Girl In the Band - Kim Gordon - Non-fiction book of the month. Apply for a free copy and post a Q to Sonic Youth singer Kim Gordon

[RachelMumsnet]

In response to requests for more non-fiction, we've decided to resurrect Non-fiction book of the month and will be bringing you a host of great non-fiction book giveaways to read, discuss and when possible the opportunity to engage with the author. To kick off we're delighted to offer you the chance to grab a copy of Kim Gordon's brilliant memoir Girl in a Band

Find out more about the book and apply for a free copy, then come back and discuss the book and put your questions to Kim on this thread. We'll be sending up to 15 questions over to her on 22nd Feb and we'll post up her answers to this thread in early March.

It's good to hear you're all enjoying the book. Can you please submit all questions for Kim by midday on Wednesday 16 March. We'll select 15 Qs and send them over to Kim and post her answers up as soon a they come back.

Are we posting our questions on this thread?

Thanks for my copy. Kim's writing style is really engaging and draws you in to her experiences. I'm looking forward to getting further along with the book

@fionathepink

Are we posting our questions on this thread?

Yes - post your questions up for Kim on this discussion thread before midday on Weds 16th.

I'm really enjoying the book, it's very well written. I love the photos too, I find myself looking at them trying to interpret them in light of the context of events in the book... Kim communicates a really strong sense of time and place in her descriptions too. For instance New York as she describes it sounds like such a complex and thrusting scene to be part of... you feel the things she describes could only have happened at that time and in that city.

So based on how evocative her descriptions of of time and place are, I'll start with a fairly trite question (just to get the ball rolling!)...

Kim, if you could choose to live in any place at any time in history, when/where would you choose, and how do you think that would have shaped your art?

I'm loving it too. I haven't finished it but it's really good. The main thing for me is that it shows her as a normal, thinking and intelligent person, not just someone who 'wanted to be famous' or saw her part in music as transitory and fashionable.

There's no showing off, or stuff about hard drug use or anything Courtney-Love-esque in this book - that wasn't so much of a surprise as a confirmation that Sonic Youth, and Kim in particular, isn't/wasn't about that. And a great relief to have it confirmed, because so much of the scene around the early 90s was portrayed to us (as kids in the UK) as pretty wild and insane.

Kims work was part of a real career in this instance - I was surprised to read how much thought goes into the stage performances, the onstage dynamic and so on, how it isn't just random. It actually sounds quite hard work and that's before you count in the touring stress and all that.

Very disappointed and shocked to read of what took place towards the end of the band's touring era, though I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it yet - suffice to say I haven't been reading the music press recently, so I had no idea.

Kim, I'm so sorry you went through that - I hope you are coming out the other side now.

My two questions are:

1. How did the music scene in the UK look to you, and did you have favourite acts around the early 90s?

1. Did you find that having a child impacted on your ability to be creative, and to enjoy music?

I can't paint or play music with mine in the house, and it literally stops me listening to music or getting immersed in anything that makes me 'feel' because I know it'll be interrupted. I've kind of put myself 'on hold', and I don't know if I'll ever find a time when I can reclaim that part of me.

So I wondered how you carried on with being so creative.

(3. What are the lyrics to Creme Brulee? (only if you have time!)

Thank you again so much for the book, and for answering any of these if you choose to.

Thanks so much for the book.

I read at all last weekend and I loved it.

Like another poster above I loved the fact that my parents didn't like the sound of Sonic Youth. It made me love them more. It made me run away to a gig in Kilburn with Mudhoney (or maybe it was Dinosaur Jnr) when I wasn't allowed to go, late 80's. I was banned from going out for a while, but it was worth it!

I don't really know what to say about the book apart from that it is fascinating. What an amazing time.

You were an inspiration to female artists and still are. Thank you, Kim.

I loved the book, and read it in 2 days. You have a wonderful easy style of writing, very natural.

I was fascinated by your younger years. Would you ever write a book expanding on your childhood/teen years?

Do you think you would like to write fiction?

Hi Kim, really enjoying the book - I love your descriptions of sixties era LA and your childhood.

Your sound has been described as dissonant and abstract - it certainly wasn't commercial - how does it feel today to see people like Taylor Swift adapting the Goo album cover for a t-shirt?

I was interested to read all the musical and art connections and how they intersected with Sonic Youth - is there anyone you would like to have worked with that you haven't yet?

You obviously feel raw emotion keenly, and during the process of a break-up there can be a lot of wounds. Was writing this all down cathartic for you?

Argh. I feel so sick - I've met the Woman. I know exactly who she is. Our paths crossed through the Dallas music scene. She was so shifty. She gave off the darkest, creepiest vibe - I really, really disliked being around her. Everything about her was cloying and calculated. At the time she was having an affair with Elvis Mitchell. She epitomises all the grubbiness of the term Star Fucker.

Sorry, Kim, if you're reading this. I hope I haven't upset you. I'm just feeling quite shocked at discovering what happened to you. I had no idea. I will gather my thoughts and return with a question or two.

For now, though, I want to say that I really enjoy your writing and I read the book straight through, no stopping.

