Melissa Auf der Maur has announced a new book, titled My ’90s Rock Photographs. Find all the details below.
The former Hole and Smashing Pumpkins bassist will publish the hardback, 240-page collection on September 8 via DelMonico Books and the Art Gallery Of Ontario. Pre-order here.
Boasting a selection of 200 photos, the forthcoming book is described as “a photographic love letter to the last analogue decade”. Fans can expect an “intimate” look at the alt-rock scene and the independent spirit of the ’90s.
The project includes candid shots of Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain‘s daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, as well as hangouts with Pavement, Sonic Youth and Beck, and a limousine ride with Drew Barrymore. There’s also a behind-the-scenes glimpse at Hole’s ‘Celebrity Skin’ video.
Auf der Maur was commissioned by Spin Magazine to document Lollapalooza 1995 and the Tibetan Freedom Concert in 1996, too.
“Through an extensive curatorial selection of more than 200 photographs, her memories create a moving self-portrait of a young artist living through the ’90s alternative music scene, and a time capsule for Generation X,” an official listing reads.
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The featured images are accompanied by Auf der Maur’s own writing, as well as text contributions from the likes of R.E.M.‘s Michael Stipe and US music critic Ann Powers.
An exhibition, also called ‘My ’90s Rock Photographs’, will launch at the Art Gallery Of Ontario in Toronto, Canada, this autumn. Find more information here.
Auf der Maur released her memoir, Even The Good Girls Will Cry, earlier this year. The book was described as “part coming-of-age autobiography, part travel diary, part psychedelic scrapbook”.
The musician spoke to NME in March for our ‘Does Rock ‘N’ Roll Kill Braincells?!’ quiz series, where she was asked about the possibility of Hole getting back together to play live again.
“I have no idea,” Auf der Maur replied. “If there’s one thing I know about Courtney and Hole, it’s that it’s as mysterious as romantic love. You can’t force, organise, or plan these things.
“What I do know is I’ve always said no for many years, and it wasn’t until the Evil Empire in the US that I began to contemplate where Hole, and Courtney’s fearless feminism, and our generation, could maybe add to this dire dialogue in the US.”
She added: “Some of my interest in returning to Hole in any shape or form is because the world needs that kind of power, rebellion, and intelligence.”
Elsewhere in the chat, the bassist recalled the aforementioned Lollapalooza 1995, hailing the festival as “the height of so much great individuality and bands, and then it started getting corporate after that”.
“It was beautiful, other than some of the fucked-up shit like shotgun shells being thrown at the stage. That sucked,” she told NME.
Auf der Maur had previously sparked fresh speculation of another Hole comeback with a mysterious video online. However, Love subsequently clarified the meaning behind the teaser – confirming that “no Hole reunion” was on the horizon.