Melora Creager (born March 25, 1966) is an American
cellist, singer-songwriter, performing artist and founder of the rock band
Rasputina.[1]
Early life, beginnings and Rasputina
Born in
Kansas City,
Missouri, and adopted[2] by a graphic designer and physicist,[3] Creager was raised in
Emporia, Kansas.[4][5] She started studying music at the age of 5, and at age 9 began playing the cello. As a child she was also a member of the
Wichita Youth Symphony.[6] Though she briefly quit playing in her teen years, after Creager moved to the east coast to attend
Philadelphia College of Art and
Parsons School of Design, she was convinced by friends to take it up again.[7][8][9] In the late 1980s she played with the New York indie rock band
Ultra Vivid Scene.[10] In 1991, Creager founded alternative cello ensemble Rasputina by writing a manifesto and placing a want-ad in the Village Voice stating "electric cellists wanted".[11] Cellist/composer
Julia Kent was the first respondent. Rasputina performed regularly at NYC venues such as CBGB's Gallery, Brownie's and Fez before being signed to Columbia Records in 1996, for whom they subsequently made two albums. Since 2005, Rasputina and Creager have released their music under her own label, Filthy Bonnet Recording Co.
Through more than eight albums and frequent touring, Creager through Rasputina, with varying members, has been an originator of and influence on such movements as
freak folk[13][14] and
steampunk.[15]
Creager played cello with
Nirvana on the European leg of their In Utero world tour in 1994, including the band's final show in
Munich.[9][17][3] According to Creager,
Kurt Cobain personally called to offer her the job.[18] She has said that touring with the band, as well as
Cobain's suicide, made her realize that she found the idea of large-scale fame unappealing, stating, "Fame is just so unnatural. Fame kills and it was valuable to learn that early on,"[9] and "It was an amazing experience but I couldn't be happier being where I am now."[18] In 2014, in honor of the 20th anniversary of Cobain's death, Creager launched Dedication Compilation, what she referred to as "a collective free arts release". The Compilation, a webpage containing poems, songs and art in memory of "those we've lost to suicide or overdose", included contributions from
Melissa Auf der Maur and
John Cafiero.[9][19][20]
Creager's debut solo album Perplexions, was released in 2006.
From 1988 to 1996, Creager was employed as a jewelry designer for
Erickson Beamon, creating costume jewelry for
Anna Sui,
Donna Karan, Barney's New York, and Vogue magazine.[citation needed] She continues her relationship with Anna Sui, occasionally designing fashion show invitations and T-shirts.[27][28]
Creager also has a short list of acting and film credits. In 1989 she briefly appeared as a member of the fictional Finger Lakes Trio in the film Longtime Companion.[29][30] In 2003, Creager starred in the short film "On My Knees", by filmmaker
Kim Wood, as
Hannah Cullwick, whose diaries the film is based upon.[31][32] Creager also wrote the music for the film, which appears on the Rasputina compilation album Great American Gingerbread.[33] In 2010, Creager and Rasputina were the subject of a documentary entitled Under the Corset, created by podcaster and then-future Rasputina drummer
Dawn Miceli.[34] Creager also contributed additional voices to the 2018 pilot of the
Adult Swim animated series Tigtone.[35]
At some point in 2015, Creager became the victim of
identity theft when her computer was hacked into and subsequently corrupted to the point of being unusable.[38] Processing this experience, and the "mental breakdown" it caused her, became much of the inspiration for the
2015 Rasputina album Unknown.[39]