Though she is best known as the Breeders' bassist, multi-instrumentalist Josephine Wiggs' career is longer and more varied than her work with that band might suggest. Thanks in part to the Breeders' success following 1993's Last Splash, she became an alt-rock fixture in the '90s and pursued projects that included the Josephine Wiggs Experience, whose 1996 album Bon Bon Lifestyle exemplified her dreamy take on indie rock. In the 2000s, she made a name for herself as a film composer, then united the different aspects of her career on 2019's atmospheric We Fall.

Growing up north of London, Wiggs began playing cello as a child and, after getting her master's degree in philosophy from the University of Sussex, became the bassist for the Perfect Disaster in 1988. During her time with the band, she appeared on 1988's Asylum Road, 1989's Up, and 1990's Heaven Scent. She also met Pixies bassist Kim Deal when that band had the Perfect Disaster support them at a show. Deal invited Wiggs to join her new band, the Breeders, which also featured Throwing Muses' Tanya Donelly and Slint's Britt Walford. On the Breeders' 1990 debut album, Pod, Wiggs' lumbering bass and deadpan vocals anchored the interplay of the rest of the band. Wiggs also found time to collaborate with other artists: After playing cello on Spacemen 3's 1990 album Playing with Fire, she struck up a friendship with their drummer, Jon Mattock. As Honey Tongue, she and Mattock recorded 1992's Nude Nudes.

When the Pixies disbanded in 1992, the Breeders became Deal's main project. Joined by Wiggs, Kim's sister Kelley Deal on guitar, and drummer Jim McPherson, this version of the band recorded 1992's Safari EP and the following year's album Last Splash. It became an unexpected hit, going gold and landing the band a slot on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour. During the tour, the group released the Head to Toe EP, which marked the first time a Wiggs composition was featured on a Breeders release; previously, she'd sung on the group's cover of Aerosmith's "Lord of the Thighs," a "Cannonball" B-side.

The Breeders went on hiatus following Lollapalooza, and Wiggs made the most of her time away from the band. In 1995, she collaborated with Luscious Jackson's Kate Schellenbach as Ladies Who Lunch, a duo that released the seven-inch single "Kims We Love" on Grand Royal Records and a cover of the Buzzcocks' "Everybody's Happy Nowadays." That year, Wiggs also worked with Schellenbach's bandmates Jill Cunniff and Vivian Trimble, who formed the group the Kostars. Along with playing bass, she also recorded and produced the band's 1996 album Klassics with a K and played drums on a set of live dates. That year, Wiggs moved back to England and formed the Josephine Wiggs Experience with Mattock, issuing the album Bon Bon Lifestyle in November 1996.

In 1997, Wiggs began working with Trimble on Dusty Trails, a project that combined their fondness for French pop, spaghetti Westerns, and moody film scores. Arriving in 2000, Dusty Trails earned acclaim for its seductive sounds and led to the duo writing the music for director Brad Anderson's film Happy Accidents. With Trimble and on her own, Wiggs frequently composed music for the Brazilian choreographers chameckilerner, scoring pieces and short films that included 2008's Flying Lesson and 2011's The Collection.

During this time, Wiggs occasionally played with the Breeders. In November 2005, the band reunited for a pair of shows celebrating their label 4AD's 25th anniversary; four years later, Wiggs filled in for Mando Lopez, the band's bassist at the time, for a handful of shows when his girlfriend went into labor. In 2013, she returned to the group for a tour commemorating the 20th anniversary of Last Splash, after which she and McPherson rejoined the Breeders as permanent members.

As the Breeders geared up to make their fifth album, Wiggs continued her scoring career with projects including Desiree Akhavan's 2014 film Appropriate Behaviour. Appearing in March 2018, All Nerve was an acclaimed return from the Breeders and featured "Metagoth," Wiggs' first lead vocal on one of the band's albums. The following May, Wiggs released We Fall, an album based on pieces she composed for the 2013 documentary Built on Narrow Land. Working once again with Mattock, Wiggs drew inspiration from renowned artists such as Brian Eno, Harold Budd, and Ryuichi Sakamoto for its subtle instrumentals. ~ Heather Phares & Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi