Melissa Auf der Maur (pronounced /ˈɔːf dər ˈmaʊr/; born March 17, 1972) is a Canadian rock musician of Swiss-German ancestry from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her career has included 5 years as bassist with the band Hole and she later toured with The Smashing Pumpkins for their 2000 tour. She is also a published photographer.
Early life
Auf der Maur was born to journalist and politician Nick Auf der Maur and literary translator Linda Gaboriau. Because Nick Auf der Maur was Canadian and Linda Gaboriau was born in the U.S., Melissa holds dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship. Contrary to recent comments claiming Auf der Maur's surname refers to a Swiss river, it translates to 'On the Wall'. This is because 'Maur' was derived from the German/Swiss word for 'wall', 'Mauer', and it is not a direct translation. Melissa is adamant about 'On the Wall', as her grandmother, Theresia Schaelin-Auf der Maur, was "always pounding my heritage down my throat"[1], and was very proud of the name, which is on the brink of extinction.
Her native language is English, though she also speaks French. She spent some of her early childhood in Kenya with her mother, but after several bouts with malaria returned to Montreal, where she attended F.A.C.E. School, a performing arts high school, and then Concordia University as a photography major.
Musical career
Hole
Auf der Maur became friends with Billy Corgan after apologizing for a friend who had thrown a beer bottle at the band during one of The Smashing Pumpkins' first Canadian concert dates at Montreal nightclub Foufounes Électriques.[2] Her band, Tinker, opened for The Smashing Pumpkins in Montreal in 1993. In 1994, when Hole was in need of a new bassist following the death of Kristen Pfaff, Corgan recommended Auf der Maur to Courtney Love. Auf der Maur initially turned the job down, but later reconsidered. She joined Hole two weeks before the Reading Festival, and recorded the album Celebrity Skin with the band, ultimately leaving on October 20, 1999, after her 5-year contract with the band had come to an end.
In June 2009, Courtney Love announced through an NME blog that Hole were reforming, with Auf der Maur on bass, and Micko Larkin, who is Love's lead guitarist on her upcoming album. It came as a surprise to Auf der Maur, who responded by saying she felt that "You can't take a Hole reunion thing that lightly. It's gonna take a little more organizing than just 'I'll come and sing some backups and then we got Hole'". [3] Eric Erlandson also responded to the rumors, saying that, "There is no Hole without me [...] on a business level." Erlandson claimed, "[Love] signed a contract with me when we decided to break up the band" which will prevent Love from using the name for a band that he won't be a part of. [4]
Other collaborations
Auf der Maur briefly toured with former The Cars frontman Ric Ocasek in 1997, after contributing bass and background vocals to his 1997 solo album Troublizing. More notably, Auf der Maur collaborated with French group Indochine on their song "Le Grand Secret", singing a duet in French with Nicola Sirkis, to great acclaim in France. Auf der Maur joined the band on stage to perform the song on various occasions, and appeared in the music video for the song. She performed a rare, short, acoustic set of some of her solo songs during an Indochine show in Paris, February 22, 2002.[5] She has contributed bass and backing vocals to childhood friend Rufus Wainwright's albums Scar and Poses, and appears in his 1998 video for "April Fools". In 2008, she collaborated with Canadian musician Daniel Victor, on his music collaboration project Neverending White Lights. They recorded the song "The World is Darker", for which a video was released in March 2008. Aside from this, she has contributed to albums by artists such as Ryan Adams, Ben Lee, Idaho, The Stills and Fountains of Wayne.[6]
Hand of Doom and The Chelsea
In 2002, Auf der Maur fronted a Black Sabbath cover band called Hand of Doom, in which she performed lead vocals[7]. They played a number of shows, and released a live album. In the same year, she and drummer Samantha Maloney (another Hole alumna and also formerly of Mötley Crüe, and Peaches), Paz Lenchantin (of A Perfect Circle, and Zwan), and Radio Sloan (of Peaches, The Need) got together to play a show in Los Angeles, California as The Chelsea, taking their name from the Chelsea Hotel in New York, where Auf der Maur lived for a number of years. They performed original songs and some covers. Courtney Love later adopted the band as her backing band while touring for her first solo album, America's Sweetheart. Only Samantha Maloney and Radio Sloan remained of the original line-up, and the band was later renamed to The Courtney Love Band.
