Miranda Cordelia Susan Josephine Wiggs (born 26 February 1963) is an English multi-instrumentalist rock musician, best known for her work as bassist in the alternative rock bands

The Breeders The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherson ...

and

The Perfect Disaster The Perfect Disaster were an English alternative rock band from Bedfordshire/Hertfordshire, England, formed in 1980. They released four albums before splitting up in 1991. The only constant member was singer/guitarist Phil Parfitt. History Th ...

. She has also formed multiple side-projects, including her own bands

Honey Tongue Honey Tongue were an alternative rock band formed by former member of The Perfect Disaster and The Breeders Josephine Wiggs (Singing, vocals, guitar, cello) and The Perfect Disaster/Spacemen 3/Spiritualized drummer Jon Mattock. The band later ...

The Josephine Wiggs Experience Miranda Cordelia Susan Josephine Wiggs (born 26 February 1963) is an English multi-instrumentalist rock musician, best known for her work as bassist in the alternative rock bands The Breeders and The Perfect Disaster. She has also formed multi ...

, and

Dusty Trails Dusty Trails is an American music duo consisting of Vivian Trimble (formerly of Kostars and Luscious Jackson) and Josephine Wiggs (formerly of the Breeders). Trimble provides vocals and Wiggs sings harmony vocals. Their 2000 debut album, '' Du ...

Early career

Wiggs was born in

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

, Hertfordshire.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Indie & New Wave'', Virgin Books; , p. 318 Wiggs is the daughter of Richard Wiggs, a teacher of handicapped children and founder of the

Anti-Concorde Project The Anti-Concorde Project, founded by environmental activist Richard Wiggs, challenged the idea of supersonic passenger transport, and curtailed Concorde's commercial prospects. When Concorde entered service in 1976, of the 74 options (non-bindin ...

. Wiggs studied philosophy at the University of London, earning a BA degree, going on to get an MA in

continental philosophy Continental philosophy is a term used to describe some philosophers and philosophical traditions that do not fall under the umbrella of analytic philosophy. However, there is no academic consensus on the definition of continental philosophy. Pri ...

from the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

.''The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Routledge, 2002, , p. 542 She studied cello for ten years. She joined

in 1988 as bass guitarist, playing on the albums ''Asylum Road,'' (1988) ''Up'' (1989) and ''Heaven Scent'' (1990) before going on to form

with

Kim Deal Kimberley Ann Deal (born June 10, 1961) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She was the bassist and the co-vocalist in the alternative rock band Pixies, before forming the Breeders in 1989. Deal joined Pixies in January ...

and

Tanya Donelly Tanya Donelly (born July 14, 1966) is an American Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New England who co-founded Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersh. Donelly went on to co-form the alternative rock band ...

in 1990.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 452 Wiggs played cello on the

Spacemen 3 Spacemen 3 were an English neo-psychedelia space rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "tr ...

album ''Playing With Fire''.

Career with The Breeders

In 1988, Wiggs met

when Perfect Disaster supported the

Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas arou ...

in London. In 1989, Deal asked Wiggs to join her and

(of

Throwing Muses Throwing Muses are an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was originall ...

) in making The Breeders’ first album '' Pod''. Deal, Wiggs and

Slint Slint was an American rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1986. The band consisted of guitarist and vocalist Brian McMahan, guitarist David Pajo, drummer and vocalist Britt Walford, Todd Brashear (bassist on ''Spiderland''), and Etha ...

drummer

Britt Walford Britt Walford (born March 16, 1970) is an American musician best known for being the drummer, co-founder, and occasional guitarist for the post-rock band Slint. Early life Walford grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and attended the J. Graham Bro ...

rehearsed for a week at Wiggs's house in Bedfordshire, and for a further week with Donelly in London, before driving to Edinburgh to record the album with engineer

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

. The album was released in 1990 on record label 4AD. In 1992, Deal visited Wiggs in Brighton during her time off from the Pixies, and they worked on the song "Safari", recording it in London with Wiggs's friend

Spiritualized Spiritualized (stylised as Spiritualized®) are an English rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Jason Pierce (often known as J. Spaceman), formerly of Spacemen 3. After several line up-changes, in 1999, the band centered on Pierc ...

drummer

Jon Mattock Jonny Mattock is an English drummer and percussionist from Northampton, England, who was a member of, or played with, Massive Attack, Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, The Perfect Disaster, Slipstream, Lupine Howl, Cranes, Baxter Dury, The Breeders, ...

. This recording became the title track of The Breeders' second release, the ''

Safari A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...

'' EP. From 1992, alongside Deal and Wiggs, The Breeders' second incarnation had Kim's twin sister

Kelley Deal Kelley Deal (born June 10, 1961) is an American musician and singer. She has been lead guitarist and co-vocalist of the alternative rock band The Breeders since 1992, and has formed her own side-projects with bands such as R. Ring and The Kelley ...

on lead guitar and

Jim Macpherson The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherson ...

on drums. This line-up recorded the album ''

Last Splash ''Last Splash'' is the second album by American indie rock band the Breeders, released on August 30, 1993. Originally formed as a side project for Pixies bassist Kim Deal, the Breeders quickly became her primary recording outlet. ''Last Splash'' ...

