Hole Bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur: Courtney Love Is a ‘Once-in-a-Generation Piece of Art’

A couple of years back it looked as though we might have a Hole reunion, with the members reportedly spending some time together to discuss their future. But alas a full-fledged reunion didn't come to fruition. In a new interview, former bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur sheds some light on one of the potential reasons why.

According to Auf Der Maur, she wasn't necessarily receptive to the idea of a reunion tour or working on new music, something that Love had in mind. Love had openly discussed that if the band was to return, she wanted them to be relevant with new music rather than playing the oldies circuit.

Auf Der Maur tells Blast Echo, "I don’t do anything for money. When I imagine us playing outdoor daytime stages to, like, beer-soaked 20 year olds who don’t even know Hole or listen to records, that doesn’t sound healing or celebratory."

Rather, the bassist was more keen on digging through the Hole vaults and preparing a proper retrospective that would include demos, outtakes, live recordings, video and photos. She explains, “Those three albums [Pretty on the Inside, Live Through This and Celebrity Skin] are all unique and incredible. Courtney [Love] is a once-in-a-generation piece of art. She is f--kin’ incredible. And, yes, her drama sometimes overshadows the power of the band. The power of the band, the arc of the albums and her performing abilities, we have it all on tape everywhere. We have proof of it and I would love to have it in one place. I support that story and I would be happy to put it in an incredible archival package. But that doesn’t mean playing a thousand f--kin’ festivals for money. If you wanna talk about the archives and you wanna talk about the brilliant past then I’ll have a conversation.”

The bassist says that the idea of doing something to celebrate the past and then play some shows to support is more what she has in mind. "I really would just like to finish what we started. It's still unresolved to me," says Auf Der Maur.

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