Cover Feautre
Inspiring Creativity
At the age of six, this little girl then traveled worldwide with her mom, living in a circus caravan in Wales, a red post-office-box truck in Morocco and a hut in Kenya. After three bouts of malaria, she returned home to Montréal, where she attend- ed the Fine Arts Core Education School (FACE) and Moving in New Directions High School (MIND), both alternative education schools. At FACE she was a member of the classical choir, and at MIND she was part of the small English elite, where she formed friendships with Leonard Cohen’s daugh- ter, Lorca, and Rufus Wainwright.
Melissa went on to attend Concordia University and majored in photography in 1994. At 19 she began working part time as a disc jockey at Bifteck, a well-known, popular rock and dance club in Montréal. This is where she got her first start in music and met some of the leading musicians of her generation. “My upbringing is profoundly reflected in where I am today, especially as I have
entered motherhood and have a deep connection with a geographical place and community. I see how much my parents and environment influenced me and I am the opposite of someone who rebelled against their upbringing and parents,” she related. “I was propelled and launched into following in their footsteps and, in fact, much of their community and generation’s goals. By going to alternative school, with art and music at the core, I discovered a commitment to the city of Montréal and all that made and continues to make it one of the most interesting cities in the world.”
Melissa’s partner in life and love is Indie filmmaker Tony Stone. They have one daughter, River, who was born in October 2011. Together they are life partners and co-founders of Basilica Hudson, a rapidly growing non-profit, multi-disciplinary, arts and event center in Hudson, New York. “In many ways, the mentors and leaders of the bands I fell into are quite like my parents. So my second coming of age in my early 20s was more extreme, in that it involved mainstream success, lots of live performance, a public life that went beyond one city’s scope, and an unfortunate amount of drugs and some death,” she honestly expressed. “Although my father did die very young due to self-destruc- tive habits of drinking and smoking, all of the performers were independent minded, profoundly honest, massive dreamers and, for better and for worse, challenging forces to be reckoned with. This seriously defined me as a human, a woman and a musician. I wouldn’t change a thing in my formative years. I am so grateful for the exposure and connection I’ve had to such extreme characters.”
These included the band The Smashing Pumpkins, the reason she started to play bass. As a teenager, she saw them play to an empty room when they were unknown, which she admits changed her life. It was then that she started her own band and wrote them a letter in 1994 to their fan mail hard copy address, which led to her tiny unknown band opening for them. She then spent a brief time touring with them, playing bass.
Subsequently, Billy Corgan, the band leader, recommended her as a new bass player for the female band, Hole, with Courtney Love. “Court- ney Love is one of most complex and powerful women I have ever known. I can’t explain her im- pact on my life in such little space–her fearless- ness, individuality, intelligence, tragedy and pain. She is a poetic survivalist,” Melissa described. “Let’s put it this way; I have always described my time in Hole as my degree in humanity, and my time in The Smashing Pumpkins as my master’s in music.”
Melissa made two solo albums; Auf der Maur was released in 2004 on Capitol Records, and her second studio album, Out of Our Minds, was re- leased in 2010 on her own independent record label, PHI–MAdM Music, Inc. This was after spending her 20s playing bass in other people’s visions. Both were all about collaborations, with up to 20 or 30 visiting musicians involved. “It’s been a while, though. I started my maternity leave about four years ago, and played my last solo show at seven months pregnant at a metal music festival in Toronto,” she explained. “Not only was I the only woman on the bill, amongst the likes of Judas Priest, Rob Zombie and Mastodon, but I was the only pregnant person! I haven’t played much since then, but I like to take breaks, deprive myself from things I love, so I can return to them as saviors of sorts. I can’t wait to see what comes next, who I collaborate with and hear what it sounds like.”
Her partner, Tony Stone, was born and raised in New York City and went to Bard College in the ’90s. When the two met and fell in love nine years ago, she had just moved back to Montréal to try an alternative to what she had grown tired of, big American cities, such as New York City and Los Angeles. “After over a decade of living a nomadic traveling life of a musician, I hadn’t quite settled in there and I was finding it hard to start new in the place I grew up, sort of that you-can’t-go-home thing, I guess, so it hadn’t totally clicked yet. But it did with Tony!” she affirmed. “We began to explore where we would start a life together and, quite literally, the Hudson Valley was the geographical halfway point between Montréal and New York City. Meeting
in the middle has long been our relationship motto, and it’s reflected in where we chose to live. Our relationship is based on total love, partnership and commitment to building a better environment and com- munity to raise a child and be a creative person in.
Since 2010, the two have owned and operated Basilica Hudson, a re- claimed 19th century factory converted into an art, performance, production and event space located steps from the Amtrak station on the waterfront of historic Hudson. They draw on their experience within their respective fields to bring thoughtfully curated events to the local community, while inviting people from outside the area to discover Hudson. Basilica Hudson hosts diverse events ranging from com- munity fundraisers and art exhibitions to food and film festivals, and remains an extraordinary venue for independent music and theater. These include the Basilica Farm & Flea, which showcas- es local farm, vintage and handmade items and promotes the talents and resources in the com- munity. They hold film fests, including John Wa- ters’ one man show, This Filthy World, Volume 2. Their film screenings are varied, and they feature local musicians and the Basilica SoundScape, a weekend-long experimental music and art event that draws unconventional connections, parallels and collaborations among a diverse array of artists.
“The Basilica is still a wild magic carpet ride,” she insisted. “This re- claimed industrial church has become our 24/7 along with our daughter, River, for the last four years. It chose us; we did not choose it. It happened to us, and we accept it as our destiny, as we are to each other. Tony and I have been collaborating together and are total integrated partners on most of what we do, since day one. Our little River is an extension of that, obviously, and has totally transformed our relationship and ourselves. Our relationship is based in total love, commitment and partnership. As for motherhood, it is just pure love in the fullest form, awe inspiring and more work than ever, but I was ready for a solid dose of responsibility. I lived my life as a dreamer and free-form traveler until landing in Hudson, becoming a mother and starting the Basilica.”
What personal advice does Melissa convey to women wishing to follow their dreams, whatever they may be? “Surround yourself with people like you; be honest with yourself about who you are and what you love. Don’t listen to others’ expectations and projections onto you. Be yourself, which is easier said than done, I know, but use love and inspiration as your fuel. Follow the things you find that in, and also be willing to work on yourself and change parts of yourself that keep you back or stuck in bad cycles. Utilize self-help, self-reflection, therapy, sharing with others, your friends, your family and your dreams! They all hold the answers.”
She feels strongly that communication, gathering, independence, going against the norm, risk taking, having a singular voice and being self-reliant are her strong points, as are being self-employed and exercising self-expres- sion. “The list goes on and ran through both my parents and all that I was shaped by, and continues to be present in my adult life while I raise my daughter.”
