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Bif not so easy to tattoo

Kokanee Freeride Series gets intimate with free Bif Naked concert
1315bifnaked
"Every time I hear a dog bark, my breasts leak milk." Homesick Bif Naked returns to Canada with a Friday performance at Longhorn. Photo submitted

Who: Bif Naked

When: Friday, April 14

Where: Longhorn Saloon

Admission: Free

A modern day Kasturba Ghandi – theology student, vegan, social activist, musician and proud Canadian – the way in which India-born Bif Naked reaches out to the world is as unconventional as her tattoo-covered body.

Listen beyond the aggressive vocals to vulnerable lyrics exposing issues such as rape, divorce and consumerism. Look closer at the tattoos of ancient Indian figures and symbols twisting up her arms. And have a brief taste of the studious lifestyle she lives (no drugs, no alcohol, no television) in one of her easy, open conversations.

She reaches out to audiences that otherwise might not relate to a monk figure, but she doesn’t see it that way. She is just living her life making music.

Bif calls from a hotel room somewhere in Madrid. She is two hours late for the interview. I can barely get a word in edge wise as she sincerely apologizes over and over again. Something about flights, the next show, exhaustion.

Despite running the last leg of her European tour promoting her new album, Superbeautifulmonster , and being pulled in every direction, the morning girl is down right cheery and warm in her conversation – she repeatedly expresses her excitement about returning home and strapping on her snowboard.

"I am really busy with my record, it came out in June in Canada and it is coming out this week (in Europe)," she said. "I am doing promotional tours."

She lets out a dramatic "aggh."

"I am so homesick. I miss my dogs. It’s a running joke. Every time I hear a dog bark, my breasts leak milk."

Mounties? Maple syrup? Mountains? Nope, this Canadian girl misses her pooches, as well as organic produce.

"I haven’t had a decent cucumber since I left home," she said, laughing.

In green rooms with beer and pizza, the strict raw-food vegan of three years and vegetarian of 10 years survives on Soya-milk drink boxes and bites into tomatoes like they were apples.

I tell her about a new organic restaurant in town and hot spots to get tofu dishes. She writes them down along with a local retail store that hands out organic biscuits for dogs. She is bringing the two loves of her life to Whistler.

"Good men, bad men, my dogs are always there for me," she said.

Unlike past albums, touching on social issues and consumerism, Bif’s new album explores matters of the heart with the same vulnerability and courage she has shown with past subject matters.

"After recording Tell on You, which was about teenage sexual abuse, it set the bar for me: if I could do that song, I could pretty much do anything after that. I’ve always been the same kind of person, much to my mom’s chagrin. I had so many young fans from the beginning. I was happy I made a song about something they could relate to. It is always the right thing to do," she said, moving on to talk about Superbeautifulmonster .

"Some of the songs are enshrouded in despair. I guess as we get older, we take break ups harder. We put more hope into them. I think a lot of songs are really sad, some lean towards violent aggression, but mostly they are songs about heartache."

She has a lot of heart to ache: the do-gooder talks about the world with great concern. So what is one thing the world could do without?

"Gosh there are so many things," she said. "Consumption ultimately. We do it so much without questioning anything. We need to get perspective and stop buying things. Rapid consumerism affects all of us on all levels. People don’t recycle. People don’t compost or carpool enough. People don’t make correct choices about feeding their kids. We are so busy. I can’t imagine what it is like having four kids and juggling everything."

With the introduction of the Internet, Bif said records sales can no longer be relied on and touring is therefore a necessity – she first hit the road at 16 years old and hasn’t stopped.

Maybe her studious lifestyle of diet, yoga, martial arts and reading stems not from mindfulness, but out of necessity?

Twenty years ago she left her rebellious lifestyle, along with smoking, drinking, drugs and bad food. She keeps body and soul in shape with 90-minute rock concert cardio workouts as well as martial arts, weights and yoga. She exercises her mind in her more than 3,500-book library. From Buddhism, Daoism, Judaism and the Koran to medical practices, she reads basically anything but fiction.

"I just bought a book in London: Palliative Care Perspectives by Doctor James Hallenbeck," she said. "It is about his experience of going from a hospital administrator to caring for the dying. It’s riveting. I am such a square."

I don’t think anyone who has witnessed one of her high-octane shows would call her wild-child presence square, but that is what makes her music and personality so addictive – nothing is as it seems.

Bif Naked kicks of the intimate Kokanee Freeride Series, which hosts free après and afterdark concerts April 14-23 at various clubs around town. Bif Naked plays Friday, April 14 at 9 p.m. at the Longhorn Saloon.