Bif Naked shares an intimate story on love, music and coping in her recently launched memoir, I, Bificus

By Alli Hayes
@allihayes16

Halfway through Bif Naked’s recent memoir I, Bificus,  there is a cluster of glossy pages, a dark haired beauty covered in Taoist tattoos, patent leather-clad on the beach. A snow-white black bob in a cut off tee and smile with energy and ease.

The various pictures allow the reader to visualize Bif’s adventures through life; a life that is complicated and beautiful altogether, bringing her growth and understanding to the reader’s soul.

Bif Naked has taken on life’s challenges embraced them in her memoir with colourful tales of marriages, touring, animals, misogyny, sexual endeavours, songwriting, heroin and breast cancer, among other aspects. The book is a raw look at how the manifestation of Bif came to be; along with the sex, drugs and rock and roll that she embodied, she always loved everyone and herself unconditionally.

Bif Naked never thought she would write a memoir, the idea humoured her.

“I didn’t feel like I was having a big reveal or some kind of release to anyone, I felt like everyone knew those stories to begin with, I knew I wanted to honour my parents. They were a huge part of my life, and I’m so happy I got to read the manuscript to my Dad before he died,” explained Bif.
Professionalism is something Bif always took pride in since the budding of her music career.

Loose Lips discussed with Bif, the difficulties of being a vegan in the punk scene, male-dominated environments or having to continue playing in a band with her ex-husband, Brett of Gorilla Gorilla.

“A lot of people talk about being self-made and self-taught, it’s the experience you gain. We as females have much more insight than men ever will doing the same jobs, because there are more obstacles,” she said.

I feel that what is most important is always maintaining a high quality of how I carry myself. We played with other bands that had girls in them, but they were blowing the band. Even though I was blowing my husband when I first met him, once we broke up, I thought, ‘I’m always going to be thought of as his chick, or it’s going to be assumed that I’m fucking someone else.’ Then, of course, I had a relationship with my manager. You work late hours together, I was 24 years old. I have no regrets at all, but it was really difficult.”
 
Throughout I, Bificus, Bif divulges her sexual history. Like many young people, she had been sexual from an early age. She fooled around with her grandma’s male nurse. She made love to a Peruvian politician when she was in high school.

Her experience with another woman also did not go according to plan when she brought over a new sex toy and the woman threw the dildo across the room and told her she had “had enough dick in her lifetime.”

“Times were different back then. We got gang-banged in school, everybody got gang-banged. If that happened today we would hunt those people down, bringing these people to justice, that is assault to the millionth degree. [Back] then [us girls] were definitely gagged [on] our sexual assaults,” she said.

“I think the world is more violent now. If I was 12 years old today, [sexual assault] would have been a very different experience for me. Back then, I had no awareness that I was violated. The saying goes ignorance is bliss. On many levels, it was just a different era. But I can attribute to my adult behaviours due to what occurred in my adolescence.”

Although opinions will vary about sex and consciousness, Bif never fails to surprise and delight and her memoir is rich with life and honesty.

“I’m happy that I included these hard-to-read stories in my book; it speaks to how I went through being a young adult and some of the different relationships that I went through,” said Bif.

“All these things that happen to any woman, as we go through our life, they’re just little glimpses of the things that make up our emotional education. I think very differently now than I did when I was a young woman. I was extremely defiant and confrontational, and now I’m very careful. I’m self-protective and that came with age.”

I, Bificus, is not in complete chronological order and it allows the reader to feel so many emotions all at once, while following the artist’s journey.

The memoir’s “Year of the Tit” chapter captures beautiful moments of her positive relationship with Bif’s oncologist, Dr. Karen Gelmon, and connecting the other women receiving treatment at the same time. Her openness to giving and receiving love is a testament to her strength in battling breast cancer.

Since publishing the book, Bif Naked has toured across the country promoting her book, doing readings and singing.

“Many of the stories [in my memoir] my fiancé hadn’t heard, I cried a lot, we cried a lot. He would put the guitar down and he hugged me, then the crowd would cry, then we would laugh, it was just so fantastic. I’m glad I wrote the book. Now, to work on new music.”

I, Bificus published by Harper Collins hit the shelves on April 19. 

Alli is a wildcard. Faux fur is her wingman. She is constantly moved by art, cool parties, and independent film, and continues to create her own projects. She wishes her photographic memory did her Instagram more justice.  Check out her blog at http://www.thewildcardwins.com.