Melissa Auf der Maur unearths ’90s demos for new collection

After nearly fifteen years of relative quiet, bassist Melissa Auf der Maur is opening a private window into her vibrant and experimental creative life with a new release. She is set to bring her work on lo-fi tape manipulation and intimate soundscapes to the public via BASS WOMB ROOM: My ’90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings, which will be released on September 4th through Envision Records.

This new musical offering pairs seven previously unheard four-track demos Auf der Maur recorded at home during the 1990s with eight newly created sound pieces developed for her upcoming museum exhibition, Melissa Auf der Maur: My ’90s Rock Photographs. The visual component, which opens September 2nd at Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario, expands on these sonic explorations by contextualizing them within the era of major-label alternative rock.

The creation of BASS WOMB ROOM was an inward journey rather than a cataloging exercise. Recorded on a Tascam four-track in her Los Angeles living room, the demos showcase Auf der Maur experimenting freely with acoustic guitar, bass, layered vocals, and lo-fi tape manipulation—including reversing cassettes and pitch-shifting. The resulting songs reflect deep personal experiences, drawing from diaries about desire, physical sensations, and even the memory of the moon landing.

Adding texture to these private recordings were field recordings harvested from everyday life: the dripping of a faucet, the click of a camera shutter, and other ambient sounds sampled from a dictaphone she carried alongside her camera. These elements transform the music into an immersive experience of domestic intimacy filtered through a cinematic lens.

The exhibition itself is designed to expand upon this theme. Co-produced with Alex Crow, the installation surrounding BASS WOMB ROOM features video captured from Auf der Maur’s years touring with Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins. These concert recordings are seamlessly woven together with a recurring heartbeat motif, symbolizing both the profound nature of the bass—the “mother of all instruments”—and the concept of the womb.

For Auf der Maur, these sounds serve as a vital counterpoint to the often high-pressure world of major-label rock. In her reflections, she noted that these demos represent a form of internal experimentation and a way of keeping the spirit of the “Montreal art girl” alive amidst the demands of mainstream success. It is a raw, private chronicle of the quiet side of a figure who navigated the intensity of big American music while pursuing her own unique sonic voice.

By Mason Carter