Melissa Auf der Maur
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Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur (born March 17, 1972) is a Canadian rock musician of Franco-Swiss ancestry, who currently resides in Montreal, Quebec. "Maur" is pronounced to rhyme with "power". It is derived from the German word for wall (Mauer), thus her full surname can be literally translated as "On the Wall".
Auf der Maur was born to journalist and politician Nick Auf der Maur and literary translator Linda Gaboriau. She once observed that she had been known her whole life primarily as Nick's daughter, until she became the bassist for Hole, whereupon he became known primarily as Melissa's father.
Her primary language throughout childhood was English; she later learned French and Spanish as well. She spent some of her early childhood in Kenya with her mother, but soon returned to Montreal, where she attended a performing arts high school, and then Concordia University as a photography major.
Auf der Maur first became friends with Billy Corgan after apologizing for a friend who threw a beer bottle at the band during one of The Smashing Pumpkins' first Canadian concert dates at Foufounes Électriques. 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 reconsidered on advice from her father. She joined Hole two weeks before the Reading Festival, and stayed through the album Celebrity Skin, leaving on October 20, 1999.
Not too long afterward, she joined the Smashing Pumpkins line-up, just after the band had finished the recording of MACHINA/The Machines of God, and the departure of D'Arcy Wretzky occurred. She toured with the band in support of the MACHINA and remained with them until they disbanded in 2000.
She also collaborated with the French group Indochine on the song "Le grand secret", jointly singing vocals and appearing in the video with Nicola Sirkis, and toured with Ric Ocasek of The Cars in 1997. Auf der Maur also contributed bass and backing vocals to childhood friend Rufus Wainwright's 1998 album Poses.
After Smashing Pumpkins' breakup, Auf der Maur fronted a short-lived Black Sabbath cover band called Hand of Doom in order to practice being a lead singer. She also performed original songs with her friends The Chelsea in Los Angeles, California.
In 2004, her band Auf der Maur released its self titled debut album, garnering significant airplay on modern rock radio stations for the singles "Followed the Waves", "Real A Lie" and "Taste You". 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. She was also the opening act for Matthew Good's Put Out Your Lights Tour in 2004. She contributed backing vocals on the track "Do Miss America" which appears on Ryan Adams' "Rock N Roll" album (2003).
Auf der Maur is also a talented photographer; she was a photography major specializing in self-portraiture at Concordia University when she was invited to join Hole. Her photos have been published in Nylon, BUST, Mastermind, and Harper's Bazaar, 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. A book of photos entitled 'Channels' has been in the works for a few years.
On February 2 2006, MTV.com reported that Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin had signed a new management deal with the Front Line Management, with a spokesperson confirming they had signed under the name "Smashing Pumpkins". 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." On April 20th, 2006, Billy Corgan officially announced on [www.smashingpumpkins.com] that the band was back together writing material for their first album since 2000. The band plans to record the album over the summer of 2006. To this point, Corgan and Chamberlin are the only verified as members of the band. Auf der Maur has not commented on the official announcement, or her plans with the band as of yet.
Discography
- with Hole
Footnotes
See also
- List of Quebec musicians
- Music of Quebec
- Culture of Quebec
- List of bands from Canada
- List of Canadian musicians
- List of famous redheads
External links
- [Firecrasher: Melissa Auf der Maur]
- [Auf der Maur: Official Site]
- [Live photos of Melissa Auf der Maur]
- [Melissa Auf der Maur's personal blog]
- [Melissa Auf der Maur's advocation for David Suzuki as CBC's "Greatest Canadian"]
- [The Smashing Pumpkins] - The Smashing Pumpkins official website.
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