MAdMTV – Heavy MTL 2010 from MAdM OOOM on Vimeo.

I was the lone front “woman” on the heaviest music bill in north america this summer. i arrived with bass in hand, camera in the other, and, uh, a beer sometimes in one of them and a couple of pals at my side. in honor of the great magic men in the house, we created MAdMTV! interviews were made and still a lot of editing left to do, but THIS IS A TEST: Melissa Auf der Maur meets HEAVY MTL!

(under looming cranes, a fast hang with robb with two b’s and b hinds)

amazing and unique, exposes, episodes and interviews coming soon!
that was soooooo much FUN!
not to mention comic con at the top of my weekend….

…my leather face man and i had an amazing time!

xMAdMx

HOLY HONOR OF ART NOUVEAU HEAVEN
as a visiting muse to this art nouveau red river of rusty leaves and petals, i declare:

“A SACRED HEART HOVERS BETWEEN MY HANDS!”

unveiling the fine art achievement of LEE MOYER!
Century Guild of Chicago created this union between myself and famed illustrator Lee Moyer, in a mad dash effort to bring like minded souls together at Comic Con. This Poster was custom made for this event, in less than 3 weeks (applaud lee!) we will be receiving visitors July 22 at 2PM tomorrow at the Century Guild Booth at the Sand Diego Comic Con. I’ll be catching a sneak peek of it all tonight, but i hear you can not miss this booth- it’s the HIGH ART booth of the convention. it’s where the original Poster art of the turn of the last Century is exhibited and sold. An incredible movement in art, that i certainly visited in another life…. we will gather in that fantasy tomorrow!
Looking forward to seeing all the passion and creation in the football field of fantasy madness x

Next Stop….. Montreal all for DOUBLE HEAVY HEAVEN HITTER OF MAdM OOOM!

OOOM Film at FANTASIA FEST Friday night!
It’s also DIRECTOR TONY STONE’S BIRTHDAY!
He and I will both be at the screening for Q&A

IMPERIAL CINEMA
1432 Rue de Bleury
Friday July 23 – 9:35 pm

HEAVY MTL
Parc Jean-Drapeau
Saturday July 24 – 2:30 pm
It’s safe to say, that Montreal hosts North America’s premiere METAL festival.
I’ll be joining the stage with SLAYER, MASTODON, MEGADETH… need I say more?

I’m a lucky lady…. and i used to be a girl, and before that a cat.

Hope to see some of you out there this weekend!

xMAdMx

p.s. #MAdMTV questions for the iconic men of HEAVY MTL is building in Twitter land, but i will try to find a moment to explain it more cohesively here tomorrow – in order to be sure to get as many questions and insights rolling. long of the short is, i am at HEAVY MTL all weekend, surrounded by some of the most incredible heart, minds and hands of Heavy Rock- and i feel a responsibility to ask some questions of these inspiring men. the link between magic, myth and rock! where do they access the fantastical story lines of their creations from? what they think the future of mythic music is in this modern world!? where do women and love fit into their intense landscapes… i’m asking you to provide me with questions and hopefully insight or crucial facts i may not know about the bands history etc….

starting this weekend!
Saturday and Sunday of this weekend, we’ve been invited on a Belgium weekend.
first, a festival just outside of Brussels, a 28 year old (congrats!) FREE music festival in a beautiful park x ROCK HERK!
then Sunday, DOUR festival! although i’m so so sad i will be missing the reunion of my long lost favorites Chokebore, who play the day before (remember my friend Troy Von Balthazar? “You could ice skate to this” b-side) it’s great to be part of the festival, honored to be a part of it x

NEXT STOP!… as i’ve mentioned …. i’m GOING!!!!
COMIC CON!: the world’s leading meeting of the fantasy minds! SAN DIEGO comic convention, is way beyond comics, it’s a full on blossomed UNIVERSE! i was lucky to go as my magic writer pal cecil’s date a couple years back. this time i’ve been invited as art nouveau muse! such an honor! my art nouveau friend’s in chicago, connected me and LEE MOYER ( starstruck ! classy tory amos poster below!) and we are coming together for a signing of a yet to be revealed ART NOUVEAU MAdM xxxxxxxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo MORE INFO! i was given a sneak peek or art nouveau moi this week… WOW!

