Take a Look Inside Thurston Moore’s Passport

For musician and author Thurston Moore, traveling can be a time warp—especially in New York, where his band Sonic Youth rose to fame. “I’ll get sent videos, and I’m like, Wow, look at us. I didn’t have a double chin! But I don’t miss that life. I find nostalgia psychologically conflicting.” His memoir, Sonic Life, recounts his growth as an artist defining American subculture. He is currently working on a novel and, next month headlines the New Music Dublin festival. Whether returning to his hometown or his home in London, he continues to cultivate community when not collecting records or books, of course.

Here, his favorite places.

Boulder, Colorado / Photo: Courtesy of @ThurstonMoore58

Boulder, Colorado

“My partner, Eva, was born in the Rocky Mountains and since we’ve been together over a decade now, we visit every summer. We teach a writing workshop at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University. It was founded by poets Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman. There is something stimulating about a hike in these mountains during summertime. It’s a mountaintop sanctuary. We also love visiting the Trident bookstore.” 

The Strand / Photo: Courtesy of @ThurstonMoore58

New York City

“We stay at The Algonquin Hotel near the New York Public Library and Theater District. Dorothy Parker’s ghost lived there. They also permitted us to host poetry readings and curate discussions. In the city, I can relocate what I loved as a young person, like turning the corner near Eldridge onto Grand Street. Today, on the second floor of 297 Grand Street is Paradise of Replica, a record store that couldn’t have existed there back then! Another record store I like is Ergot near the old CBGB. I can also spend hours rifling through books at the Strand. Aeon Bookstore on East Broadway is wonderful for secondhand counterculture magazines.”

Miami / Photo: Getty Images

Miami

“I was born in Coral Gables, and it’s where Eva and I visit when we come to the States. It’s our happy place. No matter where we go, we get really involved in the community. Coral Gables has a lot of banking and expensive eateries, but Books & Books, owned by Mitchell Kaplan, is a great bookstore focused on independent publishing houses. For nature, I love the Venetian Pool and Vizcaya’s gardens. Sweat Records is a great secondhand record store. My Mama’s Books Records & Cafe is worth checking out in Dania Beach I’ll cruise up there if I can. I don’t have a car. We mostly ride our bikes around Coral Gables.”

The Dove / Photo: Courtesy of The Dove

London

“I live closer to Hammersmith. It’s more suburban with fewer distractions, less gritty. I’m near lakes, ponds, and wetlands my dogs, Vinkenoog and Apollo, love it. I’m not a drinker, but I find the pub life fascinating—we love The Dove in Hammersmith. Olympic Studios is a great cinema in Barnes, and Riva is a great restaurant nearby. I’ll go to the Tate Modern or Whitechapel for art. I find London to be a very literate city, so I go to a lot of book fairs.”