Before Lady Gaga. Before Amanda Palmer went solo. Before their Map of Tasmania went famous, Peaches was smashing female stereotypes all over the place. Peaches is Merrill Nisker, a Canadian musician raised by a Jewish family who even taught music and drama in a Jewish school before becoming a performer in her own right.
She’s been releasing music for 20 years and as she hits Groovin’ the Moo this month, we get to see her do her live show, which by all accounts, is an experience to behold!
My first memories of her was Set It Off from her first album, The Teaches of Peaches, but this tune, with Iggy Pop still stands out to me as my favourite. Punishing, honest, harsh stuff. I love the riff and the clip ain’t so bad either. Doing the zombie thing before they were popular!
If you haven’t heard Peaches before and you’re going to GTM, check her out, or go to one of her sideshows. She is sex. She is raw. She is controversial. She is different and she is ultimately making music that challenges and polarises, but it’s great stuff. You’ll be surprised how many of her songs you actually know and how much she has influenced other female musicians out there.