THEN – MONTREAL HEAVEN WEEKEND X

Friday night FANTASIA FEST – one of the leading, coolest fantasy film festivals in north american, has invited OOOM to screen on a perfect summer friday night! it’s also DIRECTOR TONY STONE’S BIRTHDAY! he and i will both be at the screening for Q&A x
it’s screening at the old downtown montreal movie theater that i first discovered David Lynch films in as a teenager! great to come back in this way. for those who have not yet seen me convert from lost in time secretary to a rip-the-heart-of-a-viking witch, please come! FANTASIA FEST

DOUBLE HEAVEN HEAVY HITTER…. need i say more………….!?!? i don’t even need a photo for that one, in fact i can’t even imagine a photo that can encompass the heavy ness of this bill……. HEAVY MTL: safe to say, that my home town, hosts north america’s premiere METAL festival. SLAYER, MASTODON, MEGADETH,

Thank you universe!
i will surely be seeing some of your like-minded freaks in the coming week!
xMAdMx

I sit on my couch, with my sad tail between my legs.
I should be in Montreux Switzerland right now, enjoying one of the most prestigious music festivals in the world, on what would be the day after playing one of my most anticipated shows of 2010. when the invitation came up a few months back to play the Montreux Jazz Festival w/ Roxy Music, i was honored and thrilled. “YES” i said right away. from my family’s swiss roots, to french being my second language, to a feeling of being acknowledged as an established artist in my own right by an important music festival

Due to an Emergency Door Light malfunction, my Air Canada flight from Montreal to Geneva, was delayed hours, then when it was too late to find an alternative route, CANCELLED. heartbroken, i stayed up all night, waiting for morning to come to see if the festival promoters could find another stage or bill to fill the next day… they tried, but as they are such an organized festival with months of preparation, they could not find a way……

DEVASTATED….. in the last 24 hours, i have gone from numb to tears and back again.
my emotion fueled imagination brain kept orbiting around these three major LIFE issues:

DYSFUNCTIONAL COPORATIONS
ENERGY CRISIS
MOTHER NATURE

i know it’s just a missed show, but the emotional side of me sends me reeling into the big picture symbolic stuff when these disappointments occur…. first of all, last time i was in europe, just a couple of months ago all was stopped due to VIKING VOLCANO. in my 15 years plus of touring around the world, i’ve never missed a show. never run into a volcano or had a flight cancelled. for both things to happen in such a short period of time, is shocking to me. so being held back from playing my swiss show, i got instant flashbacks of watching my oslo and london show pass me by…. that time was due to act of god AKA MOTHER NATURE, IN FORM OF ICELANDIC VOCANO.

so naturally it was again, that feeling of things being out of my hands… but this time was because of a DYSFUNCTIONAL CORPORATION: the failing airline industry that do not have back up planes, parts OR pilots. while my artistic fate sat in a holding pattern in an airport for 6 hours, i learned that there is a PILOT shortage and crisis, with airline pilots making as low as $19,000 a year. the unions in that industry have been destroyed, so there is little protection for pilots. this then leads the mind back to 9/11, when the industry took a huge hit (not to mention the other devastations), then a few years later, the price of fuel went soaring up: ENERGY CRISIS, we find ourselves in a non sustainable way of life, that is not only polluting our planet, but is in dire need for alternative energies systems. scientists have beein warning about both sides of the issue for decades, but corporate greed was only thinking about TODAY> well TODAY, we have a leaking oil rig environmental disaster looming over us. so the least of our worries, but no surprise, is that the airline industry has been tanking …. so flights are overbooked, no back up plans in place etc… that brings up the issue of FAILING CORPORATIONS of the world. not only did these beasts take the power away from individuals and independent companies, but now their greed has caught up with them and has shot them in the foot.. limping along, screwing the people who work for them and the people who depend on them for their work… this is a basic corporate frustration rant…. BUT the volcano flashbacks also lead me to….
THE MOTHER NATURE. when a volcano tells you what to do, you have no choice but to be humble and listen. she does have the final say, and our jet setting modern day ways are weak and ridiculous in the wake of her. which brings us back to the unsustainable way of life that’s been created around us, and the slaves to corporations and the economy we’ve become. then we think there’s no time to think of such small things, but all these issues do bring on a lot of pain to the hearts of ART- not that the ART suffers, because that energy is eternal no matter what the external reality is, but the act of SHARING THE ART INSIDE, with the outside real world, is affected by the rise and fall of technology and the economy.
we may have forgotten by this point of my long rant, but i began talking about my cancelled show at the montreux jazz festival and how an emergency door light on a plane broke my heart. 2010 saw the release of my first independent music and art undertaking. i’ve never worked so hard, and i’ve embraced all the changes and challenges in the landscape, from dying record companies, to volcanos, but truth is, it’s tough out there. most nations and people are struggling in their own ways. however, i do believe the struggle inspires harder work and opportunity for the heart to take over (why must i find that falling down, brings my hopes so high?) – this is when the intangible CREATIVE SURVIVALISM kicks in… the golden web of love, imagination and hope begins to spread. wrapping every struggle and cancelled flight into a poetic song of life. luckily, that source of magic is endless, and in all of us. even still, on my way home from having done all i could to get my self to switzerland, i cried in defeat. it wasn’t a beautiful volcano that stopped me from sharing my heart, it was an emergency light in an aircraft, then a long delay while the humans tried to fix it, then by the time it was fixed, it was too late for the scheduled pilots to fly, and they did not have any pilots on hand to FLY MY HEART TO MONTREUX. my heart aches because of it, and my little brain tries to make sense of it…………………… my brain relies on the magic stuff from the heart to get by. if i did not have that golden web to spin, i guess i’d be depressed and would probably not write songs… or long winded blog entries.

