#165 - Melissa Auf der Maur, Bewitching Bassist (Hole / The Smashing Pumpkins)

Melissa Auf der Maur is an acclaimed musician, photographer, curator, and producer, best known as the former bassist of rock bands Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins. Her new memoir Even the Good Girls Will Cry covers those heady rockstar times of the 1990s, and is out now. She has also released two solo albums, Auf der Maur (2004) and Out of Our Minds (2010), the latter of which is part of a larger project that also includes a comic book and a short film. Melissa’s photographs have been exhibited internationally, including at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and have appeared in such publications as Spin , Elle , Nylon , and American Photo . Born and raised in Montreal, Canada, in 2010 she co-founded Basilica Hudson , a multidisciplinary art center in Hudson, NY, where she now lives. On this episode, Melissa discusses how she became a rockstar by literally following her dreams, her lifelong relationship to magic, and the “soul constellation” that links her with Courtney Love, Billy Corgan, Dave Grohl, and Kurt Cobain. Pam also talks about Dionysus and her ritual for the Rocky Horror Show on Broadway, and answers a listener question about cultivating a magical library. Check out the video of this episode over on YouTube (and please like and

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#165 - Melissa Auf der Maur, Bewitching Bassist (Hole / The Smashing Pumpkins) is an episode from The Witch Wave by Pam Grossman.

This episode is 01:29:32 long.

This episode was published on Mar 18, 2026.

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