Thurston Moore Meets Bernie Sanders on Limited-Edition Vinyl
Former Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders unite on “Feel It In Your Guts,” a 12-string acoustic piece featuring excerpts from the Senator’s speeches. One thousand hand-numbered, white, flexi-disc vinyl copies are available for free with individual donations to the Sanders campaign. The track is also available as a digital MP3 or WAV. Full details are available at the Joyful Noise Recordings website.
“Feel It In Your Guts” includes samples of Sanders discussing economic inequality, social justice, human rights and money worship. The vinyl version includes screen-printed artwork featuring Sanders on the front and his quote “Art is what life is about” on the back.
The unorthodox collaboration was spearheaded by record label Joyful Noise. In a statement, label founder Karl Hofstetter praised the Democratic Socialist for focusing on “issues that affect 99 percent of us.” He also detailed the process of recruiting Sanders and Moore, noting the enthusiasm of both parties.
“We at the label were inspired to support the campaign, and we thought it would be best to use our curatorial talents to this end,” Hofstetter said. “Being a weird-o indie rock record label, we are fortunate to work with a variety of incredible musicians; including, on occasion, the great Thurston Moore. So we decided to ask him. And we were delighted that in a matter of minutes after posing the idea, Thurston excitedly agreed.
“Next: the task of getting a major presidential candidate involved,” he continued. “Fortunately, one of our employees was already friends with the good folks of the Bernie campaign, so we reached out. Amazingly, the Bernie campaign responded, and within a week or so, we heard that Bernie himself was into the idea. The amazing folks at the Bernie campaign have worked closely with us to make this crazy collaboration a reality.”
Musicians across the sonic spectrum – from System of a Down’s Serj Tankian to Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea – have publicly endorsed Sanders for president.