“I like risk-takers, I suppose,” says Kim Gordon, speaking via video chat from Australia a few days before she’s due to appear at Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival. The 71-year-old American musician and visual artist has made a career out of pushing boundaries, both during her lengthy tenure with rock band Sonic Youth and now as a solo artist.
But right now, we’re talking about pop. Last week, Gordon caused a minor uproar when she let slip in a short interview with The Guardian that she’s “not really a fan” of Taylor Swift — “I couldn’t tell you what her music sounded like,” she continued — and preferred Billie Eilish.
“Well, that was a very shorthand answer,” she demurs when I bring it up. Online culture being what it is, though, the comment spawned dozens of clickbait articles and drew some venomous responses from Swifties on social media, all of which Gordon seems to be taking in her stride.