# Kim Gordon on her influence as an iconic guitarist: “I never thought of myself as a musician”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/kim-gordon-on-her-influence-as-an-iconic-guitarist-i-never-thought-of-myself-as-a-musician/
- Published: 2026-11-06T15:49:57+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-06T16:53:29+00:00
- Original publisher: NME
- Original article: https://www.nme.com/news/music/kim-gordon-interview-sonic-youth-fender-jazzmaster-guitar-new-album-3975287?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=kim-gordon-interview-sonic-youth-fender-jazzmaster-guitar-new-album
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Kim Gordon has launched a limited-edition Fender Jazzmaster.
- She says she never considered herself a musician.
- Her new solo album takes a beat-driven, trip-hop-influenced direction.

## Summary

Kim Gordon has released a limited-edition Fender Jazzmaster and reflected on how she came to play music and on Sonic Youth’s influence. Although widely known as the band’s bassist, she began with guitar and says she approached music as a visual artist, never thinking of herself as a musician.

The guitar is based on a 2008 Mexican Standard given to her during Sonic Youth’s final South American tour, with reversed colours and changes developed with friends and collaborators. Gordon traced her approach to no wave, jazz and free jazz, and said Sonic Youth treated dissonance as a way to colour and express the world. Her latest solo album, “Play Me”, is more beat-driven and trip-hop-influenced; she says she does not play guitar live on it, except possibly on one song.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.