Hi Kim, you said The Raincoats were an inspirational female band, that they were real and authentic and provided a refreshing counterpoint to the more cartoonish female singers that the (English) male press enjoyed at the time. That's how I felt about you when I was growing up! Which female singers or groups of today inspire you?

I'm aiming to finish reading by tomorrow night so may be back with more questions!

I've just finished the book, thank you Mumsnet - I love Sonic Youth and remember buying an X Girl T-shirt in New York in the 1990s and wearing it until it fell apart! I thought the book was fantastic, very honest and genuine.

I would like to ask: how do you think the next generation of artists/musicians will cope with the fact that big cities like NY and London are so expensive to live in now... where will they find each other and do you think it will lead to less city-centric art movements, or artists simply having to be more commercial from day one to survive?

I'm a bit late starting the book, but am loving it.

It's 5am & I am sat outside my eldest son's room - he has severe learning disabilities, severe autism
& epilepsy. He had become increasingly aggressive during teen years & his relationship with his ypinger siblings has changed massively (partly because it's often dangerous for them to be around him).

So I have been drawn to your description of life with your brother. I smiled a little at your duty bound dad with his tomato plants in the middle of the night, waiting for something to happen with Keller - as that's rather what I'm doing now as I read the book, at 5am sat outside ds1's room.

My question is do you think your parents could have responded differently living in that time? Or were their responses always going to be limited due to the time this happened? I have always said I feel incredibly lucky to have given birth to ds1 just as the Internet took off. Without online contact with others dealing with the same sort of issues we would have been incredibly isolated & probably fairly useless tbh - as we would have struggled to even find out what was even available. I'm glad Keller is 'completely happy' now.

Looking forward to reading the rest of the book - (especially reading the comments of those above). I have teen age riot circling around in my head as I read - it takes me straight back to the summer I was 18 & would be on any of my 'your most important pieces of music' lists.

hi kim

i would like to ask about the punk scene in the u.s in the 70s.the sex pistols were massive in the uk in 1977 and were considered the pioneers of punk, i would like to know what you think about where punk originated - uk or u.s?

:)

Hi everyone- thanks for all your great questions! We've sent them over to Kim and will be posting her answers soon.

@Pipistrella

I've also been lucky - I have a question, not having read it yet - Kim, what did you think of the UK when you were touring here, what did you like about it - and what was not so good?

I always had a niggling fear that we could never be quite as cool as the US, even with the reasonable music scene we had going on at the time

Thank you so much.

It was always really exciting but more stressful to play in England. There’s so much music history there from the 60s and 70s so it was always a thrill, except when the weeklies were on an anti-American guitar trend.

@Hennifer

I'm loving it too. I haven't finished it but it's really good. The main thing for me is that it shows her as a normal, thinking and intelligent person, not just someone who 'wanted to be famous' or saw her part in music as transitory and fashionable.

There's no showing off, or stuff about hard drug use or anything Courtney-Love-esque in this book - that wasn't so much of a surprise as a confirmation that Sonic Youth, and Kim in particular, isn't/wasn't about that. And a great relief to have it confirmed, because so much of the scene around the early 90s was portrayed to us (as kids in the UK) as pretty wild and insane.

Kims work was part of a real career in this instance - I was surprised to read how much thought goes into the stage performances, the onstage dynamic and so on, how it isn't just random. It actually sounds quite hard work and that's before you count in the touring stress and all that.

Very disappointed and shocked to read of what took place towards the end of the band's touring era, though I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it yet - suffice to say I haven't been reading the music press recently, so I had no idea.

Kim, I'm so sorry you went through that - I hope you are coming out the other side now.

My questions are:

1. Did you find that having a child impacted on your ability to be creative, and to enjoy music?

I can't paint or play music with mine in the house, and it literally stops me listening to music or getting immersed in anything that makes me 'feel' because I know it'll be interrupted. I've kind of put myself 'on hold', and I don't know if I'll ever find a time when I can reclaim that part of me.

So I wondered how you carried on with being so creative.

(2. What are the lyrics to Creme Brulee? (only if you have time!)

Thank you again so much for the book, and for answering any of these if you choose to.

1. No it didn’t impact my creativity, it just made me aware that I had to really choose my priorities timewise.

1. The lyrics are:

Ridin' down the road it nearly struck me blind/You and me are burnin' in the summertime

Let's go find some shady ground/Gotta get rid of that king hell throng/You and me are burnin' in the summertime/You and me are burnin' in the summertime

Scrape, scrape, scrapin' melted cheese/Say I love you, later please/You and me are burnin' in the summertime/You and me are burnin' in the summertime

Dark spots floatin' in front of my eyes/Mom said she turned it on 'em squattin' flies/You and me are burnin' in the summertime/You and me are burnin' in the summertime

Last night I dreamed I kissed Neil Young/If I was a boy I guess it would be fun/You and me are burnin' in the summertime/You and me are burnin' in the summertime

Don't you know a city where the horses grow/Green malls hangin', chillin' crows?/You and me are burnin' in the summertime/You and me are burnin' in the summertime

I said it before and I'll say it again/I'm so happy we're just friends

@DingleberryFinn

I'm really enjoying the book, it's very well written. I love the photos too, I find myself looking at them trying to interpret them in light of the context of events in the book... Kim communicates a really strong sense of time and place in her descriptions too. For instance New York as she describes it sounds like such a complex and thrusting scene to be part of... you feel the things she describes could only have happened at that time and in that city.

