Biography
Multi-instrumentalist Josephine Wiggs earned her widest recognition through her position as the Breeders' bassist, yet the full span of her work stretches well beyond that affiliation in both duration and range. The Breeders' breakthrough with 1993's Last Splash helped establish her as a steady presence on the alt-rock landscape during the 1990s, prompting side projects such as the Josephine Wiggs Experience, whose November 1996 release Bon Bon Lifestyle displayed her atmospheric approach to indie rock. In the following decade she built a separate identity scoring films, later drawing those threads together on the 2019 album We Fall.
Raised north of London, Wiggs took up cello in childhood; after completing a master's degree in philosophy at the University of Sussex she joined the Perfect Disaster as bassist in 1988. Her tenure yielded appearances on Asylum Road (1988), Up (1989), and Heaven Scent (1990). While supporting Pixies on tour she met that band's bassist Kim Deal, who subsequently asked her to join the newly formed Breeders alongside Throwing Muses' Tanya Donelly and Slint's Britt Walford. On the group's 1990 debut Pod, Wiggs supplied its weighty bass lines and characteristically flat vocals beneath the other members' exchanges. Additional activity included cello contributions to Spacemen 3's 1990 album Playing with Fire, which led to a collaboration with the band's drummer Jon Mattock; the pair recorded 1992's Nude Nudes under the name Honey Tongue.
Following the Pixies' 1992 breakup, the Breeders became Deal's central focus. With Wiggs, Deal's sister Kelley on guitar, and Jim McPherson on drums, the lineup issued the Safari EP in 1992 and Last Splash the next year. The album achieved unexpected commercial traction, attaining gold status and securing the band a place on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour; during those dates the group released the Head to Toe EP, the first Breeders recording to feature an original Wiggs composition. Earlier she had sung on the band's cover of Aerosmith's "Lord of the Thighs," issued as a B-side to "Cannonball."
After Lollapalooza the Breeders entered a hiatus, freeing Wiggs to pursue other work. In 1995 she teamed with Luscious Jackson's Kate Schellenbach as Ladies Who Lunch, releasing the seven-inch "Kims We Love" on Grand Royal Records and a version of the Buzzcocks' "Everybody's Happy Nowadays." That same year she assisted Schellenbach's bandmates Jill Cunniff and Vivian Trimble in the Kostars, playing bass, recording and producing the 1996 album Klassics with a "K," and drumming at live shows. Later in 1996 Wiggs returned to England and, again with Mattock, formed the Josephine Wiggs Experience, which delivered Bon Bon Lifestyle in November.
Beginning in 1997, Wiggs partnered with Trimble on Dusty Trails, a venture shaped by shared interests in French pop, spaghetti Westerns, and atmospheric film music. The project's self-titled 2000 album received praise for its alluring textures and prompted the pair to score director Brad Anderson's Happy Accidents. Separately and together, Wiggs also composed for Brazilian choreographers chameckilerner, creating scores for works and short films including 2008's Flying Lesson and 2011's The Collection.
She maintained occasional ties to the Breeders. In November 2005 the band regrouped for two concerts marking 4AD's 25th anniversary; four years later Wiggs substituted for then-bassist Mando Lopez on several dates after his girlfriend went into labor. In 2013 she rejoined for a tour marking the twentieth anniversary of Last Splash, after which she and McPherson became permanent members once more.
While the Breeders prepared their fifth album, Wiggs continued scoring, contributing to Desiree Akhavan's 2014 film Appropriate Behaviour among other projects. All Nerve arrived in March 2018 to strong reviews and included "Metagoth," marking Wiggs' first lead vocal on a Breeders album. The following May she issued We Fall, drawing on music she had written for the 2013 documentary Built on Narrow Land. Reuniting with Mattock, she shaped the record's understated instrumentals under the influence of Brian Eno, Harold Budd, and Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Raised north of London, Wiggs took up cello in childhood; after completing a master's degree in philosophy at the University of Sussex she joined the Perfect Disaster as bassist in 1988. Her tenure yielded appearances on Asylum Road (1988), Up (1989), and Heaven Scent (1990). While supporting Pixies on tour she met that band's bassist Kim Deal, who subsequently asked her to join the newly formed Breeders alongside Throwing Muses' Tanya Donelly and Slint's Britt Walford. On the group's 1990 debut Pod, Wiggs supplied its weighty bass lines and characteristically flat vocals beneath the other members' exchanges. Additional activity included cello contributions to Spacemen 3's 1990 album Playing with Fire, which led to a collaboration with the band's drummer Jon Mattock; the pair recorded 1992's Nude Nudes under the name Honey Tongue.
Following the Pixies' 1992 breakup, the Breeders became Deal's central focus. With Wiggs, Deal's sister Kelley on guitar, and Jim McPherson on drums, the lineup issued the Safari EP in 1992 and Last Splash the next year. The album achieved unexpected commercial traction, attaining gold status and securing the band a place on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour; during those dates the group released the Head to Toe EP, the first Breeders recording to feature an original Wiggs composition. Earlier she had sung on the band's cover of Aerosmith's "Lord of the Thighs," issued as a B-side to "Cannonball."
After Lollapalooza the Breeders entered a hiatus, freeing Wiggs to pursue other work. In 1995 she teamed with Luscious Jackson's Kate Schellenbach as Ladies Who Lunch, releasing the seven-inch "Kims We Love" on Grand Royal Records and a version of the Buzzcocks' "Everybody's Happy Nowadays." That same year she assisted Schellenbach's bandmates Jill Cunniff and Vivian Trimble in the Kostars, playing bass, recording and producing the 1996 album Klassics with a "K," and drumming at live shows. Later in 1996 Wiggs returned to England and, again with Mattock, formed the Josephine Wiggs Experience, which delivered Bon Bon Lifestyle in November.
Beginning in 1997, Wiggs partnered with Trimble on Dusty Trails, a venture shaped by shared interests in French pop, spaghetti Westerns, and atmospheric film music. The project's self-titled 2000 album received praise for its alluring textures and prompted the pair to score director Brad Anderson's Happy Accidents. Separately and together, Wiggs also composed for Brazilian choreographers chameckilerner, creating scores for works and short films including 2008's Flying Lesson and 2011's The Collection.
She maintained occasional ties to the Breeders. In November 2005 the band regrouped for two concerts marking 4AD's 25th anniversary; four years later Wiggs substituted for then-bassist Mando Lopez on several dates after his girlfriend went into labor. In 2013 she rejoined for a tour marking the twentieth anniversary of Last Splash, after which she and McPherson became permanent members once more.
While the Breeders prepared their fifth album, Wiggs continued scoring, contributing to Desiree Akhavan's 2014 film Appropriate Behaviour among other projects. All Nerve arrived in March 2018 to strong reviews and included "Metagoth," marking Wiggs' first lead vocal on a Breeders album. The following May she issued We Fall, drawing on music she had written for the 2013 documentary Built on Narrow Land. Reuniting with Mattock, she shaped the record's understated instrumentals under the influence of Brian Eno, Harold Budd, and Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Singles
