Peaches (musician)

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Peaches

Background information
Birth name Merrill Beth Nisker
Born November 11, 1968 (1968-11-11) (age 39)
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genre(s) Electroclash
Neo-Electro
Techno
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, record producer
Years active 1995 – present
Label(s) XL
Kitty-Yo
Website http://www.peachesrocks.com/
Former members
Ben Laun. "Queer"

Merrill Beth Nisker (born 1968 in Toronto, Canada), better known as Peaches, is an electronica musician whose songs are concerned mainly with sex.[1]

Contents

Before she became "Peaches", Nisker was an elementary school music and drama teacher. She plays almost all the instruments for her songs, programs her own electronic beats and produces her records. In Toronto before rising to fame, she was the roommate of fellow recording artist Feist.[citation needed]

Her songs have been featured in movies such as Mean Girls, Waiting..., Jackass Number Two, My Little Eye, Cashback, and Lost in Translation. Her music has also been featured on Showtime's The L Word television series, as well as Ugly Betty. Peaches performed guest vocals on Pink's album Try This, on the song "Oh My God", and on the Chicks on Speed album 99 Cents, on the song "We Don't Play Guitars".

Peaches and the Herms performing in 2006. Left to right: JD Samson, Samantha Maloney, Peaches, and Radio Sloan.
Peaches and the Herms performing in 2006. Left to right: JD Samson, Samantha Maloney, Peaches, and Radio Sloan.

For her 2006 album, Impeach My Bush, Peaches collaborated with musicians JD Samson, Joshua Homme, Radio Sloan, and drummer Samantha Maloney whom she affectionately calls The Herms (short for hermaphrodites). Together, Peaches and (the) Herms is a reference to 70's duo Peaches & Herb. Peaches and Herms was the opening act for Nine Inch Nails and Bauhaus during the second half of their 2006 summer U.S. tour.

Peaches, dressed like a glam metal artist, performing in August 2006.
Peaches, dressed like a glam metal artist, performing in August 2006.

Peaches' music is preoccupied with genderchange identity, and she often plays with traditional notions of gender identity, gender roles, and gender presentation. Her lyrics and live shows self-consciously blur the distinction between male and female; she appears on the cover of her album Fatherfucker with a full beard. When asked if she had chosen the title for shock value, she commented:

Why do we call our mothers motherfuckers? Why do we stub our toe and say, "Aww motherfucker!"? What is a motherfucker? ... We use it in our everyday language, and it's such an insanely intense word. I'm not one to shy away from these obscene terms that we actually have in our mainstream. Motherfucker is a very mainstream word. But if we're going to use motherfucker, why don't we use fatherfucker? I'm just trying to be even.

She disputes accusations of "penis envy," preferring the term "hermaphrodite envy" since "there is so much male and female in us all". She does not shy away from identifying herself as a sexual being.

  • "Lovertits" (2000)
  • Peaches EP (2000)
  • "Set It Off" (2001, 2002) #36 UK
  • "Rock Show" (2003)
  • "Operate" (2003)
  • "Kick It" (featuring Iggy Pop) (2004) #39 UK
  • "Shake Yer Dix" (2006) (Download Single)
  • "Downtown" (2006) #50 UK
  • "Boys Wanna Be Her" (2006)

  • The song "Fuck the Pain Away" was used in a scene in the film Lost in Translation in which Bob and Charlotte, the two main characters, find themselves in a strip club. It was also featured in Jackass Number Two, in the Old Man Balls scene and in the horror film My Little Eye.
  • "Operate" is played during the Halloween house party scene in the film Mean Girls. It also appears in Waiting...and during a wet t-shirt contest in the episode "Nevada State" of Las Vegas.
  • She performed the song "I U She" on season two of The L Word, in the episode titled "L'Chaim". The same song appeared on the show's season two soundtrack.
  • "Boys Wanna Be Her" was played at the end of the fourth episode of season 4 of The L Word. It also was played in the Ugly Betty episode "Dont Ask, Dont Tell".
  • The Gap used the song "Do Ya" in their Fall 2006 TV ad campaign.
  • On The Mighty Boosh Live DVD, Bollo is singing "Fuck the Pain Away" in the tribute song to Naboo.
  • "You Love It" was played at the ending of the CSI: New York season 3 episode "Oedipus Hex".
  • Peaches' "Kick It" with Iggy Pop is on the soundtrack for Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition.

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