BIF NAKED – "Everyone That I’ve Ever Met In Music, Especially In Metal And Punk, Are Old School Real Deal People"

BraveWords scribe Carl Begai recently caught up with Canadian rocker Bif Naked for an in-depth interview. They discussed Bif’s recent heart surgery, the tragic passing of her guitarist Jacen “JD” Ekstrom, her forthcoming rock album, and her still-in-the-works autobiography. An excerpt from the story is available below:

Music remains a huge part of Bif Naked’s life, with a new rock record currently in the works. It’s important to specify what she has up her sleeve in that Bif has taken to releasing music that suits her rather than label or (to some degree) fan expectation. In 2012 she put out Bif Naked: Acoustic Hits & Other Delights – featuring some unreleased pop material – and she closed 2014 with the release of the dance-pop single ‘Intellectual’ taken from her Jakkarta project with producer Jason Darr (ex-Neurosonic) in support of World AIDS Day. Bif’s only agenda is doing what she wants, when she wants.

“I was toying with the idea of doing a new rock record for a while. I was wondering if I should try to form a new band and become the Canadian Nightwish (laughs), but who cares? It’s all fun.”

“I finally figured out that when I become reflective and upset and writing about being pissed off or emancipation, it’s going to be rock music. I write pop songs with my friends because I can. We can write a death metal song or a country song, and whoever ends up being the producer will produce it differently than someone else. I’m working with Doug Fury again and with a guitarist Alley Cat from a band called Soma City Ward. He has a very distinctive guitar style and writing with him has been a lot of fun. And it’s been in a completely different direction. I mean, if we could form a death metal band in Morocco that’s what it would sound like (laughs). It’s psychotic.”

“I’m pretty sure we’ll tour for the album,” she continues. “It’s fun to tour with that stuff and it’s great to do these new heavy songs. With pop music I love being able to put out singles and see my friends look at me, scratch their heads and go ‘Really dude?’ And then there’s my boyfriend, who is a guitar player, going ‘Where’s the solo?’ (laughs). That’s all in fun. Doing the rock record, that’s serious business and that’s where the serious touring comes in.”

Regarding Bif’s  autobiography, the idea is – or at least it was – to release it in 2015 assuming she ever stops adding to the completed volume.

“Oh, I’m fucked,” Bif laughs. “This is the problem: I delivered an autobiography that was probably 200,000 words over what I was supposed to deliver and it is an editor’s nightmare. Of course a lot of the stories I tell – I was a runaway, shooting drugs, there was some criminal activity – got struck from the book because it wasn’t cool. It’s very time consuming and tedious editing, and since I delivered the book my dog – who really was the love of my life, my child – died, my father died, I started living part time in Paris, and then JD passed away. So now, fuck, my epilogue is 100,000 words (laughs). It’s like the never-ending book. It’s insane. It would be easier if I could make it up.”

“I remember every single thing that happened in my life; I have a memory like an elephant. I remember meeting (label reps) Jon and Marsha Zazula for the first time, walking through their offices and seeing all the gold records on their walls – Metallica, Suicidal Tendencies, King’s X, Raven, Anthrax – it was a fantasy in my life come true. There was getting to know the guys in Annihilator, my first European tour with Keith Caputo, hanging with Type O Negative. There are so many stories.”

“I love having that history and I love knowing the guys that I know. Randy Black (drummer / DuskMachine, ex-Primal Fear – pictured above) for God’s sake, he’s awesome and still going strong. He’s a lovely person and he’s a perfect example; everyone that I’ve ever met in music, especially in metal and punk, are old school real deal people. They’re amazing, and having that history I could die happy and be completely joyful over the life that I had. All my fantasies came true.”

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