Melissa Auf Der Maur Returns Under Her Own Name

From: ChartAttack.com, 2002-12-21
Date added: 2002-12-26

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With more on her plate than ever before, Melissa Auf Der Maur, former bassist of Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins, is about to release her first solo LP, simply but not terribly creatively titled, Auf Der Maur. The 12 track album doesn't have a set date for release yet, but reportedly features collaborations with fellow Canadian Rufus Wainwright and many other random musicians thrown into the ADM mix. Auf Der Maur told MTV that this album is a definite mix of her masculine and feminine sides, with many of the tracks being very hard edged, but soft as well (however that works). Auf Der Maur has recently been working on many different projects including being the lead singer of a Black Sabbath cover band called Hand Of Doom with Peter Yanowitz (former drummer for the Wallflowers and Natalie Merchant), DJ Joey Garfield, bassist Molly R. Stern and guitarist Guy Stevens. Some live performances of Hand Of Doom have been recorded and will comprise a live album to be released in the fall by L.A. indie label Idahomusic/Retrophonic. Tracks include "Paranoid," "Black Sabbath" and, of course, "Hand Of Doom." As if that weren't enough to keep Auf Der Maur busy, she has also recently become a virgin. Along with former bandmate James Iha from the Pumpkins, Ryan Adams and ex-Lemonhead, Evan Dando, Auf Der Maur is the fourth member of The Virgins (or "The Fucking Virgins" as they've alternately been called). However, there is no word on when the group will record, or when they might perform, so you may as well forget about that one for the time being. Another project which seems to lingering on the back burner for Auf Der Maur is yet another band with ex-bandmate Samantha Maloney from Hole, A Perfect Circle's bassist Paz Lenchantin and Radio Sloan from The Need. The project is being called The Chelsea, another seemingly unknown band which have yet to release any material. You can probably forget about that one too With all of these projects in the works, it surprising Auf Der Maur has time to release anything of her own. Let's hope this solo project isn't as casual as The Virgins and The Chelsea seem to be. -By Hayley Butler

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