SENDING LOVE AND ENDLESS SOURCE OF GOLDEN WEBS YOUR WAY,
to get you through your day and your disappointments.
HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON (in particular, the people of french switzerland, i owe you x)
have a great weekend, wherever you are sweet person x

xMAdMx

BUSY BUSY MONTH
ECLECTIC JUST THE WAY I LIKE IT!
THE WORLD’S LEADING: JAZZ FESTIVAL, METAL FESTIVAL AND COMIC BOOK FESTIVAL,
HAVE INVITED ME TO BE A PARTICIPATE THIS MONTH.

MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL: intimate evening opening for ROXY MUSIC! in my family name’s homeland, only the French part of Switzerland, which is great as i will offer them TASTE YOU in french x

HEAVY MTL: safe to say, that my home town, hosts north america’s premiere METAL festival. SLAYER, MASTODON, MEGADETH,

COMIC CON: worlds leading meeting of the fantasy minds! SAN DIEGO comic convention, is way beyond comics, it’s a full on blossomed UNIVERSE! i was luck to go as my magic writer pal cecil’s date a couple years back. this time i’ve been invited as art nouveau muse! such an honor! my art nouveau friend’s in chicago, connected me and LEE MOYER ( starstruck ! classy tory amos poster below!) and we are coming together for a signing of a yet to be revealed ART NOUVEAU MAdM xxxxxxxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

I AM IN HEAVEN.
writing this out in my blog, gives me a clearer perspective….
i think i’ve arrived where i always dreamed of being.
THANK YOU.
you reading this (and the FIRE DEEP INSIDE) and my family and music peers,
have brought me here,
diverse world of art, travel and inspiration.

i must admit, i am tired sometimes, and it’s been a lot of work,
and i still can’t get EVERYWHERE i want to be and create EVERYTHING i wan to make…
but this gives me hope that i WILL.

need to mention, i just got back from 5 days in a dream of NEWFOUNDLAND.
such a long tale, but it will be shared both via art film and tv episode… here’s hints:
camping off the grid, mythological landscapes, ocean, jagged cliffs, songs of foggy shores an seamen, a battery powered bass and ancient arabic lute.
(and an icelandic man full of tales of old!) quite a one of a kind experience….. again. A DREAM COME TRUE.

late to catch my flight x
HAPPY CANADA DAY, JULY 4TH, ST JEAN BAPTITSE AND ALL THE REST OF THEM HOLIDAYS X
we are lucky to be alive
xMAdMx

at this point some of you must know about the key summer festivals coming up next month, MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL, HEAVY MTL, BELGIUM, AUSTRIA, GERMANY, ITALY and a few more TBA SUMMER SHOWS

this fall however, we will get real deep. the OUT OF OUR MINDS TOUR North America, then Europe, is in development. it will start intimate and experimental just how we like it. diverse music / people, mixed media, local and global. in the spirit of being “in it together” as we like to be…. more soon, but know that i am planning.

meanwhile, my experimental HEARTLine! moon cycle webcast was born last month, still needing to “find my voice” but will…. i am packing a car right now to go on an amazing adventure for a week involving: canada, vikings, ocean, cliffs, helicopter, filming, battery operated guitar amplifiers, sleeping under the moon and more! (i will be away from most cellular & internet signal, so there will be less of me now, but MORE to share later). i will be lucky to be in those extreme elements for the FULL MOON next weekend, so i will do my first pre-recorded HEARTLine, i still have loads of questions from last round… then i’m off to my AUF DER MAUR homeland Switzerland to play the honorable MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL with ROXY MUSIC!!!!!!!!

summer has arrived, and between these on-line adventures and travel to other places, i try to find time to walk along the tracks of life….. some images from that…. I LOVE LIFE #ILOVELIFE

so last week i was in TORONTO for IDEACITY a fascinating conference of the minds, in fact all women’s minds, and i talked about being a woman and tried another one of my experimental stripped down BASS sets- when they pod cast it all, i will link to it. was very very different for me, and i had a great time….

got to drive in a silver convertible dressed as a woman who sings “meet me on the dark side”…

went to pay respect to my HEALING GRAVEDIGGER Glenn Danzig AND give condolences to Type O drummer johnny Kelly all in one go……. I LOVE PETER STEELE R.I.P.

got home, took a walk along the tracks with some friends…

and…. it was FATHER’S DAY.

