Hard rock in the buff

Bif Naked is returning to Toronto on November 5 and if you’re a fan of Bif, you already know what to expect at the show: Hard rock melodies filled with pretty singing and perhaps her jumping around in her new tango shoes.

Either way, Bif is known to always put on a good show. Having a chat with Bif is like talking to an old friend from high school. During the interview, Bif admits that she’s on her cell phone standing outside somewhere in Toronto while her dogs are pooping.

“I absolutely love Toronto! It’s nice to be in a big city, and I live in Vancouver and it’s a smaller city, so it’s always cool to be here,” she said.

Three years ago, Bif released Purge with hits ‘I Love Myself Today’ and ‘Tango’. Now, the much-anticipated Superbeautifulmonster, her fourth full-length album, has 13 catchy tracks that blend riot grrl and pop music together, creating a whole new Bif spectrum.

“Hopefully I’m a better singer every year and the songs are better. It’s new for me, so I’m excited to perform it.”

The album also features a cover of Metallica’s ‘Nothing Else Matters’. It’s always awesome to hear a female take a powerful song and recreate it. Bif’s voice makes the song sound more feminine, but also strong and captivating, much like the same affect her hit ‘Lucky’ had on us.

“I’m such a big fan of [Metallica] and it’s my favourite song by them. We play the song during sound check so much anyways … so we finally recorded it and it was fun.”

Bif admits she never gets sick of playing the same old songs. She aspires to keep her fans happy and give them “what they want”. She says she likes singing and performing, but, most of all, she enjoys connecting with the audience.

Touring with Bif right now is old guitar player Britt Black, who now has her own solo career. Before playing with Bif, Black used to be in the band Live On Release and wrote the hit song ‘I’m Afraid of Britney Spears’. Bif and Black are good friends and it’s easy to say Black looks up to her.

“She was great when she played for us and now she has her own solo career and it’s awesome.”

Bif, who was born in India and adopted by two American missionaries, moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba when she was a teenager. She was in her first band by the time she was 18 years old. She has been a part of the Canadian music scene for years and now the market seems to be booming.

“I think that the media is growing and with the Internet, it’s becoming more popular. [Downloading music] kills bands and disables them from touring, but you know, it’s the wave of the future,” she admits.

So, what’s been in Bif’s CD player lately? She’s been listening to hardcore metal thrash band Throwdown and their album Vendetta.

Check out Bif’s show at the Phoenix Concert Theatre, Saturday November 5 to see how evolved her and her band have become...

Photograph by Mark Weiss