Interview with Melissa Auf der Maur

PHE: Do you have a favorite memory of the Smashing Pumpkins?

Melissa Auf der Maur: My favorite story is the origin story of my connection with them. July 1991. I am a teenager. I go to a show of an unknown band from Chicago. The ticket price is one dollar. I’m one of 20 people there; the band plays and blows my mind instantly. I’m intrigued by the girl bass player and the slightly shy, beautiful Asian guitar player, and blown away by the ferocity of the drummer and the cherubic, fascinating passionate singer shredder in the center.

Halfway through the show, my college roommate’s boyfriend starts heckling, telling them to “drop the f-ing attitude, you’re not playing an arena.” throws a beer bottle at the singer. The singer hops off stage. They get into a little fist fight. Security breaks it up.

My friend gets ushered out, and Billy (Corgan) gets back up on stage, straightens out his shirt with great pride, and says “we have one more for you, Montreal.” And they kick into the opening song of their debut album Gish:“I am one.” From that moment, I rode the wave of that song to my Destiny in MUSIC.

When the band walked off stage, I walked straight up to the singer and said “Hello. I am Melissa, and on behalf of Montreal, Canada I apologize and I promise to follow you and your band till the end of time.”

Our destined paths crossed again, in many ways over many years and eventually, I did join my favorite band and every night that we played that song I felt at one with the 19-year old dreamer who committed to making music the center of her life.

PHE: What was it like to perform an MTV Unplugged episode?

Melissa Auf der Maur: I have really great memories of MTV Unplugged with Hole on Valentine’s Day 1995. I had only been in the band less than a year, and it was the first time I got to work with a real producer, the legendary Hal Wilner (rest in peace, dear Hal) And the stripped down acoustic versions really appealed to me because I got to shine with my choir girl voice, and Courtney and I got to develop what became one of our signature collaborations: our opposing voices complementing each other. I do hope it gets released as a recording one day. I thought it was great.

PHE: What was the best year of the ‘90s?

Melissa Auf der Maur: Well, obviously, my ‘90s was defined by catapulting into the center of it all when I joined Hole in 1994, but I would say that 1995 the year that Hole co-headlined at lollapalooza with Sonic Youth. It was one of the best but also the beginning of the end of our beautiful 90s music scene. The lineup was impeccable and very diverse, reflecting all of the originality and authenticity of the ‘90s: Moby, Beck, Pavement, Cypress Hill, the Jesus Lizard. Elastica, Sinéad O’Connor, Blonde Redhead… Impeccable. But it did mark the end. It was very good thing that year.

PHE: How did you get into doing Black Sabbath covers?

Melissa Auf der Maur: When I left the Smashing Pumpkins, I had been a bass player and supporting band member for six years straight: five years of Hole and a year long tour with the Pumpkins back to back. When I gained my freedom, I wanted to try something different, also something fun, not so serious, and without pressure.

So I formed Hand of Doom my Black Sabbath cover band with my ‘90s makeup artist Molly Stern on bass and some friends that didn’t take MUSIC so seriously. Who wanted to do it for fun. We played dive bars, Canada Day festivals, the legendary club whiskey a go-go in LA … novelty shows. It was a blast! It really got me out of my shell too. I wore long white fringe on my arms, without a bass in my arms for the first time. I had to do something special.

Being in a cover band is frivolous fun like karaoke. I’ve always said that Ozzy is the greatest witch of all wizard men. I often say the girls in rock bands are channeling their inner wizards and men in rock bands are channeling their inner witches – so I decided to take on Ozzy as a learning experience.

The riffs are incredible. The vocal range perfect for a woman, but also the lyrics were remarkably anti-war anti-drugs, pro magic, and mysticism. It was just the all around perfect band to hold my hand to become a front woman for the first time. I see it is Ozzy being my teacher and mentor of how to stand in the center stage.

PHE: What is your favorite song you wrote?

Melissa Auf der Maur: I think the song that is my most pure rock spirit is “Followed the Waves,” from the first solo album. I wrote it effortlessly on guitar in drop D-tuning. Like all my songs, I recorded the demos at home on a four-track cassette recorder and it instantly sounded heavy when I played it back for the first time. If something sounds that heavy that Lo-Fi, that means it’s gonna sound incredible with a full band. It was also the most satisfying song to play live. Kicking off with my voice in a deep witchy siren call…

My favorite album I wrote is Out of Our Minds, my last solo record, but there’s something pure about my first effort that I hold closest to my heart.

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