{"id":629885,"date":"2023-04-15T08:09:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-15T13:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/15\/the-breeders-hole-sonic-youth-the-smashing-pumpkins-all-had-female-bass-players-that-was-definitely-an-inspiration-when-melissa-auf-der-maur-went-solo\/"},"modified":"2023-04-15T08:09:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-15T13:09:00","slug":"the-breeders-hole-sonic-youth-the-smashing-pumpkins-all-had-female-bass-players-that-was-definitely-an-inspiration-when-melissa-auf-der-maur-went-solo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/15\/the-breeders-hole-sonic-youth-the-smashing-pumpkins-all-had-female-bass-players-that-was-definitely-an-inspiration-when-melissa-auf-der-maur-went-solo\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;The Breeders, Hole, Sonic Youth, The Smashing Pumpkins all had female bass players. That was definitely an inspiration&#8221;: When Melissa Auf Der Maur went solo"},"content":{"rendered":"<article aria-label=\"article\" data-id=\"WqgsTBMCbJaqPJY9PuFQDS\">\n<header>\n<nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumbs\">\n<ol>\n<li>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\" aria-label=\"Return to Home\">Home<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/features\" aria-label=\"Return to Features\">Features<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/Bass%20Player\" aria-label=\"Return to Bass Player\">Bass Player<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/nav>\n<h2>&#8220;The Breeders, Hole, Sonic Youth, The Smashing Pumpkins all had female bass players. That was definitely an inspiration&#8221;: When Melissa Auf Der Maur went solo<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n<section>\n<div itemprop=\"image\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n<div>\n<picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" alt=\"Melissa Auf der Maur performs live at Le Trabendo on December 15, 2010 in Paris, France. \" onerror=\"if(this.src &#038;&#038; this.src.indexOf('missing-image.svg') !== -1){return true;};this.parentNode.replaceChild(window.missingImage(),this)\"   data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/aGLARELiXPVtHyFecCvKBE.png\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/aGLARELiXPVtHyFecCvKBE.png\"><source type=\"image\/png\" alt=\"Melissa Auf der Maur performs live at Le Trabendo on December 15, 2010 in Paris, France. \" onerror=\"if(this.src &#038;&#038; this.src.indexOf('missing-image.svg') !== -1){return true;};this.parentNode.replaceChild(window.missingImage(),this)\"   data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/aGLARELiXPVtHyFecCvKBE.png\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/aGLARELiXPVtHyFecCvKBE.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/aGLARELiXPVtHyFecCvKBE-320-80.png\" alt=\"Melissa Auf der Maur performs live at Le Trabendo on December 15, 2010 in Paris, France. \" onerror=\"if(this.src &#038;&#038; this.src.indexOf('missing-image.svg') !== -1){return true;};this.parentNode.replaceChild(window.missingImage(),this)\"   data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/aGLARELiXPVtHyFecCvKBE.png\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/aGLARELiXPVtHyFecCvKBE.png\"><\/picture>\n<\/div>\n<p><meta itemprop=\"url\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/aGLARELiXPVtHyFecCvKBE.png\"><br \/>\n<meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"600\"><br \/>\n<meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"338\"><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\">\n<span itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: Samuel Dietz\/WireImage\/Getty)<\/span><br \/>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>Montreal-born bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur was something of a four-string legend on the alternative rock and grunge scene throughout the early 1990s, with years of supporting roles in seminal bands such as Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins. In 2004, when this interview was conducted, she had just released her debut solo album, <a href=\"https:\/\/target.georiot.com\/Proxy.ashx?tsid=44022&#038;GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.co.uk%2Fdp%2FB00018BOLU%2Fref%3Ddm_rwp_pur_lnd_albm_fr%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-21%26ascsubtag%3Dguitarworld-gb-3542711645150761500-21\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/dp\/B00018BOLU\/ref=dm_rwp_pur_lnd_albm_fr\" data-hl-processed=\"hawklinks\" data-placeholder-url=\"https:\/\/target.georiot.com\/Proxy.ashx?tsid=44022&#038;GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.co.uk%2Fdp%2FB00018BOLU%2Fref%3Ddm_rwp_pur_lnd_albm_fr%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-21%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-21\" rel=\"sponsored noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-google-interstitial=\"false\" data-merchant-name=\"Amazon UK\" data-merchant-id=\"1027\" data-merchant-url=\"amazon.co.uk\" data-merchant-network=\"Amazon\">Auf Der Maur<\/a><span> (opens in new tab)<\/span>. Guests on the album included Chris Goss (Masters Of Reality) Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri (Queens Of The Stone Age), Brandt Bjork (Kyuss), Erik Erlandson (Hole) and James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins). Having spent years backing up charismatic, limelight-stealing singers such as Courtney Love and Billy Corgan, preparing for a solo album was no small task\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>Have you written the songs on your new album from a bass player\u2019s point of view?