Auf Der Maur, a rock 'n' roll dream date

From: Toronto Star, 2004-02-18
Date added: 2004-02-20

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"I love the metal."

With those words, Melissa Auf Der Maur melts the leatheriest of headbanger hearts and officially confirms that — even after a lengthy, self-imposed exile from the "alternative" jetset with whom she ran during high-profile gigs slinging bass for Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins — she remains, perhaps, the grunge era's ultimate rock 'n' roll dream date.

She's a proud Canadian, too, which is why the Montreal native has swung north from her New York pad this long weekend for a string of dates in her home and native land with the tongue-in-cheek, but ultimately reverential Black Sabbath tribute band, Melissa Auf Der Maur's Hand of Doom. The Toronto area is privy to a double dose of Satanic majesty this Canada Day, as Auf Der Maur follows one Hand of Doom set on the Edgefest second stage in Barrie's Molson Park this afternoon with another late-night club gig at the Tequila Lounge alongside Rocket Tits and More Plastic.

For the record, though, this really isn't the solo turn Auf Der Maur has been threatening since she bid adieu to five years of gratuitous drama as Courtney Love's right-hand gal in Hole in 1999. After a pinch-hitting job for chum Billy Corgan, serving as D'arcy Wretzky's replacement on the Pumpkins' 2000 farewell tour — a collaboration notable for giving the band's live show the low-end kick in the pants it had always craved — she gratefully withdrew from high-maintenance band environments and the corporate-rock hurly-burly to concentrate on some music of her own for a change.

An album now sits in the can, awaiting release, but Auf Der Maur, 30, has chosen to ease back into the rock 'n' roll grind on a less-than-serious note by donning a fringed jumpsuit and assuming the role of Ozzy Osbourne in a cover band assembled mainly from friends with non-musical day jobs.

It's a low-pressure hoot, but the response to Hand of Doom's club gigs was enthusiastic enough to merit a short tour and the forthcoming pressing of a live album, Live In Los Angeles, and now Auf Der Maur concedes she's a little weirded out by all the attention it's getting.

"It's really nothing more than I'm celebrating Canada and the Sabbath on the same day," she quips, calling during a quick break from a video shoot for French band Indochine's "Le Grand Secret," a "beautiful Goth love ballad" to which the bilingual Auf Der Maur recently contributed vocals.

"We've only played a few shows. It's like 3-D karaoke, just me having fun with my friends. It's like a balance from how serious music can be for me sometimes — a fun, little, light, done-on-the-side thing to have a few laughs and get my vocals warmed up."

Hand of Doom's droll performance-art overtones aside, Auf Der Maur stresses that the band is deadly serious in its respect for Black Sabbath's obsidian oeuvre.

And lest anyone be tempted to murmur "opportunism," it should be noted that Hand of Doom's genesis predates the Ozzy-mania recently unleashed upon the civilized world by MTV's The Osbournes and can, in fact, be traced to heavy Sabbath content in the bass lessons Auf Der Maur has been giving friend and bandmate, Molly Stern.

"No band I've ever had or have ever been in would have existed if Black Sabbath didn't exist, it's as simple as that," says Auf Der Maur.

"It's just my way of saying `thank you' for creating something beautiful and something we can't live without."

Sabbath's dark shadow will no doubt loom large over Auf Der Maur's "official" solo debut, an entirely "self-financed, self-produced" record completed with all-star assistance from a genuine "who's who" of contemporary heaviness: Chris Goss, who did time with stoner-sludge overlords Kyuss, produces; Kyuss alumni Josh Homme and Nick Olivieri of Queens of the Stone Age appear; and John Stanier, ex- of thunderous math-metal outfit Helmet, contributes drums.

Past associates making an appearance on the album — which will see release whenever Auf Der Maur settles on a record label — include ex-Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, Hole's Eric Erlandson and Jordon Zadorozny (Blinker the Star) and Steve Durand of Tinker, the formidable Montreal outfit Auf Der Maur left behind when Courtney came calling in 1994.

"They're like my living heroes," says Auf Der Maur.

"It's like the rock community filtered through Melissa's dream record, all on tape.

"And part of doing it all by myself was that I can do whatever I want and have full creative control. I can be realistic and have no concerns about the expectations of a label ...

"Five years in Hole didn't give me any room to do anything, so now I'm doing everything."

-By Ben Rayner, Pop Music Critic

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