Actor Michael Pitt’s plans to release a new album and tour the U.S. have been defended by his label boss, Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore, who describes the indie star as an ‘artist’.
Pitt rose to fame in 2005’s ‘Last Days’, which was generally considered to be based on the last days of Nirvana star Kurt Cobain, not only playing the iconic singer but also recording the film’s soundtrack.
Last year Moore signed his band Pagoda to his Ecstatic Peach label, and hit back at critics comparing his music career to that of badly received musical ventures for Keano Reaves and Russell Crow.
“All I had lying around the apartment was a crummy electric guitar and after some hesitation Michael took it and began to belt out a solo rendition of Lesson Learned, the first track of the Pagoda CD,” says Moore, recalling the first time he heard Pitt sing. “I was taken aback. It was at that moment that I said, ‘Dude, let’s do a record.’
“Pagoda is not a part-time job for Pitt. He is not an actor out on vacation here. He is an artist with living expression as his goal and music is where he thrives. And Pagoda as a live band kicks much a*s.”