Bif Naked’s New Documentary Proves She’s Still The Real Deal
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - Bif Naked at CIFF Premiere.
When Bif Naked answers the phone, her voice carries the same sharp wit and generosity that have made her one of Canada’s most enduring punk figures. Three decades since she first stormed the stage, she’s still as grounded and self-aware as ever. She’s quick to laugh, quicker to uplift others, and endlessly devoted to the DIY spirit that shaped her career. With a new documentary and a generation of younger artists citing her as an influence, Beth Nicole Torbert (better known by her stage name – Bif Naked) is thinking less about legacy and more about how to keep the fire burning for those coming up next.
The film had its world premiere at the Calgary International Film Festival this September, a fitting homecoming for an artist whose early tours carved her name into the city’s punk history. She remembers playing Republic in the ’90s (which has since closed its doors, a growing problem we find venues to have in the city), handing out flyers, wrangling promoters for gas money, and dreaming of just making it to the next town. “Calgary was always the toughest nut to crack,” she laughs. “It was the show I’d get most nervous for. Not Montreal, not Toronto, Calgary.” Decades later, returning to the city to see her story on screen felt like a full-circle moment, one that reflected both her past and her ongoing influence on the punk community. “It was so different,” she says, “but nothing’s changed. Everyone still looked out for each other. We just wanted enough gas money to make it to the next town.”
But for Torbert, legacy isn’t about looking back, it’s also about passing the torch forward. She lights up when talking about the new generation of femme and queer punks, especially bands like Shiv and the Carvers, who credit her as a mentor and inspiration. “Artists who are younger and harder than me are the future,” she says. “They’re making art and making change in a time where so much change is needed. When I see bands like Shiv and the Carvers, I recognize that same heart. I wish I had the budget to take them and ten other up and coming bands on a forty-city tour.”
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - Bif Naked at Dickens in Calgary, AB.
Even as a veteran, she’s clear-eyed about the barriers that persist. “It’s always hard to forget you’re a chick,” she says, laughing. “But you can’t get mad about it. You just have to go play your show.” Her advice is blunt but liberating: “You have to rock twice as hard to be considered half as rockin’, and that’s fine. Because I can rock twice as hard.” It’s this matter-of-fact attitude that’s kept her grounded while inspiring a new generation of artists who refuse to apologize for taking up space. To Torbert, feminism in punk isn’t about rhetoric. It’s about endurance, humour, and unshakable self-belief. “It’s not personal,” she says. “It’s about all of us. You just go out there and do your show.”
For all her toughness, Torbert’s warmth is what stands out. She talks about her fans, some of whom have followed her since the early Gorilla Gorilla days (Torbert’s first band with now-ex-husband NOFX soundman, Limo), with the tenderness of an old friend. “We all still go to the same shows,” she says. “It’s hilarious. Everyone’s kids are grown, everyone’s sober, and we’re still at D.O.A. or Dayglo Abortions shows, still in our battle vests. We just keep having fun.” She cites Tina Turner’s late-career stadium resurgence as inspiration. “She didn’t start playing stadiums until her fifties,” Torbert says. “Nobody’s done. Everyone’s still doing shows—Green Day, NOFX—it’s fun now.”
Her new documentary Bif Naked: The Untold Story feels less like a swan song and more like another verse in an ongoing anthem. Seeing her life on screen was, she admits, surreal. “I don’t know where they got that footage. I didn't even have a cell phone until I was 30. I didn't own a car until I was 30. I didn't have a computer until I was married to my second husband. I didn't have any of that stuff. So for them to have all this footage and to tell this story that people had not probably heard and to see my birth mom… it made me cry.” The film includes rare footage of her birth mother in India and emotional interviews with her longtime manager. “It was humbling,” she says. “They told the truthful story.”
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - Bif Naked at Dickens in Calgary, AB.
In that same spirit, she continues to appear in music videos and collaborate with emerging artists across the country, lending her voice and visibility to younger femme punks carving out space in an industry that still resists them. Her presence in spaces like Shiv and the Carvers “Danger Girl” music video, as their pseudo-manager as the band journeys across Toronto Scott Pilgrim style, isn’t just a cameo, it’s a bridge between generations of women who’ve had to fight for the same stages and recognition. She laughs about how nothing’s changed and yet everything has. “In the ’90s they said girls can’t dress like sluts, that’s no good,” she says. “Now everyone’s on stage in bikinis again and nobody cares. Things go full circle.”
She laughs thinking back to her first tour through the city. “We opened for the WONGs in Calgary in 1990,” she recalls. “And the guitarist in my second band, Crumb Dog, had been in Beyond Possession and the singer was from Calgary too. There’s always been a connection.” That thread runs through her entire career: she refuses to let geography, gender, or bad attitudes define what’s possible.
Bif Naked is now available on streaming via Super Channel Fuse.
