BIF NAKED
Kicks It To the Left
Alison Dowsett
Recently I sat down with Bif Naked in Vancouver for a chat and to partake in two of her last standing vices: cappuccino and refined sugar. In a controlled environment, Bif's discipline requires that she use molasses sugar over the homogenous white stuff, but thankfully she knows when to dispense with her discipline and enjoy the decadence of it all. This was my first glimpse into the dualities and inner paradoxes that illuminate her new record, I Bificus.
I Bificus is a mixture of rants and ballads, each song straying defiantly from the last in style and atmosphere. To judge Bif's sound by the way she looks is a mistake made by many. Her physical appearance belies her sincerity; she looks one way and behaves another, thus kicking ass on stereotypical mentalities with admirable vigour. "I never considered myself an 'alternative' artist, especially after it became a buzzword," she says. "The first record I made was definitely a pop record, and this one is definitely a pop record. I've never claimed to be a 'punker' and I've never been into GBH in my life." But people have insisted to Bif that she's not supposed to make that kind of music, letting the tattoos define the style. "I'd like to do a whole record of all Mariah Carey covers just to make a point." But seriously, any collaboration plans? "Yeah, I wanna do a duet of 'Endless Love' with [SNFU's] Chi Pig."
What is surely evident is Bif's absolute enthusiasm about her new record. Excitedly she informs me of the "gay disco remix of 'Space Man'" (she even mimics the beat for me) "I want it played in [Vancouver gay clubs] Celebrities and the Odyssey, I want them to play my music, man." She hopes to start her tour in Canada this time around. Her first album was released by a company that went bankrupt after two months, resulting in a two year gap before trying a second time � "That was in '94 and so we just took it to Europe. In '96, Aquarius released it here, so it was a bit of an afterthought in Canada."
The CD sleeve of I Bificus reads like a manifesto; it's a combination of photographs, lyrics, drawings and commentary, and it adds a real vitality to the record. But it almost wasn't so. "I'm really glad that they let me do my artwork again. I thought that they were going to want it really slick. I had to struggle but they let me do it."
I point out appreciation for a pair of shoes in one of the photos, shoes Bif says she stole from Posh Spice. Bif adores the Spice Girls "because they are really positive role models. Their body images are perfectly healthy and they are babes!" She considers the possibility of them opening for her on tour as she sips the last of her cappuccino. Incidentally, Posh is only her favourite part of the time: in the forum of Bif's mind the position of #1 Spice Girl is a perpetual battle between Posh and Sporty.
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