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No, and I promise the world of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/features\/best-bass-guitars-for-every-budget\">bass<\/a> players, and I promise my bass, and myself, that for the next record I will \u2013 because a big trouble is that the bass is really about sharing. You really need a drummer to play bass. You need a band \u2013 the bass player can\u2019t really exist without a band. I wrote all these songs with power chords on an acoustic guitar alone in my room, so I didn\u2019t have a relationship with a drummer to write from that perspective. I mean, I play the rhythm guitar like I would play a bass, they\u2019re completely transposable, but I wrote it from a guitar place rather than a bass place.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How did you prepare for doing a solo album?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After five years in Hole and a year in The Smashing Pumpkins, I had to re-evaluate what music means to me. It was a very rigid structure in those bands, because the catalog was already accumulated and because there\u2019s a cycle of touring and recording, with record companies and lawyers involved. And I basically needed to return to my love of music for my spirit and soul\u2019s sake. So when I left the Pumpkins I wanted everything to start from scratch.<\/p>\n<p>I realized when I did the album that what I had done in my five years in Hole as a bass player and backup singer is nurture other people\u2019s spark and develop around them. You build melodies and arrangements around existing things. I adapted so well to that role that when it came to my record, I was playing that role to myself! I wrote the songs on guitar and then played the perfect bass player and backup singer to myself. It was like the old me supporting the new me, the songwriter.<\/p>\n<div data-nosnippet>\n<p><iframe data-lazy-priority=\"high\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oRI5PP0xcpI\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Have the songs changed over the years?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No, not really. I believe people are born pretty much the way they are \u2013 I\u2019m not too different than when I was 12. Of course I have a bigger vocabulary and a better bass-playing ability, but basically what I\u2019m trying to relate in the music is always the same. But I did pick up a lot of melody ideas and riffs as the years went by.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Are you still playing Precisions?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes, I have a black one for this tour as well as the tobacco sunburst one I always use. I\u2019ve only ever played Fender and there\u2019s no reason as a bass player to play anything else. Maybe if you were playing jazz or funk, but for heavy rock riffs the Precision is the only one that\u2019s round enough and has the attack. A Jazzmaster is good for walking around going dink-dink-dink, but when you want to hit that E string\u2026 I play almost everything on the E string. One of my trademarks is that I play everything on the E and slide up and down wherever possible. Everything is heavier on the E string and I tune down to D a lot. Also, if you avoid the A and D string and move up and down the neck it affects the actual feel of the riff.<\/p>\n<div data-nosnippet>\n<p><iframe data-lazy-priority=\"low\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kyJDcpkka8o\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Are you a five-string player?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No, but I do have a secret weapon in the studio which I might bring out live sometime. It\u2019s a very heavy metal-looking eight-string from the 70s, a Greco. Unbelievable. I double every rhythm guitar with one of those. It has the biggest, fattest sound, and I also tune the high string in each pair not to an octave but to a fifth, which gives you these strange chords. The only songs I\u2019ve ever written on the bass are ones I\u2019ve written on the D and the G strings, with an open droning D. D is my favorite note.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What was your first bass?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A Squier Precision. Cheaper than a Fender, but it was a Japanese model from the 70s so it was really good. About five years ago Fender made me a whole bunch of custom-shop Precisions. The only specification I gave them was to make them exactly like my Squier! My Squier\u2019s neck was worn down because it was an old bass, so they just shaved the necks down. It\u2019s a flatter neck from behind. I couldn\u2019t have used a Jazz because those necks are fatter but skinnier, the other way \u2013 I like wide necks, just not fat ones. I have very small hands but I still find them comfortable. Otherwise, I don\u2019t have any custom modifications: I don\u2019t use active pickups, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Amps?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/features\/ampeg-b15-portaflex\">Ampeg<\/a> only. I\u2019m endorsed by them. I\u2019ve done multiple Ampeg campaigns for them. As a bass player, I\u2019m entirely convinced that there is nothing better than an Ampeg and a Precision. The amps are like an industrial machine \u2013 they\u2019re not finicky. The old 60s and 70s ones a little wacky, but if you buy a new tube SVT Classic head, you\u2019re fine.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Effects?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On the bass I don\u2019t do much. I have a little Sansamp distortion for a couple of moments but I don\u2019t like to distort the bass because you lose so much of the bottom-end definition. I\u2019m addicted to phasers and flangers of all sorts \u2013 I write all my guitar parts on them, and I do use them on the bass but again, I don\u2019t like losing the definition.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you write your bass parts?