Juno-award winning, multi-platinum selling punk rawk songstress Bif Naked is one of Vancouver’s most visibly and audibly awesome residents. She was kind enough to take some time out of her busy schedule for some total girl-chat time at local haunt Elysian Coffee on a sunny summer morning.
Ever the rebel, the openly engaging Bif swigged lemonade while staying real about the the life that she loves – from music to her four-legged fur children and from meeting her husband at a gym to her own personal experience with cancer – in the city we call home. If you haven't read part one, go HERE. Then, once you do that, go read part two HERE before chasing it with part three (my personal favourite) over HERE.
Nothing gets between Bif and her Calvins. Christine McAvoy photo.
Do you have a favourite Vancouverite?
Wow! Yeah, so many! So many more than one ...
There's about three different yoga instructors that I'm in love with on so many levels. One, her name is Janet Walden and she donated her time and taught breast cancer yoga to a group of women that I was in a clinical trial with. Without her guidance – and I had very simple procedures, my treatment was longer than a lot of other women's – my mobility was really compromised. I will always credit her for giving me my mobility back. A lot of her yoga is pilates-based and I've never taken pilates before and now I have started taking core yoga at a place called Y Yoga downtown. Janet was teaching there and gave me a pass so I went.
There's an instructor there named Rich Reynolds who teaches core yoga. I wouldn't have been able to get my strength back without it. I've been involved in fitness and yoga for 25 years, and nothing would have ever been so physically restorative for me than these yoga-pilates combinations implemented. It fascinated me.
And this was in the normal class structure - I never had private anything. I'm too cheap. I have vet bills. I have priorities.
Bif working it out on the ice at 8 Rinks in Burnaby.
What is it about Vancouver that supports this lifestyle?
There's a simmering undercurrent of accessibility around that type of physical experience. It's part of our culture. I haven't lived anywhere else but I would guess, per capita, it's probably more here.
When you go anywhere else – Montréal, Toronto – people want to try and describe a Vancouverite. And they talk about us as being pregnant, in yoga pants, with an $800 stroller, in flip flops... even in a restaurant.
People here take more pride in their vehicle, whether it's green or not. It seems to me like every summer there is a luxury car that you see constantly, especially in my neighbourhood. Last years it was Maseratis, and I was looking at these guys going, “what the f**k is your job that you can afford one of those?” It's astounding to me. I have vet bills!
I bought my first car in 2009 and that was mostly because of the dogs.
Nicklas Naked taking in Vancity.
Your dogs really influence your life.
They were all I had. I wasn't a recluse, I was just busy, and working. Kinda self-conscious. I'm not famous like Jennifer Aniston, she has people going through her parent's garbage. Can you imagine? That licks! I would quit my job. It's like a prison. I have always lived how I've lived. The dogs were the only consistency I've had.
You live pretty openly here.
I'm the King of Kensington – nobody gives a sh!t. Everyone's used to me.
Could you live like this in a different city?
I would have more anonymity in a different city. Everyone knows it's me, everyone expects it's me. I know all the cashiers at Choices. And no one cares.
Here's a question for our Vancouver is Awesome readers – if they encounter you somewhere is it cool if they come up and say hi?
They always do anyway! I'm a known hugger, much to my management's chagrin. I wear a t-shirt that says “Hug me.” I have dogs and I drive a Volvo with cloth interior. I betray my image.
You tweeted the other day about bicycles and helmets.
I'm such a geek.
No, not at all.
People don't wear helmets...
I saw a guy on the seawall yesterday with a baby on the back – neither of them in helmets!
It's amazing. Who is policing that?
The Seawall Rangers – I wanna start that group.
I'm in! (Bif high-fives me). I will be with you! There's so many things I wanna do with my life ... like be a cop. To give guys like that tickets. I would be such a hall monitor.
But I am also very guilty of many things. Prior to them changing the cell phone laws ... I could balance a dog on my lap. While I drove. While on the phone. Also while sending an email... in traffic. I did that once ... maybe a million times.
Don't mess with Bif. She won't take it.
You mentioned being frugal. What are some bargains that Vancouver is Awesome readers need to know about?
It would depend. For clothes? I am brutal with clothes. These are the same Vinyasa tights from Lululemon I have had for years. They probably have a hole in the crotch. Also American Apparel – their t-shirts will last you for years.
Another deal place is Mintage. I'm a big fan of Barefoot Contessa on Main St.
I recall seeing you being interviewed on MuchMusic years ago talking about a Talbot's sweater your mother wanted you to wear. Would you wear one now?
All of the things I have that I call my “Grown-up Lady Clothes” or things that I usually refer to as my work clothes are things that I've gotten usually as gifts. I like fashion because I think often it's really artistic and creative. But I'm a square. What I am after and what I think is neat is dichotomy. What I think is interesting and what I try to do, for example, is what if you had a classic Talbot's dress – like a sheath dress, from the early 90s – and paired it with tattoos? And that was the whole point. For a long time that was really important to me, to present that. Now I am lazy, basically.
So you're an eccentric?
Probably.
Best place to get a tattoo in the city?
I go to Steve Cole, at Sacred Heart on 10th and Alma. I already had the word “survivor” tattooed on me before I was ever diagnosed. Little kid sh!t. But I wanted a survivor tattoo so Steve has started my Taj.
Photo by Christine McAvoy. Taj tattoo by Steve.
I'm a big fan of his. I really, really like Steve and that company, too. Chad Woodley on Kingsway and Fraser and also Mikel at Four Truths in Gastown – they're both really important tattooists.
If I gave you $100 to spend in Vancouver to spend, where would you spend it?
Honestly, I would get two papayas - if I don't take care of me, I can't take care of anyone else -which I wouldn't usually spend money on. Because I'm cheap. I would probably go down to the SPCA and I would give them $25. And there's a guy who used to stand outside Capers on 4th named Danny – he sells those community papers. I'd buy a stack and give him $20. I'd probably give the rest away ... after I got two papayas.
