Peaches (musician)

Merrill Beth Nisker (b. 1968; Toronto, Ontario, better known as Peaches, is an electronic musician. Her songs are mainly concerned with sex. She lives and works in Berlin. Before she became "Peaches", she was an uncertified private elementary school teacher and librarian. She plays almost all the instruments for her songs, programs her own electronic beats and produces her records.

Her songs have been featured in movies such as Mean Girls, Waiting, Jackass Number Two, My Little Eye and Lost in Translation. Her music has also been featured on Showtime's The L Word television series. 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". She has been invited to lecture at the Contemporary Music Academy in Berlin.

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

Notable Themes
Peaches' music is preoccupied with gender identity. 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, rejecting the sanitized portrayal of women in popular music.

Albums

 * Fancypants Hoodlum (1995, as Merrill Nisker)
 * The Teaches of Peaches (2000)
 * The Teaches of Peaches: Expanded [Re-Release w/Bonus Disc] (2002)
 * Fatherfucker (2003)
 * Impeach My Bush (2006) #168 US, #98 CAN

Singles/EPs

 * 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
 * Downtown (2006) #50 UK
 * Boys Wanna Be Her (2006)

Collaborations and Remixes

 * Contributed to the UNICEF benefit song "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?" in 2005.
 * Duet with Gonzales called "Red Leather".
 * Duet with P!nk called "Oh My God".
 * Played guitar and sang on the Chicks on Speed song "We Don't Play Guitars".
 * Has remixed tracks for Daft Punk ("Technologic"), Le Tigre ("TKO") and Basement Jaxx ("Get Me Off").
 * Collaborated with Karen O on a song titled "Backass" on the Jackass Number Two soundtrack.
 * Collaborated with Louie Austen on his song titled "Grab my shaft"
 * Collaborated with Iggy Pop on his 2003 album Skull Ring
 * Collaborated with fellow Canadian Mocky
 * Collaborated with Yoko Ono on Kiss Kiss Kiss on Ono's 2007 Yes, I'm a Witch album.
 * Toured with Marilyn Manson in 2003 and sang the song Rock N Roll Nigger with him.

Soundtracks

 * 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. Spike Jonze produced Jackass Number Two and was married to Sofia Coppola during the production of Lost in Translation
 * "Operate" is played during the Halloween house party scene in the film Mean Girls. It also appears in Waiting...
 * 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.
 * "The Boys Want to Be Her" was played at the end of the fourth episode of season 4 of The L Word.
 * 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: NY season 3 episode Oedipus Hex.

Covers and Samples

 * Peaches covered Berlin's "Sex (I'm A)" as an extra track on the Teaches of Peaches Bonus Disc
 * Peaches and the band Electric Six are friends, and have each covered one of the other's songs; Peaches covered "Gay Bar" and Electric Six covered "Rock Show".
 * Peaches sampled Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" for the song "I Don't Give A Fuck."