Sab sister

>> The Ozzyfication of Melissa Auf der Maur

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

After five years with Hole and one more with Smashing Pumpkins, bassist Melissa Auf der Maur (a favourite daughter of our fair town) took two-kay-one right off. “I needed time to enjoy my life and, more than anything, enjoy music,” she says. “I was starving for the fun of live music.”

Redemption came in the form of a fringed white jumpsuit. After encouraging her friend Molly Stern to take up bass, and by extension investigate that mighty force of nature called Black Sabbath, Auf der Maur found the favour returned when Stern asked her fill out the Ozzy role in a Sabbath tribute band. Thus was Hand of Doom born.

“I’ve never been a lead singer, so it’s been so liberating. I love karaoke as it is, but this is 3-D karaoke involving more audience. It’s the funnest thing I’ve ever done.

“Another dimension to this, other than the karaoke aspect, is the Spinal-Tap-style art project—how far can we go? It’s not a joke, by any means, because of course we love Sabbath. But how much of this is tongue-in-cheek? Then, Jesus, there’s this whole new context, being The Osbournes, which hasn’t even really sunk in yet for us.”

While Auf der Maur, no TV addict, is hesitant to pass judgement on The Osbournes, she has kind words for their offspring. “Who I worry about in all this is the kids—even though they’re cool and clever, there’s all this pressure. I’d met the kids before, at a Pumpkins video shoot, when Sharon Osbourne was managing us for a second there. They were just super-cool, weird kids. Recently, I met Jack again when he came to a Hand of Doom show, and he was super-supportive. He’s a true music lover, he said he’d try to get me some of his dad’s old clothes. He recognized that this was his 15 minutes of fame.”

Heroes now homies
Now, doing Ozzy is no light task. It demands that one wade into waters of darkness and evil, and risk being sucked into a whirlpool of eternal madness. Is the sweet and good-natured Auf der Maur strong enough for such a feat? “I am strong enough to go all the way in there, learn from it, dance with the elves and the little trolls, and come out a fuller human being. I’ve discovered something about Ozzy’s lyrics, though. Yes, there’s a dark side, but his lyrics can be so positive, anti-heroin, anti-war. So many of his lyrics are so romantic and beautiful. They’re so not as satanic as I ever thought they were. There’s so much love in Ozzy.

“The only thing is, I don’t think I cop many of his stage moves. Maybe a few, but y’know, his whole jumping-clapping thing—I can’t do it.” Likewise, Melissa says not too expect too much hunching over and scuttling back and forth, in classic Ozzy style. The horned hand, however, will be raised with pride and honour.

“On a more serious note, it’s brought me to a whole new level with my voice. I’ve just recorded my solo album, and I can say that Hand of Doom has helped me, in a weird way, find my voice. It’s given me the confidence to go out and play these songs of mine, some of which date back to my days with Tinker.” Speaking of Tinker, Auf der Maur’s one-time bandmate Steve Durand flew in to help on the record, as did Blinker the Star’s Jordan Zadorozny. Furthermore, she enlisted some of her heaviosity heroes—Josh Homme and Nick Olivieri from Queens of the Stone Age, as well as Brant Bjork (Kyuss), John Stanier (Helmet) and Adam Willard (Rocket From the Crypt) on drums. Masters of Reality’s Chris Goss was behind the board, as he was for Kyuss and QOTSA (“Basically,” she says, “my favourite bands on planet Earth that are breathing and moving at this time.”).

“I got to, like a colouring book, pick my favourite musicians for all the songs, and make the perfect band for each. That’s when the fun started.”

That’s due out early in 2003, but the Hand of Doom live disc is slated for fall, on the Idaho Music label. That’s right, Hand of Doom, live on the Sunset Strip. “It sounds great, and it’s all for real, no overdubs. Other than that, the novelty of a cover band doing an album, let alone a live album, let alone that it’s a female-fronted Sabbath band—it’s all soooo silly.” :

With the Sonny Best Band at Café Campus on Saturday, June 27, 8pm, $8.50