'' in 1993, which featured the hit song "

Cannonball A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a lar ...

", which opens with Wiggs' highly-recongisable bass riff. The video for "Cannonball", much-played on MTV, was directed by

Kim Gordon Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...

and

Spike Jonze Adam H. Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze, is an American filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes commercials, film, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze began his ca ...

. The Breeders supported

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

on their ''

In Utero ''In Utero'' is the third and final studio album by American rock band Nirvana. It was released on September 21, 1993, by DGC Records. After breaking into the mainstream with their second album, ''Nevermind'' (1991), Nirvana hired Steve Albini t ...

'' tour, and ''Last Splash'' achieved platinum sales. Wiggs' last record with the band (before rejoining in 2013) was the EP, ''Head to Toe'' whose title track was written by Wiggs. After playing the 1994 Lollapolooza Tour, The Breeders went on indefinite hiatus following the well-publicized drug problems of guitarist Kelley Deal. Kim Deal released a solo album, the Amps, '' Pacer'' in 1995, and she resurrected the Breeders' name in the late 1990s, but neither Wiggs nor Macpherson were members of this line-up. In November 2005, Wiggs played two shows with The Breeders in London, at an event commemorating the 25th anniversary of record label 4AD. On 21 August 2009, with one day's notice and no rehearsal, Wiggs played three shows with The Breeders after then-bassist Mando Lopez had to fly home because his girlfriend had gone into labor. These shows were at the

Black Cat A black cat is a domestic cat with black fur that may be a mixed or specific breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular breed. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) recognizes 22 cat breeds that can come with solid black coats. The Bombay b ...

in Washington, DC, Diesel in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, and at

Newport Music Hall Newport Music Hall is a music venue located in the University District of Columbus, Ohio, across the street from the Ohio Union of the Ohio State University. It is "America's Longest Continually Running Rock Club". History Newport Music Hall op ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. In 2013, Wiggs had officially re-joined The Breeders for the bands' "Last Splash" 20th Anniversary World Tour, to coincide with 4AD's release of LSXX, a limited-edition seven-disc vinyl box set, and three-CD package of the band's 1993 hit album ''Last Splash''. Since then, Wiggs and

have returned to The Breeders full-time for the tour and release of the 2018 album ''

All Nerve ''All Nerve'' is the fifth full-length studio album by American alternative rock band the Breeders, released on March 2, 2018, 10 years after their previous album ''Mountain Battles'' (2008). A '' Stereogum'' article in June 2016 reported that the ...

'', the band's fifth album overall, and the first album to reunite the "Last Splash" line-up (Kim, Kelley, Josephine, and Jim) since 1993.

Other work

In 1992, Wiggs had collaborated with

and released an album, ''Nude Nudes,'' under the name

. In 1995 Wiggs and

Luscious Jackson Luscious Jackson is an alternative rock/ rap-rock group formed in 1991. The band's name is a reference to former American basketball player Lucious Jackson. The original band consisted of Jill Cunniff (vocals, bass), Gabby Glaser (vocals, guit ...

(and original

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

) drummer

Kate Schellenbach Kate Schellenbach (born January 5, 1966) is an American musician and television producer. She is the drummer of Luscious Jackson and was a founding drummer of the Beastie Boys. Born in New York City, she played with the Beastie Boys from 1981 to ...

formed

Ladies Who Lunch Ladies who lunch is a phrase often used to describe well-off, well-dressed women who meet for social luncheons, usually during the working week. Typically, the women involved are married and non-working. Normally the lunch is in a high-class res ...

, releasing the 7 inch vinyl ''Kims We Love'' (an homage to Kim Deal and

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

, played entirely on Casio keyboards) on the

' label,

Grand Royal Grand Royal was the Los Angeles, California-based vanity record label set up in 1992 by rap group Beastie Boys in conjunction with Capitol Records after the group left Def Jam Recordings. ''Grand Royal'' was also the name of a magazine written a ...

. This was followed by the 7 inch vinyl cover of the

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

song ''Everybody's Happy Nowadays.'' In 1995, Wiggs recorded and co-produced the album ''Klassics with a K'' for the

Kostars Kostars was an alternative/pop-rock side project formed by Vivian Trimble and Jill Cunniff while on a headlining tour with Luscious Jackson in 1995. Trimble and Cunniff, who needed an additional outlet, wrote under the name Kostars and released ...

, featuring Luscious Jackson's

Jill Cunniff Jill Cunniff (born August 17, 1966) is an American musician and artist, best known as the lead singer of the band Luscious Jackson. Cunniff was born in New York City and attended college in San Francisco. After returning to New York in 1991, she f ...

and

Vivian Trimble Vivian Elizabeth Trimble (born May 24, 1963 in New York City) is an American musician, best known as the keyboardist in the band Luscious Jackson from 1991 to 1998. She also joined bandmate Jill Cunniff under the name Kostars and recorded an album ...