Auf der Maur
In 2004, Melissa released her first solo effort Auf der Maur, garnering airplay on modern rock radio stations for the singles "Followed the Waves", "Real a Lie" and "Taste You".[citation needed] The same year, she appeared on the CBC television program The Greatest Canadian, as David Suzuki's celebrity advocate. Auf der Maur was part of the November 2004 'Love Metal tour' also featuring HIM and 2004's Curiosa. She was also the opening act for Matthew Good's Put Out Your Lights Tour in 2004, as well as for The Offspring's Splinter tour in 2004.
2006-2007
On February 2, 2006, MTV.com reported that Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin had signed a new management deal with Front Line Management, with a spokesperson confirming they had signed under the name "Smashing Pumpkins."[8] In response, Auf der Maur said in a separate interview, "As long as Billy has Jimmy, he can make the essential Pumpkins record, I'm sure". When asked of her involvement, she said she was not participating in any reunion plans, but was quoted as saying, "My services are always there to play my favorite songs. If D'arcy is not available, I'm always happy to be second in line".[9] Despite her public interest, on April 23, 2007, The Globe and Mail reported that Auf Der Maur would not be rejoining the Smashing Pumpkins.[10]
In 2006, Auf der Maur was included in Blender magazine's hottest women of rock alongside Joan Jett, Liz Phair, and Courtney Love.[11]
In 2007, she appeared on the Fountains of Wayne album Traffic and Weather singing backing on the track "Someone to Love".
Second album
In a 2007 interview,[12] Auf der Maur announced that she had finished her second solo album which would go hand in hand with a graphic novel and a concept film[13], which is to be released in Fall 2009. The album will be released under the name of MAdM, whereas the comic, film and album will go by Out of Our Minds, or OOOM for short. A website containing teasers of the projects, as well as a movie trailer, was launched in August, 2007 and can be found at xMAdMx.com. Glenn Danzig recorded a duet with Auf der Maur in 2008, titled "Father's Grave".[14][15] On November 11, 2008 an EP[16] for the song "This Would Be Paradise" was released on on the official website and iTunes.[17] It includes the songs "The Key" and "Willing Enabler". On November 9, 2009 Auf der Maur released the first single "Out Of Our Minds" from her new album for download for free on her website.
Photography
Auf der Maur is also an experienced photographer. She was a photography major specializing in self-portraiture at Concordia University when she was invited to join Hole in 1994. Her photos have been published in Nylon, Bust, Mastermind, and American Photo, among other magazines. Her photos were also in the exhibition The Kids are Alright at Sotheby's in New York City along with photos by Yelena Yemchuk. She put together a solo exhibition in 2001, under the name of Channels. It mostly featured shots of Auf der Maur's life on the road, with a recurring TV theme and shots of hotel TV screens, hence the name Channels. The exhibition opened September 9, 2001, at Brooklyn's Secret Gallery, but was shut down after the September 11 attacks.[18] A book bearing the same name was set to appear, but never did.
Discography
Singles
Notes
- ^ Q&A With Melissa Auf der Maur, 2001
- ^ 'You should have been there!' The Globe and Mail, June 29, 2009, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/you-should-have-been-there/article1198572/
- ^ 'Melissa Auf der Maur Talks Hole Reunion' Spin, June 22, 2009, http://www.spin.com/articles/melissa-auf-der-maur-talks-hole-reunion
- ^ 'Q&A: Hole's Eric Erlandson' Spin Magazine, July 9, 2009, http://www.spin.com/articles/qa-holes-eric-erlandson
- ^ Short review of an Indochine show
- ^ Melissa Auf der Maur discography
- ^ Auf Der Maur MTV Biography
- ^ Smashing Pumpkins Reunion Is Under Way, According To Sources
- ^ Corgan, Chamberlin Revive Smashing Pumpkins
- ^ The Globe and Mail
- ^ Hottest Women of... Rock!
- ^ Film, Comic To Augment Auf Der Maur Album
- ^ http://www.vimeo.com/4956544
- ^ http://www.danzig-verotik.com/danzig/danzig_intvw.html
- ^ http://www.xmadmxforums.com/index.php?showtopic=5169
- ^ http://xmadmx.com/news
- ^ http://app.topspin.net/artist/241254/home?account_id=241254
- ^ Montreal Mirror Artsweek
See also
External links
