From Her Living Room to the World: Melissa Auf der Maur Shares 16 Years of Hidden '90s Demos

There’s something magical about discovering music that was never meant for the spotlight. Melissa Auf der Maur, the bass player who helped shape Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins, spent the’90s creating in the quiet of her living room. While major labels were demanding polished hits, she was experimenting with 4-track recordings and handycam field recordings, keeping her artistic identity alive. On September 4, 2026, those intimate demos finally see the light of day in an album called‘Bass Womb Room,’which includes 15 original tracks plus eight new interludes, available digitally and on cassette.

But this isn’t just a simple album release. Auf der Maur is presenting a complete artistic statement that spans music, photography, and publishing. A photography exhibition opened September 2 at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, showcasing 200 candid images from the’90s alt-rock scene, many featuring behind-the-scenes moments that fans have never witnessed. Then on September 8, a 240-page photobook arrives, offering even deeper access to that era. These projects work together to tell the story of an artist who refused to compromise her creative vision, even when surrounded by industry pressure to create commercial radio hits.

For fans of’90s rock, this release offers something increasingly rare: authenticity. Auf der Maur described these songs as preserving“the Montreal art girl alive inside,”the part of her identity that existed before stadium shows and record label demands. Whether you’re discovering her work for the first time or rediscovering that transformative decade in rock history, this project reminds us why the’90s alternative scene captured so many hearts. What era of music do you wish you could explore more deeply through an artist’s personal archives?