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t like to go against my riffs too much but I will use my vocal harmonies when writing a bass part. That was my technique a lot when we were making the Celebrity Skin album (1999) with Hole. Every time I was singing a counter-melody and it was too busy for the backup vocals, I would make it my bass line. I think I use my voice and my bass very similarly, actually. Also, I evolve my bass parts throughout the song: in the first verse I start simple, then later on I come in a bit more, and then I play the most melodic part of the bass line right at the end of the song.<\/p>\n<div data-nosnippet>\n<p><iframe data-lazy-priority=\"low\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/v0CYB5V9e64\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Who influenced you as a bass player?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Well, I\u2019m a fan of various bass players, but to be quite honest I\u2019ve been more influenced by bands than individual players. I was drawn to the bass at quite a young age at a gut-instinct level, because of the sub-frequencies that we don\u2019t hear but we feel \u2013 not because I saw a bass player and thought, oh wow. I mean, in \u201891 and \u201892, the big inspiring years for me, I saw some amazing players at the beginnings of that incredible movement.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Grunge, the movement that dare not speak its name?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ha! Yes, exactly. But I was so lucky to see all those bands before the explosion. In one summer I saw The Breeders, Hole, Sonic Youth, The Smashing Pumpkins. I saw Nirvana, Mudhoney and lots of others too, but those four all had female bass players. And subconsciously at least, I thought wow, that\u2019s very accessible. Those girls were definitely an inspiration.<\/p>\n<p>But from when I became a real bass player and started paying attention to the bass more, I\u2019ll choose two players \u2013 bearing in mind that in rock bass playing you\u2019re not supposed to be flashy. Being a lead bass player doesn\u2019t fit in rock music. It does in jazz and funk, though.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What about Cliff Burton?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Actually, you\u2019re right there. Anyway, these two players are tasteful rather than flashy: Eric Avery from Jane\u2019s Addiction \u2013 their songs are clearly written from a bass player\u2019s point of view \u2013 and Nick Oliveri from Queens Of The Stone Age, who plays on two songs on my album. He is one of the most moving bass players I\u2019ve seen, and yet his work doesn\u2019t intrude whatsoever.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On the whole, are you pleased with the new album?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oh yeah. Recording the album was the best time I\u2019ve ever had in my life. It was my world! Through and through. I worked and learned and did my education so that when I made my album it would be musically and emotionally exactly what I believe in. The songs have been building up for years \u2013 the oldest one dates back to 1993 before I was in Hole. That one in particular I began thinking of as a friend \u2013 I said to it, &#8220;I\u2019ll be back for you, I promise. I\u2019m not just abandoning you!&#8221;<\/p>\n<div data-nosnippet>\n<p><iframe data-lazy-priority=\"low\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MP9qhGLyGto?start=3\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em><strong>This interview was originally published in Bass Player, 2004<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vanilla.futurecdn.net\/guitarworld\/media\/img\/GW_logo.svg\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span>Thank you for reading 5 articles this month*<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Join now for unlimited access<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>UK pricing \u00a32.99 per month or \u00a329.00 per year\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Europe pricing \u20ac3.49 per month or \u20ac34.00 per year<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vanilla.futurecdn.net\/guitarworld\/media\/img\/GW_logo.svg\">\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span>Join now for unlimited access<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Prices from \u00a32.99\/$3.99\/\u20ac3.49<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" data-reactroot id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent\">\n<section>\n<p>We\u2019d love to stay in touch, sign up for The Pick team to contact you with great news, content and offers.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div data-reactroot id=\"slice-container-authorBio\">\n<p>Joel McIver was the Editor of Bass Player magazine from 2018 to 2022, having spent six years before that editing Bass Guitar magazine. A journalist with 25 years&#8217; experience in the music field, he&#8217;s also the author of 35 books, a couple of bestsellers among them. He regularly appears on podcasts, radio and TV.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div data-reactroot id=\"slice-container-relatedArticles\">\n<p><h5>Most Popular<\/h5>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/features\/melissa-auf-der-maur-interview\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Margherita Redner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home Features Bass Player &#8220;The Breeders, Hole, Sonic Youth, The Smashing Pumpkins all had female bass players. That was definitely an inspiration&#8221;: When Melissa Auf Der Maur went solo (Image credit: Samuel Dietz\/WireImage\/Getty) Montreal-born bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur was something of a four-string legend on the alternative rock and grunge scene throughout the early [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":629886,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95785,534,1959],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-629885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breeders","8":"category-financial","9":"category-sonic"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}