SEE YOU SOOOOOOON I HOPE X

xMAdMx

“Due to Icelandic Volcanic Cloud,
Shows in Oslo @Mono and London @Cargo,
were cancelled…. Underworld spoke, and we were grounded in Finland.Can’t fly? Then play where you are. Put out a call for Space, Gear and video cameras and fly onto the waves of the Internet.
Last Minute Lo-Fi Volcanic Cloud Show – April 17 2010
Shot by YOU! Attention! Class of Hope 2010 – Peace & Party forever!!!!”

MAdM FINLAND from MAdM OOOM on Vimeo.

just in case you missed PART ONE …

being grounded by a Viking Volcano, is a good thing x
KIITOS!

xMAdMx

Late in my report, but this blog entry’s been brewing and lingering in my drafts for the last few weeks…. How Lucky (or looking for adventures of the mind) does a woman have to be, to be invited to visit the fascinating world of M.I.T in Boston?! It was the Media Lap and Visual Art Department in particular who hosted an action backed 12 hours of mind blowing activities a few weeks back…

A fellow “Music Person” named Bruce, had a hunch that I would have a soul connect with a fearless leader named Ute of the Art, Culture and Technology Program there – and i instantly knew that any woman from berlin, living deep in the world of Art & Technology would make me tick… hence a day trip to Boston, and my Blind Date Began…. (all invitations and introductions were done via email- without any face to face til i arrived… just saying, long live the internet!)

BREAKFAST and final class critique of Architectural Culture Project SENSEABLE CITY . Proposals to apply innovative ideas into real world up and coming international projects such as The World Fair and The Olympics – but they involved things as diverse as Memory Machines to Sustainable Garden Roofs. though architecture is not my forte, it made me want to return to school simply for the structure and community dialogue ….

LUNCH with Noah & Noah and the Vegetarian Laurel. instant fun with strangers. talked about exploring adventures in 3 Dimensional Sound, building your own instruments and customized music listening experiences. perfect bridges to connect on ………. thanks for lunch!

TOUR of the Media Lap building with Red Noah …. what facilities fuck! work shop upon work shop of inspired hard working people and projects beyond the average imagination. for example:
a demonstration of a paint brush that conducts sound through liquid- FUN!
then the OPERA OF THE FUTURE! just take a look at their site-how can i not be seduced by a world of “MUSICAL ROBOTICS” and “MUSIC, MIND & HEALTH” not to mention their DEATH & THE POWERS opera opening in Monaco later this year… (did you know that Monaco used to be leaders in technology, and the royal family is now returning to their family roots of supporting innovating technology?…)

Then Brunette Noah demonstrated his sound machines made of buckets and buttons- to say nothing of the massive mammal in the room… SO MUCH FUN! then from musical world to visual world….
the FUTURE OF PHOTOGRAPHY department with my host ROARKE~ as most of you know, my long standing relationship photography has yet to graduate to digital, and may never (no, these iPhone ‘documentations’ don’t count), only my music & film love have transitioned to digital… but meanwhile there are people exploring FUTURE PHOTOGRAPHY which is soooo over my head, i may as well go back to large format with black cloak over head…. but GO FOR IT FUTURISTS! i’ll be standing by to watch in awe!
Similar to future photography, i was introduced to 3-D printing…. i saw functioning clocks and flutes made of compounded paper like particles “printed” by a machines… huh!?

COCKTAIL HOUR, then came our Lithuanian host, Mister Gediminas! we met in the lobby of the “MAKI” building aka Media Lab, at the SMVisS grad student show. good work and people and cheese. There was a mixed media project about a community of Montrealers and a wooden space ship of sorts, just  to mention a few… as with everything during my day at MIT- all projects orbited around some of my own favorite themes and muses.
Felt quite at home, and i am hatching plans to go BACK with a purpose soon!
Thank you my hosts, and i trust you all to push the boundaries of imagination and fabrication.
knowing your minds and hands are hard at work, makes me sleep deeper at night.

as if the day of future art & technology was not already perfect… turned out MASSIVE ATTACK was playing at the house of blues that night…. ended the perfect day with that….. then awoke in the morning to find out that amazing artist RONI HORN has a retrospective at the ICA in Boston!

