Melissa Auf der Maur took fans of ’90s alt-rock connoisseurs Smashing Pumpkins by surprise in June last year when she re-emerged on stage in her native Montréal. “It was a natural, healing and gorgeous reconnection that happened around the release of my ’90s rock memoir,” Auf der Maur says in an exclusive interview with Bass Player. Thankfully, Auf der Maur wasn’t thrown in the deep end as the Pumpkins had organized a warm-up show at Chicago’s iconic Riviera Theatre on July 29. “I didn’t get a chance to meet that charismatic Yungblud, but saw his set and loved his tribute to Ozzy,” says Auf der Maur. “I said yes to joining Hole in 1994 as a commitment to put women on the male-dominated landscape of rock music.