Bassist Melissa Auf der Maur on joining Hole and why she stepped away from music

If you look on the cover of Hole's album "Celebrity Skin," you'll see her right away. 

Melissa Auf der Maur is standing to the left of Courtney Love. The 1998 album is the first one she recorded with the band. She joined in 1994 after bassist Kristen Pfaff died, and she played with them around the world, from a music festival in Australia to Tuktoyaktuk, a village in the Arctic Circle.

But after a few years, Auf der Maur left Hole. She went on to have a highly successful career in music, including as bassist for the Smashing Pumpkins. She’s collaborated with many musicians and built a career as a solo artist. She’s also a photographer – a craft she studied in her university days. 

And now, she’s an author. Auf der Maur’s new book is called “Even The Good Girls Will Cry: A 90s Rock Memoir.” It chronicles her early life in Montreal and her time with Hole, and how she started making her own music. 

She stopped by KUOW while she was in Seattle on her book tour and told us just how she "liv[ed] through this.

Guest

Melissa Auf der Maur - musician, author, photographer

Melissa Auf der Maur's '90s song picks

Tragic Carpet Ride - Polvo

Doe - The Breeders

Out Of Focus - Love Battery

Use Once and Destroy - Hole (the one Courtney calls Melissa's song)

Followed The Waves - Melissa Auf der Maur

Related Links

Auf der Maur's interview with The Ringer's Bandsplain

Melissa Auf der Maur, a ’90s Rock Linchpin, Is Spilling Her Stories - The New York Times

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