Musician Melissa Auf Der Maur Strikes a Chord

by Jonathan Cohen

Do you think we love music for its voyeuristic glimpses into other people’s lives?
Absolutely. Music is universal, international, and nonintellectual. It’s ours all together. That’s why a song can save us. One feeling a guy had 30 years ago and wrote on a piece of paper can save a girl 30 years later from a day of depression. That is beautiful.

On your debut album, you sing frankly about personal things. Was that uncomfortable?
I wanted to make an album that was a patchwork quilt, emotionally and musically, of eight years of my life. Lyrically, it almost had to remain vague. All the lyrics came from my diary, and most of them came from dreams. I didn’t even edit them. I’m not particularly proud of them. I just wanted to make music and write cool melodies and use my voice as an instrument. That’s why the opening howl on “Followed the Waves” is my favorite vocal moment on the record. On the new record, I’m thinking about the lyrics. Just like starting the blog, I realize the potential of that communication channel.

So how did you tap into what you really wanted to say?
I did something I’ve never done before,which is lock myself in isolation by the ocean in Massachusetts, in my family’s summer home. I spent two months there, and discovered the beauty of being alone. I’m an urban girl who is in love with people and with devouring the freakiness of humanity. But I spent two months when I wouldn’t get out of my pajamas for four days. I fed my brain with books and watched all the movies I’ve never been able to see. I started the blog. I sat there with my four-track, and wrote and searched for the heart of this record from noon to midnight every day for two months. And I found it.

Jonathan Cohen is a new york-based writer and editor for billboard. Melissa auf der Maur’s second solo album will be out in 2006 on Capitol Records.