Melissa Auf der
Maur
Outside of her acclaimed solo
work and high-profile stints in
seminal rock outfits Hole and
Smashing Pumpkins, Melissa
Auf der Maur has also per-
formed with the likes of The
Cars’ Ric Ocasek, longtime
friend Rufus Wainwright, Ryan
Adams, The Stills, and Never-
ending White Lights. She’s also
the co-founder of Basilica Hud-
son, a unique arts and perfor-
mance venue in Hudson, NY.
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Fender Precision Bass w/
Rosewood Fretboard
Ampeg SVT Pro Head
Ampeg SVT Cab
Boss Tuner
Tech 21 SansAmp Bass
Driver
Chorus Pedal
CM: What’s the most recent piece
you’ve added to your rig and how
did it earn the spot?
MAdM: I’ve been on maternity
leave for the last eight years, but I
48 CANADIAN MUSICIAN
just got a Guild semi-hollowbody
bass for my last birthday from my
husband and daughter. It’s dark
green – I’m born on St. Patricks’ Day
– and the whole family agrees I need
to play bass again! So it’s sitting on
a stand in my office, tempting me
daily.
CM: What’s currently keeping you
busy as far as music is concerned?
Anything notable on-the-go or on
the calendar for 2020?
MAdM: My husband and I founded
Basilica Hudson, a solar-powered
reclaimed 1880s industrial factory
in the Hudson Valley Region of
Upstate New York, and have been
devoted to presenting independent
and innovative music, art, film, and
local artisans and farmers. Basilica
Hudson is my new band of sorts.
Our most exciting annual events
are two big music festivals: Basilica
SoundScape and 24-HR DRONE:
Experiments in Sound and Music.
The only time I have played music
lately has been when bringing our
music program aboard. We have a
DRONE satellite program and have
done concerts in Canada, Sweden,
and Iceland, and I have done exper-
imental bass sets at those, which is
where I fell in love with semi-hollow
basses because they feed back –
something I have never had the
pleasure of during my days in more
traditional rock bands! So that has
been a slow awakening to getting
back to music.
CM: Outside of your solo work
and better-known band projects,
you’ve shared the stage and stu-
dio with a slew of diverse artists
over the years. When you’re ap-
proached about a new potential
musical collaboration, what in-
forms your decision on whether
it’s something you want to be a
part of?
MAdM: Great people. Example:
I met [Cars frontman] Ric Ocasek
when he produced the Hole cov-
er of “Gold Dust Woman” for The
Crow: City of Angels soundtrack.