The Sonic Youth music video that features Kim Gordon playing Keanu Reeves’ bass guitar
Kim Gordon is one of the most vital figures in alternative rock. As a founding member of Sonic Youth, Gordon’s music helped to reinvent the genre through a dedication to innovation and experimentation. The band were unafraid to create abrasive, noise-heavy tracks that pushed their instruments to the limits, often playing their guitars with unusual objects, from screwdrivers to electric drills.
Gordon’s contributions to the band remain their guiding light, with her feminist lyrics and defiant basslines illuminating Sonic Youth as a leading force in the alternative scene. Not only has Gordon created incredible music with Sonic Youth, but she has enjoyed a successful career creating solo music and collaborating with other artists. She has also written several books, such as her essay collection, Is It My Body? and the compelling memoir, Girl in a Band. Moreover, she has worked as a visual artist and clothing designer, proving herself to be one of the most versatile and influential figures in the music industry.
Discussing her impact, Bikini Kill and Le Tigre’s Kathleen Hanna stated (via Elle): “She was a forerunner, musically. Just knowing a woman was in a band trading lead vocals, playing bass, and being a visual artist at the same time made me feel less alone. […] Kim made me feel accepted in a way I hadn’t before.”
In the 1980s, Sonic Youth’s musical output was defined by its uncommercial appeal, utilising unconventional song structures and caustic instrumentals. Their pioneering brilliance made them a firm favourite of artists such as Kurt Cobain, and their influence is particularly evident in Nirvana tracks such as ‘Radio Friendly Unit Shifter’. However, in 1990, Sonic Youth experimented with their sound on the album Goo, creating a few tracks that were easily their most accessible to date, such as ‘Kool Thing’, featuring Chuck D. Although the album became their most commercially successful release, the record still maintains much of the harsh sound that chiselled the band out as innovators of 1980s alt-rock.
Sonic Youth continued this theme on 1992’s Dirty, which mixed long, uncommercial pieces that centred Gordon’s unnerving, contorted vocals, with instant slices of indie success, like ‘100%’. As the album’s opening track, the concise and radio-friendly tune makes for the perfect welcome to an album that quickly segues in and out of stability. The music video was directed by Tamra Davis and Spike Jonze (who went on to create films such as Being John Malkovich and Her) and featured the band playing at a house party. Clips of skateboarders (including Jason Lee before he began his acting career) are spliced in between, giving the video a youthful, slacker vibe that perfectly encapsulates American ’90s youth culture.
However, in the party scenes, Gordon can be seen sporting a shirt that reads ‘Eat Me’ as she plays a yellow bass guitar. A little-known fact is that this instrument belonged to actor Keanu Reeves, who was a member of the alt-rock band Dogstar at the time. Although the band found moderate success, embarking on tours with support from bands such as Weezer and Rancid, Reeves ultimately left the band to focus on acting. According to Sonic Youth’s official website, “Apparently Mike Watt [from Minutemen] and Keanu argued over whose bass Kim would play in the video…”
However, in a recent Ask Me Anything session with Reeves on Reddit, the actor cleared up any thoughts of a heated argument between the two, labelling both Gordon and Watt as “cool” and dismissing the notion of a dispute.
In an interview with NME, Sonic Youth vocalist and guitarist Thurston Moore discussed his relationship with Reeves. “He was a sweet kid and would come see Sonic Youth play in Los Angeles. He asked me to play his birthday party once, so I put together a band, and we played on an ice-skating rink while Keanu Reeves and his friends skated around us, which was a disaster because it sounded terrible. I haven’t seen him in a long time, but he was a good person.”
He continued, “I had a situation where I had to call him to talk about directing or being in a video Sonic Youth wanted to do. It didn’t come to fruition, but I remember talking to the other people in the room about how spacey Keanu was. But the phone didn’t hang up properly – and he heard everything I was saying! I met him afterwards in Los Angeles after seeing his band, Dogstar, play, and he said: ‘By the way, I heard what you were saying after the phone call!‘ I felt so bad, but he laughed and said in Hollywood, nobody cares about that stuff.”
Watch the video below.
