Punk icon Bif Naked’s story more than skin deep

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on August 6, 2022.

Coco and Kensington Photography Bif Naked is set to perform a sold out show this Wednesday at the Owl Acoustic Lounge.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

Legendary punk icon Bif Naked has a new single called Rollerdome and will be performing a sold out show in Lethbridge on Wednesday at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, after being absent from the city’s music scene for over five years.

Beth Torbert, better known as Bif Naked, was last seen in Lethbridge while promoting her book “I, Bificus” and is coming back next to a place she describes as one of her favourite intimate settings to perform.

“Being able to come to Lethbridge is very special for us because it’s few and far between. I think more acts should come to Lethbridge, it’s a great community,” said Torbert.

She said that after the pandemic has sidelined all the bands for two years, it is absolutely delightful to be in front of an audience again.

Even though the pandemic made it hard to perform live, Torbert found herself taking part in a different kind of performance during that time, as she started filming a documentary last year.

“The documentary is very exciting, it’s kind of a dream come true for me. I never thought I would be the subject of a documentary, so it was a big surprise, but at the same time it’s very flattering and humbling,” said Torbert.

‘Bif Naked: One of a Kind,’ will be written and directed by the Genie and Sundance award-winning director, Jennifer Abbott, and produced by Adam Scorgie, Yas Taalat, Gabriel Napora and Shane Fennessey who recently released their previous two documentaries with Universal Pictures.

“To be able to see and share my story through her (Abbott) lens is really, for me, it’s going to be very meaningful,” said Torbert.

She said her adoption and survival story will play a big part of the documentary.

Torbert was born in secret to a teenager living in India, the product of a Canadian girl and a British boy. She was rejected by both families, hidden away in a mental hospital, and adopted by Americans and then moved to North America.

“The thing about my parents, how influential they were is because they were civil rights activists that you had in the ’60’s and ’50’s and they influenced my life a lot. I met my birth mom when I was 21 and she is now living in Canada, so that’s been amazing to get to know her in a different level and also to recognize that I always knew her,” said Torbert.

She said she felt like she knew her birth mother, who is only 15 years older than her and who feels more like a sister to her, because they look the same, they talk the same way and have the same mannerisms.

“Those are things that I couldn’t have predicted, so that’s been a very interesting journey for me,” said Torbert.

But that is not the only journey she has experienced.

“And of course, my cancer journey, my journey as a cardiac patient, stroke survivor and I was a runaway when I was a teenager and just being able to survive a lot of different things like most women my age,” said Torbert.

When she was a teenager, she escaped what could have been a situation she might not have come back from and at the age of 37 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and survived.

She said all her life experiences have shaped her career by inspiring her to write music that contains autobiographical lyrics.

“There’s a song called ‘Story of My Life’ which is about running away and getting abducted, almost trafficked with my best friend and we escaped,” said Torbert.

She said they were able to escape thanks to a taxi driver who she refers to as a guardian angel.

“And of course, when I was going through cancer treatment, it was the first time in my life that I had ever not been on tour, so I didn’t really know what to do with myself. I didn’t rest of course, instead I made a record,” said Torbert.

She said that record took a long time because she was recording while going through chemotherapy and was unable to sing for extended periods of time.

“I was a chemo patient, all the physiology was different, so everything I was trying to do was greatly affected by all the different chemicals or by radiation or whatever the case, so in a way it was an experiment. I think I should’ve probably called the album ‘Clinical Trial’,” said Tobert.

The documentary is set to be released in 2024.

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