate and husband. Gordon was never the type to stick to a prescribed set of rules when it came to creating and was often intrigued by dissonant sounds and the freedom of experimentation, incorporating the short-lived “no wave” genre into the songs she produced with Sonic Youth.
After Sonic Youth’s booming, successful major label debut, she formed another band called Harry Crews which proved a one album, no-wave, hardcore thrash band. Shortly after Harry Crews’ demise, Gordon started Free Kitten with Pussy Galore’s, Julie Cafritz. The alternative rock supergroup released several albums and lived on from ’92 to ’08. During that time, Gordon also established her fashion sense, releasing her first clothing line, X-Girl, which was a satirical response to the boy’s only streetwear company, X-Large.
Gordon went from blowing up the stage at Lollapalooza to modeling for Marc Jacobs to developing two more clothing lines. Nothing can stop Gordon. Since, she has produced and collaborated on hundreds of musical projects with numerous bands, wtih Gordon’s art-driven roots – born out of her time at Otis College of Art & Design – informing every aspect of the music she creates.
Gordon has established herself as an all-around artist through her multiple exhibitions in Tokyo, New York, and London. In 2015, she released her highly lauded memoir, Girl in a Band. Although Sonic Youth, sadly,may no longer be, Gordon is continuously praised for the tremendous influence her work has had in several creative spaces. She has influenced countless others including trailblazers like Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna and director Sofia Coppola. Gordon continues to surprise the world with her unpredictable ideas and projects – her most recent music project with Alex Knost, called Glitterbust – and there is no inclination of her slowing down just yet. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna go pick up my bass and strive to be as killer as Kim Gordon…as should all of you.