Kim Gordon wasn't in a rush to release a solo album — in fact, the Sonic Youth bassist and guitarist already had her hands full since the band dissolved in 2011. She was playing with guitarist Bill Nace in the duo Body/Head and creating multi-media works for her first solo museum exhibition, Lo-Fi Glamour.

"I didn't feel the need to put out a solo record. I think they're difficult — they're often not as good as the band that you came from," Gordon said. "So I wasn't rushing to do that. I was preoccupied with other things."

Now, Gordon's debut solo album, No Home Record, is out via Matador Records. I talked with Gordon about recording her first solo release, moving back to L.A., and finding inspiration from no wave to free jazz. You can use the player above to listen to our full conversation.

Gordon didn't take on No Home Record all on her own — she teamed up with producer Justin Raisen, who has crafted songs for artists like Angel Olson, Ariel Pink, and Charli XCX. Gordon met Raisen's brother Jeremiah at a restaurant, when the two ended up sitting at adjacent tables. Later, the producer reached out to Gordon to ask her to add vocals to a project that he was working on.

"He kept sending me things and finally there was something I thought I could sing on," said Gordon. "So I wrote some lyrics for it and went over. He ended up taking the spare parts and making a trashy beat." That "trashy beat" became the song "Murdered Out," which Raisen and Gordon released online. After finishing "Murdered Out," the two decided to develop an entire album together.

Gordon was in between art shows, and used the spare time to play guitar and pick up a drum machine that she borrowed from a friend. "I always wanted to incorporate beats somehow with some lo-fi guitar," she said.

As the bassist in Sonic Youth, Gordon learned to craft percussive and dissonant instrumentals inspired by New York's "no wave" scene — the genre that rejected the sweet melodies of New Wave in favor of a more volatile sound. This no wave sound inspired the songs on No Home Record, like the atomic "Air BnB."

"I play with the space a lot and dynamics and texture," Gordon said. "Justin would add to what we had. It would often start out with a rhythm; I would play him a no wave thing, that's what 'Air BnB' became, just so he'd get the idea, and then we'd build it up from there."

When she's not listening to no wave, Gordon also takes inspiration from free jazz, specifically avant-garde singers Abbey Lincoln and Patty Waters. She says that she hopes to make a "weird jazz record" someday.

As much as No Home Record is inspired by different musical references, it is also inspired by Gordon's recent move back to L.A. after spending years in Northampton, Mass. Gordon grew up in L.A. and spent many years on the East Coast, although she says, "I kind of always carried L.A. around in my head."

Gordon's background in visual art allowed her to cut and paste images of the city into a sort of musical collage. No Home Record's lyrics mimic the omnipresent language of advertisements, referencing everything from cookie butter to AirBnBs and Twitter. "You're always in a car looking at something from a distance. It's very voyeuristic," Gordon said of L.A., noting that she took inspiration from the billboards that line the city's highways. "You're almost driving through a media advertisement at all times."

While the album explores consumer culture and the consequent pressure on companies to brand themselves and their products, as a musician, Gordon is wary of adopting a "personal brand." "I feel like it's kind of a trap I'd like to avoid," she said. "One has to promote the record, but I don't like the idea of being a brand."

After all, Gordon isn't one to fit herself into boxes. "It doesn't really suit my personality."