Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur was born on March 17, 1972 in Montreal, Canada. Father, Nick Auf der Maur, was busy with politics. And her mother, Linda Gaborio, was engaged in translations of fiction, both were also engaged in journalism.
The child received dual citizenship, Canada and America. The girl traveled a lot with her mother around the world, lived in Kenya for a long time. But after falling ill with malaria, the family returned to their hometown. There Melissa studied at the FACE school. In addition to classical education, she also received training in the arts. There she studied choir and photography. Later, the girl enters Concordia University and specializes in the art of photography in 1994.
Young Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur
After coming of age, Melissa gets a job as a music presenter at the popular rock club Bifteck. Eo allows her to make useful contacts with the right people. Among them was Steve Durand, with whom the Tinker group was created in 1993. Steve played guitar and Melissa played bass. Then guitarist Jordon Zadorozhni was accepted into the lineup. At a concert in 1991, the girl meets guitarist Billy Corgan.
The breakup of the group and a career in "Hole"
The first large-scale concert for the band was "The Smashing Pumpkins" in 1993. Then 2500 people gathered at the stadium. They headlined the show with two singles, "Realalie" and "Green Machine". The team was disbanded in 1994 after a suggestion from Courtney Love. The latter invited the vocalist to become a member of the Hole team.
From 1994 to 1995, the band traveled the world to promote the album "Live Through This". They had problems due to the recent death of Pfaff (former bassist), Courtney's husband Kurt Cobain, and Love's drug addiction.
The group released their third disc "Celebrity Skin", in which Auf der Maur wrote 5 of the 12 songs together. The album gained great success, taking 9th place in the American charts and 3rd in Canada. The main track became the best in the rating "Modern Rock Tracks". After the tour with this record, the performer leaves the group, deciding to prove herself in other activities.
In 2009, the band re-formed for the recording of "Nobody's Daughter" and a concert in Brooklyn in 2012. The team also played at a party in honor of the presentation of Patty Schemel's film "Hit So Hard", which the performer had known for several years. In 2016, the girl said that she could no longer perform with the group. The reason was the lack of strength and energy, but ready for the final stage of the team and support.
Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur's participation in The Smashing Pumpkins
The performer was accepted into this band as a bassist instead of Darcy Wretzky in 1999. She did not participate in the studio recordings of the discs "Machina / The Machines of God" and "Machina II / The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music", but went on a world tour with the group.
Melissa later said that it was difficult for her to work with these musicians, as they often changed the musical arrangements of the compositions. She performed with the team at many concerts, including the final show in Chicago at the 2000 Cabaret Metro. The girl admitted that while Corgan and Cherberlin cooperate - they can do something great, she is not going to return to The Smashing Pumpkins.
In 2002, the singer, along with drummer Samantha Maloney, Paz Lenchantin and Radio Sloan, formed an alliance with the name "The Chelsea". They gave one concert in California. But he was not approved by the audience due to poor preparation, confusion and "garage".
Later, Courtney Love formed her own group with the same name, inviting Maloney and Sloane to join. And Melissa founded her band in 2004 under the name "Hand of Doom", performing covers of the famous band "Black Sabbath". The line-up included Molly Stehr (bass), Pedro Janowitz (drums), Joey Garfield, Guy Stevens (guitar) and Auf der Maur herself on vocals.
The musical group began to give concerts at the famous venues in Los Angeles, and then released an album of live recordings "Live in Los Angeles" in 2002. This disc was a good success and collected a lot of positive reviews. The guys themselves called themselves "art karaoke". They did a few more shows in 2002 before disbanding.
Solo work by Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur
After the collapse of The Smashing Pumpkins, the performer could not decide on her future activities. At that time, the girl admitted that music had become something strict and “obligatory” for her, and she no longer gave pleasure.
Returning to her hometown, the girl found her old demos. She realized that she had enough material to create her own full-fledged album. So in the next two years, Melissa recorded her compositions at different studios, which eventually became the disc "Auf der Maur". It was recorded on Capitol Records in 2004.
The disc was a great success and some of the compositions were played on rock stations for a long time. Among the most successful were "Followed the Waves", "Real a Lie" and "Taste You". Until 2010, more than 200 thousand copies of the album were sold.
In 2007, Auf der Maur announced that she had already prepared a new album for release. According to her, it should become part of a large conceptual project. It will also include a documentary about the singer's life, main tracks, recordings from life. After the release of this project, Auf goes on a short tour of Canada and Northern Europe.
The second album, recorded in the studio, was released in the spring of 2010 with the title "Out of Our Minds". He hit the ratings in France, Great Britain, Greece, Spain and had mixed reviews. In 2011, this record won the Independent Music Awards as the best indie and hard rock. In the same year, the girl goes on maternity leave.
Collaborations of Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur with other musicians
Melissa toured in 1997 with Ric Ocasek, a member of The Cars. She also worked with the Indochine band, singing with Nicholas Sirkis in French. The composition was very warmly received in France. The girl participated several times in the concerts of the group in order to sing this composition live with the soloist.
In 2008, Melissa took part in the creation of the composition "The World is Darker" with Daniel Victor. The performer also collaborated with such famous musicians as Ryan Adams, the Idaxo band, Ben Lee, The Stills and Fountains of Wayne.
Auf der Maur as a photographer
The girl was studying photography at Concordia University when she was invited to join the Hole team. She has appeared in well-known magazines such as Nylon and American Photo. Her work has repeatedly appeared at exhibitions in New York. And in 2001, she held her own exhibition called "Channels" in Brooklyn on September 9, 2001.
There were works, mostly from Melissa's daily life: roads, stage, meetings and hotel rooms. Due to the tragic events of September 11 in the United States, the exhibition had to be closed. However, she found a second life, resuming in 2006.
Personal life of the performer
Mellisa Auf der Maur married director and screenwriter Tony Stone. In 2011, the couple had their first child, daughter River. The family owns the Basilica Hudson Cultural Center in New York. They live there.
