David Lindquist

IndyStar

If rock 'n' roll is fading from mainstream pop culture, that's fine with Thurston Moore.

Known for playing experimental guitar, jagged and sprawling, in the band Sonic Youth from 1981 to 2011, Moore said his music doesn't require wide exposure. And guitar rock isn't getting it in an era when hip-hop, female pop stars and polished country dominate the spotlight.

"I've always been interested in rock 'n' roll as something that existed on the margins," Moore said during a phone interview. "If it gets into the mainstream, then, you know, God bless it. I think there's lots of interesting mainstream music, but most of it I don't really care about. It's there for people who don't invest in rock 'n' roll as a lifestyle."

Moore will make a rare Indianapolis appearance on March 26 as part of the Fountain Square Music Festival. He last performed here when Sonic Youth opened for Pearl Jam at Klipsch Music Center in 2000.

To receive a 15-percent discount on festival passes, enter the code "INDYSTARFEST" when completing a purchase at FountainSquareMusicFest.org.

The demise of Sonic Youth basically coincides with the end of Moore's marriage to Sonic Youth bass player Kim Gordon. It's the Thurston Moore Band that will perform at the Fountain Square Theatre, previewing songs from an album titled "Rock 'n' Roll Consciousness."

Long identified with modern rock in New York City, Moore now lives in England.

On the topic of "the mainstream," Moore said he was in attendance when Coldplay performed during February's NME Awards in London.

"Everything they did, they were beautiful," he said. "They were these beautiful guys playing this anthemic music. It made the whole room really happy. One part of me thought, 'Well, this is really great. I can't be cynical and fault this. All it's doing is bringing this sense of galvanized happiness.' The other part of me wanted to run screaming out of the room. 'I can't deal with this.' "

Moore talked to IndyStar about his old band, his current band and an Indianapolis band he admires:

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The go-go '90s: The modern-rock explosion of the 1990s featured Sonic Youth as a high-profile participant, thanks to the albums "Goo," "Dirty," "Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star" and "Washing Machine." Nirvana was linked to Sonic Youth through a European tour documented in the film "1991: The Year Punk Broke" plus Kurt Cobain's idea that his band would be a success if it could sell as many albums as Sonic Youth. Nirvana's "Nevermind" has sold 30 million copies worldwide, while Sonic Youth never flirted with gold-record status for selling 500,000 copies of any single album. Moore downplays Sonic Youth's stature. "We were renowned as this live act that had been around for a while as a legacy thing," Moore said. "But we were always sort of this odd duck of a band, I think, just because of the nature of our songwriting. Which is fine." In 1991, the band toured arenas as a supporting act for Neil Young & Crazy Horse. Three years later, Moore hosted a memorable episode of MTV's "120 Minutes" with guests Beck and Mike D of the Beastie Boys. "There was some feeling of, 'OK, we're going to be part of this wave.' And we were sort of part of that wave," Moore said. "We made a little money, and we were able to get health insurance and have a house to live in. That was fabulous. But that only lasted for so long."

Working together: The Thurston Moore Band is made up of Moore, Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, My Bloody Valentine bass player Debbie Googe and guitarist James Sedwards. Moore said 2014 album "The Best Day" captured the musicians "hearing each other for the first time" in a recording studio. He refers to "Rock 'n' Roll Consciousness" as "the culmination of being together for a couple of years and just touring all over the place." The quartet's experience, he said, brings a degree of comfort. "There's not much competition," he said. "There's no dynamic of anxiety there. We kind of enjoy it for what it is."

Lyrical content: Similar to "The Best Day," "Rock 'n' Roll Consciousness" will feature poet Radieux Radio as Moore's collaborator on some of the album's lyrics. Moore talks in generalities about the project's topics, mentioning "female energy," "male energy" and nature. "I like the practice of poetry, where poetry is this essence of language," Moore said. "You kind of think in terms of your vocabulary and linguistics and the sound and the rhythm of words and what your language is."

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For a cause: In 2015, Moore contributed a live rendition of "The Best Day's" title track to compilation album "50 Bands & a Cat for Indiana Equality." Organized by Indianapolis-based Joyful Noise Recordings and Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk (who grew up in Valparaiso), "50 Bands" raised funds for groups that promote LGBT equality in Indiana. The project was a response to Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which critics feared would allow business owners to refuse services to same-sex couples. Moore said it's "pure humanitarian knowledge" to not discriminate. "It's so mind-bogglingly ridiculous because this is something we knew when we were little kids," he said. "We have to wait for these politicians and organized religions to get it together."

Supporting Zero: Similar to Sweden's Hives and Craig Finn of the Hold Steady, Moore is a fan of Indianapolis punk band the Zero Boys. Known for the breakneck velocity of 1982 debut album "Vicious Circle," the Zero Boys were celebrated in the underground hardcore community. Moore points out that some Zero Boys were older and wore longer hair when compared withy the shorn hardcore musicians in Washington, D.C. "(The Zero Boys) seemed to be a little shaggier," Moore said. "But that's what I like about them. I was a little older than the hardcore kids, too. To see a band like the Zero Boys was really cool."

Thurston Moore Band

>> WHEN: 6 p.m. March 26.

>> WHERE: Fountain Square Theatre Building, 1111 Prospect St.

>> TICKETS: $37 to $65. To receive a 15-percent discount on festival passes, enter the code "INDYSTARFEST" when completing a purchase at FountainSquareMusicFest.org.

>> INFO: FountainSquareMusicFest.org, (317) 686-6010.

Call Star reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.