1. From Alternative Rock to Literature
Thurston Moore is a founding member of the cult band Sonic Youth, one of the most influential alternative rock bands of the last forty years. But it doesn't stop there. Over the years, Moore has released nine solo albums—his most recent being Flow Critical Lucidity—and has also ventured into literature with poetry and memoirs. For those who want to know everything about New York during the No wave era, his compelling Sonic Life is a must-read.
2. Guitars and Screwdrivers
In the early 1980s, Moore played in the legendary guitar orchestras of composers like Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham. Branca taught Moore experimental guitar techniques, and the rest is history. In the early days of Sonic Youth, their necessarily cheap guitars didn’t sound great in the normal tuning. Alternative tunings and experiments with drumsticks and screwdrivers on the guitar provided a solution, embracing that imperfection. The continuous refinement of these unorthodox methods led to Moore's signature sound. Sometimes, Moore completely abandons rock principles, transforming his guitar feedback into noisy drone music—available only as limited edition tapes.
3. Shifting Ambitions
Hamid Drake’s music career began on a sour note: as a bongo player in his local church choir, he felt unfulfilled. He had a different musical goal in mind; Drake wanted to play the trombone. Fate, however, had other plans. His school’s big band had no more trombones, so he gave drumming a second chance—this time on snare and bass drum.
4. A Variety of Influences
Drake deeply studied various music styles and traditions. He learned a lot from the Egyptian singer and oud player Hamza Al Din and played with the Gambian kora player Foday Musa Suso in the Mandingo Griot Society, where Suso’s kora playing was combined with American influences. Drake’s effortless blending and switching between different styles, his virtuosic drumming technique, and his ability to create complex textures make him a unique and mesmerizing drummer. “Cecil Taylor once claimed that each man is his own academy. If that's the case, Drake is surely one of the mystery schools,” says David Keenan of The WIRE.
5. A New Collaboration
In addition to his work with Sonic Youth, his solo albums, and tapes, Thurston Moore has collaborated with many prominent names across various genres: from DJ Spooky, Nels Cline, John Zorn and Yoko Ono to experimental guitarist Loren Connors. Hamid Drake has also played with some of the greatest: Don Cherry, Herbie Hancock, Pharoah Sanders, Fred Anderson, Archie Shepp... Despite their many individual collaborations, the pairing of Moore and Drake is brand new!
