So what's that other gal from Hole up to these days?

Posted at 1:50 PM Mar 11, 2010

By Andrea Grimes

​Last week, in fiscal desperation, my fellow Doll Susan and I stopped by a downtown Austin, Texas bar known more for its dollar wells than its ambience and quality clientele. Yes, it was on 6th street, and yes, we may have been the oldest ladies in the place. But it's hard to go wrong with a strongly poured whiskey-Coke. And so we sat at the bar trying not to make eye contact with anyone, sucking down our drinks and watching some kind of bar satellite television-ads-with-music-videos-thing. I don't know. Are we in the future now? I guess. Anyway, after Biggie and Fergie played, Hole's classic "Celebrity Skin" vid came on.

And I wondered aloud, "I wonder if that other woman is tired of putting up with Courtney Love yet?" For I was but young and dorky and listening exclusively to The Beatles and Jewel when Hole was popular, so knowing the name of Melissa Auf Der Maur would have been well beyond my station. But Auf Der Maur gave an interview to The Guardian yesterday, and she pretty much answered my question.

For the Hole-non-aficionados out there, this is the gist: Courtney Love wrote a record, Nobody's Daughter, which was supposed to have been released last year but is now coming out in late April, and kind-of, sort-of involved some of the former Hole members in its production, but not Melissa Auf Der Maur. Courtney is kind-of sort-of calling this thing a Hole record, but it kind-of is not. Or something. I don't know, you people go and fucking figure Courtney Love out. Because neither I, nor Auf Der Maur, can. Rebecca Nicholson asks about this latest Love-Hole incarnation:

How do you feel about this new guise?

M: I know nothing about the new guise. It's complicated, but basically Courtney is an incredibly strong and intelligent woman with a lot of stuff to offer, and she should be releasing records and performing because she is magical at that. But I'm slightly confused. I believe it started as a solo record and ended up being a Hole record. Ultimately, she's someone who's going to do what she wants to do, so it's not worth debating. I want her to be happy and, despite this turn of events, that's still the way I feel. I hope she finds happiness and creative fulfilment.

And on to female pop and rock stars in general, Auf Der Maur says there's still some sexism going on. I know, I was as surprised to hear it as you are:

We have a handful of high-profile female pop stars here at the moment ...

M: There definitely is a rise of cool women.

But at the same time, the press tends to lump them all together.

M: Unfortunately it just says that women are still far behind in terms of equal representation. I think we've made leaps and bounds since my mother's generation. I have high hopes for the feminine era of 2010. I think the 21st century is going to be incredible. Even as we destroy mother nature, even men's hearts are weeping for the feminine side and the giving of life. A lot of beautiful men are going to step up and represent their feminine side and the world's feminine side.

And she loves the ladyboys:

Is what you do feminine?

M: Definitely. Am I feminine? Yes, although I did look like a boy until I was 25. I was pretty androgynous for as long as a woman can be. Have I become more feminine? Yes. But do I prefer frontmen like Danzig and Morrissey over any woman? Yes. So I think I like androgynous, feminine forces. Ozzy Osbourne and Jimmy Page - they're witchy, feminine men.

Auf Der Maur's latest album, Out of Our Minds, comes out in 3 weeks and is a musical-artistic collaboration of crazybusiness. Both Auf Der Maur and Love will be in Austin next weekend for SXSW. Fingers crossed I'll run into one or both of them.