MY BOSTON IRISH ROOTS AND ST PATRICKS DAY SPIRIT, WERE ALIVE AND WELL THAT DAY!
see you soon … will be WICKED when we PARK the CAR together…

xMAdMx

Hunters and Healers:

For those of you whom I’ve met at OOOM events, or somewhere along the way of music, you may know that, other than participating in the ritual of rock music and art making, I love to connect with humans!!! Talking to you after a sweaty show or in the aisles of comic stores as of late (or hanging with #classofhope2010 during a volcano!) is the most heart moving part of what I do.

You are the BEST clan a woman could hope to have listening to her siren calls… Until you build me a time machine I will not be able to be in all of your conversations, but there is this Internet machine for now. The force known as Willing Enabler recently pointed out that in fact I could talk with you all via a HEARTLine.

Enter: On Line, Heart Line Experiment:

At 9pm EST on the full moon this Thursday May 27 2010, I will be live via video stream thing (my first web cast!! Ha! How very 21st Century of me…) to answer the questions submitted by all of you in these next few days.

What kind of shampoo do I use? What color was the pyramid in my dream about 3-D sound? What year is the Viking truck in OOOM Film? Anything your heart desires… Ask me.

To send a question via Twitter- include #HEARTline in your tweet

Or ask the question on my Facebook wall

Or comment on this blog entry

Reach for the full Moon with me this Thursday.

Huntingly yours,
xMAdMx

P.S. What I love about you out there is, you are EVERYWHERE, so I picked a time that is comfortable for me, but may not be for all of you. If your are sleeping or working at that time, it will be up on the blog after the fact. Get working on that time machine someone please!!!

To Share OOOM Film & Live

But also because of my special connections there…

Considering that i have never played in Denver with my own project (other than The Curiosa tour in 2004, but the magic of The Cure may have blinded most of the locals to the fact that i was there) and considering that i live in the North East and just came back from about 3 months of zig zag-ing east coast, west coast, europe and Volcanos, i do crave rest… BUT Denver is the place i want to be this weekend!

Years ago, i came across this magic six piece rock band from Denver, playing in a punk rock parking lot basically. they were VAUX and i’ve loved them ever since. an amazing band who toured harder and played harder than most i’ve ever seen, with HEART, great SONGS AND entirely and inspiringly self initiated DIY!!! we remained in touch over the years, and when i heard they had disbanded after an unfortunate wrestle with, YES a MAJOR LABEL…. it broke my heart, BUT i was determined to cross paths with them again…
Three of these six dedicated musicians, have been touring with me as my band, for the last year. We’ve been from Rome to Finland and Paris to Halifax. They are the best Holy Trinity i could’ve ever hoped for to help me out of my creative cocoon and back on stage. I feel supported and musically in tune with them- which inspired the recording of 22 Below on the album, AND spawned ISIS Speaks- a direct result being so inspired by our union. it’s the first song we wrote as a band- and the last song written and recorded for the album, one of my favorites. thank you….. and now:

Officially Introducing, all the way from Denver, Colorado:
The International Men of Leisure…

Christopher Jay Sorensen: on the guitar and race bike….

Adam Michael Tymn: on the other guitar and dirt bike…

and Michael Joseph McCahn: on the drums, paint brushes and tattoo needles (AND head of RED!)

We are playing Denver cause we WANT TO! we love to play music, there are friends and family to hug. sharing the stage with us at the Hi-Dive Saturday night is, The Swayback that Adam plays with AND Glass Hits, that another of the six VAUX-ers, Greg Daniels, plays in. This is our very own I LOVE VAUX AND DENVER PARTY… you should come!

for more amazing VAUX stuff check out greg’s impressive art books devoted to the magic years on the road…COOL ASS ART JOURNALS

(back in the punk rock parking lot days, the leisure boys WITH greg second from left)

meanwhile, watch the video for ARE YOU WITH ME, a song from their last album “BEYOND VIRTUE, BEYOND VISE” that made it to the end credits of a Travolta film this year (beating out my song THE KEY that was up for it too oddly!). here are the Intenational Men of Leisure virtually mingling with Grease Lightning and Paris!

more good vaux INFO HERE

enjoy and see you soon DENVER!

xMAdMx
p.s. BONUS BONUS! OOOM film & video director TONY STONE is coming to denver for the occasion, cause he has a tribe of amazon women in his family climbing in those mountains! lots of colorado connections! x
p.p.s AND Lipgloss is hosting a fun friday night after FILM party for OOOM INFO HERE