, and toured with them playing drums. In 1996 Wiggs collaborated again with

releasing ''Bon Bon Lifestyle'' on Grand Royal as ''The Josephine Wiggs Experience''. Wiggs sang vocals, played guitar and electric and acoustic bass, and recorded and mixed the album. Jon Mattock played drums, other percussion, and keyboards. Audu Obaje played guitar and helped Josephine record and mix the album. In 1997, Wiggs started a writing and recording collaboration with

keyboardist

under the name

. Their eponymous 2000 album on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

included a track written for, and sung by,

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

. They also wrote music for '' Happy Accidents'', a movie by Brad Anderson (writer/director of ''

Next Stop Wonderland ''Next Stop Wonderland'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Brad Anderson, written by Anderson and Lyn Vaus, and starring Hope Davis and Alan Gelfant. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 1998, where it was no ...

'') starring

Marisa Tomei Marisa Tomei ( , ; born December 4, 1964) is an American actress. She came to prominence as a cast member on ''The Cosby Show'' spin-off ''A Different World'' in 1987. After having minor roles in a few films, she came to international attention ...

and

Vincent D'Onofrio Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. His roles include Private Leonar ...

. In addition, they collaborated with internationally acclaimed New York-based Brazilian choreographers chameckilerner, writing and recording full-length scores for ''Poor Reality,'' 2001, and ''Exit'' 2007. They also provided the soundtrack for chameckilerner's short film ''Flying Lesson,'' (which premiered at Lincoln Center, 2008) and for their short film ''The Collection'' (2011). In 2009, Wiggs recorded the soundtrack for chameckilerner's ''Conversation With Boxing Gloves,'' one of eleven short films that make up ''Vita Futurista Redux,'' a re-imagining of the lost 1916 film ''Vita Futurista,'' commissioned by Performa 09 and which premiered at SFMOMA. In 2012, she wrote and recorded a piano-based score for the documentary ''Built on Narrow Land,'' a film about Bauhaus-inspired modern houses in Wellfleet, Cape Cod, which premiered at

Provincetown International Film Festival The Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF) is an annual film festival founded in 1999 and held on Cape Cod in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The festival presents American and international narrative features, documentaries and short films f ...

and was included in the Architecture and Design Film Festival, New York City, 2013. In 2013, she wrote and recorded the score for the first feature film by writer-director Desiree Akhavan, ''Appropriate Behavior'', which premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

, in 2014. Her first solo album "We Fall" was released on 17 May 2019. All tracks were composed, performed and recorded by Wiggs, with additional drums/electronics by her former

bandmate

. She released the music video for the album's first single "Time Does Not Bring Relief" on 20 March 2019.

Personal life

According to a 1994 ''Rolling Stone'' profile of The Breeders, Wiggs is a lifelong

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

who's never eaten a piece of meat in her life. Wiggs is lesbian. During a relationship with drummer

, the two were featured in an article in '' The Advocate'', a national LGBT magazine published in the United States. They formed the short-lived band Ladies Who Lunch, and Wiggs recorded and co-produced Schellenbach's side-project

Discography

The Perfect Disaster

* ''Asylum Road'' (1988 album), Fire Records * '' Up'' (1989 album), Fire Records * ''Heaven Scent'' (1990 album), Fire Records

The Breeders

* '' Pod'' (1990 album), 4AD * ''

'' (1992 EP), 4AD * ''

'' (1993 album), 4AD * ''

Head to Toe "Head to Toe" is a song recorded by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam that appeared on their 1987 album ''Spanish Fly''. The song hit number one on three charts: ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on June 20, 1987, the Hot Black Singles charts on May 30 of that year, ...

'' (1994 EP), 4AD * ''

'' (2018 album), 4AD

Honey Tongue

* ''Nude Nudes'' (1992 album), Playtime Records

Ladies Who Lunch

* ''Kim's We Love'' (1995 7" vinyl), Grand Royal * ''Everybody's Happy Nowadays'' (1996 7" vinyl), Grand Royal

Dusty Trails

* ''

'' (2000 album), Atlantic Records

Solo

* ''Bon Bon Lifestyle'' (1996 album), Grand Royal (as The Josephine Wiggs Experience) * ''We Fall'' (2019 album), Sound of Sinners

References

External links

*
Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine at VH1

No Aloha transcript of Kurt St Thomas interview with The Breeders
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiggs, Josephine 1963 births 4AD artists Alternative rock bass guitarists Alternative rock singers Alumni of the University of Sussex English rock bass guitarists Women bass guitarists Living people Lesbian musicians LGBT musicians from England The Breeders members People from Letchworth Musicians from Hertfordshire The Perfect Disaster members Honey Tongue members Dusty Trails members 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people