So based on how evocative her descriptions of of time and place are, I'll start with a fairly trite question (just to get the ball rolling!)...

Kim, if you could choose to live in any place at any time in history, when/where would you choose, and how do you think that would have shaped your art?

I really like the surrealist period. I don’t know, it just seems like the conventions in many art forms were truly being broken open.

@Cocolepew

I loved the book, and read it in 2 days. You have a wonderful easy style of writing, very natural.

I was fascinated by your younger years. 1. Would you ever write a book expanding on your childhood/teen years?

1. Do you think you would like to write fiction?

1. Maybe…

1. Yes I like the idea of mixing up fiction with real names.

@HustleVandango

Hi Kim, really enjoying the book - I love your descriptions of sixties era LA and your childhood.

1. Your sound has been described as dissonant and abstract - it certainly wasn't commercial - how does it feel today to see people like Taylor Swift adapting the Goo album cover for a t-shirt?

1. I was interested to read all the musical and art connections and how they intersected with Sonic Youth - is there anyone you would like to have worked with that you haven't yet?

1. You obviously feel raw emotion keenly, and during the process of a break-up there can be a lot of wounds. Was writing this all down cathartic for you?

1. Taylor can do whatever she wants. We were always into a lot of different kinds of music. I hope she looked up Raymond Pettibon.*

1. I like the idea of doing film soundtracks. I would love to work with Catherine Breillat, the French film maker.

1. It made it easier to think about it all and sort of figure out how I got to where I am in my career and life.

*NB- The artist who designed the Sonic Youth- Goo (1991) album cover

@ClarenceTheLion

Hi Kim, you said The Raincoats were an inspirational female band, that they were real and authentic and provided a refreshing counterpoint to the more cartoonish female singers that the (English) male press enjoyed at the time. That's how I felt about you when I was growing up! Which female singers or groups of today inspire you?

I'm aiming to finish reading by tomorrow night so may be back with more questions!

A few I like are: Angel Olsen, Heather Leigh Murray, PJ Harvey, Rihanna...

@MegBusset

I've just finished the book, thank you Mumsnet - I love Sonic Youth and remember buying an X Girl T-shirt in New York in the 1990s and wearing it until it fell apart! I thought the book was fantastic, very honest and genuine.

I would like to ask: how do you think the next generation of artists/musicians will cope with the fact that big cities like NY and London are so expensive to live in now... where will they find each other and do you think it will lead to less city-centric art movements, or artists simply having to be more commercial from day one to survive?

I don’t know, I think big cities aren’t as important as they used to be. Every small city can have a scene of some kind, the internet is helpful I guess… In the 80s hardcore bands came out of suburbs, not big cities necessarily.

@Devilishpyjamas

I'm a bit late starting the book, but am loving it.

It's 5am & I am sat outside my eldest son's room - he has severe learning disabilities, severe autism
& epilepsy. He had become increasingly aggressive during teen years & his relationship with his ypinger siblings has changed massively (partly because it's often dangerous for them to be around him).

So I have been drawn to your description of life with your brother. I smiled a little at your duty bound dad with his tomato plants in the middle of the night, waiting for something to happen with Keller - as that's rather what I'm doing now as I read the book, at 5am sat outside ds1's room.

My question is do you think your parents could have responded differently living in that time? Or were their responses always going to be limited due to the time this happened? I have always said I feel incredibly lucky to have given birth to ds1 just as the Internet took off. Without online contact with others dealing with the same sort of issues we would have been incredibly isolated & probably fairly useless tbh - as we would have struggled to even find out what was even available. I'm glad Keller is 'completely happy' now.

Looking forward to reading the rest of the book - (especially reading the comments of those above). I have teen age riot circling around in my head as I read - it takes me straight back to the summer I was 18 & would be on any of my 'your most important pieces of music' lists.

It's hard to say, they were definitely a product of their generation which had more of a stigma against mental illness and therapy.

@stareatthetvscreen

hi kim

i would like to ask about the punk scene in the u.s in the 70s.the sex pistols were massive in the uk in 1977 and were considered the pioneers of punk, i would like to know what you think about where punk originated - uk or u.s?

:)

That’s complicated. I think NY had a scene around CBGB’s* which kind of came out of the downtown beat poetry and art scene. [Malcolm] McLaren witnessed some of this and took his experiences back to London and he brought his situationist views to it, but I think it was in the air here and there. Some say Iggy and the Stooges were the first punks. People write books about this stuff… but I think NY punk and English punk were different.

*NB- CBGB’s was a hardcore and punk rock club in Manhattan, New York

Thank you for answering our questions! I'm a big fan of PJ Harvey and Rihanna, but I'll check out Angel Olsen and Heather Leigh Murray.