Music doesn’t come more fierce than Peaches. She’s upfront and arrogant, a full frontal, full on electroclash musician known for subverting the norm and appearing on stage with hairy armpits and an even hairier bikini line. Four albums later, and it’s apparent she traffics in sexually explicit lyrics and extreme subversion… even if she doesn’t see that herself.
‘I didn’t mean to, it fell upon me,’ Peaches said of her role as subverter, speaking on the phone from her now hometown, Berlin. Throughout the interview you can hear power-walking through the streets of the once Eastern Block, and more than once her mobile completely drops out.
‘I don’t feel as though what I do is subversive,’ she added. ‘I feel like I’ve become standard. I’ve always said the mainstream should move closer to me, that I am what the mainstream should be: man, woman, open minded, fearless and resourceful. Those are very important things to be, especially in these times. I have set the standards and they have become the standards.’
She’s used to messing around with gender roles, citing how she set the scene years ago for the more recent rumours surrounding artists like Lady Gaga and that bump. But it’s when she takes ownership of the big basslines and rap sections – something Deborah Harry was doing way back when Peaches was still drama teacher Merrill Nisker – that you get a glimpse into the all consuming cockiness of the Peaches persona. But still, it’s a persona you can’t help but love.
‘The first album (The Teaches of Peaches) was the album that defined me because I did everything on it myself. At that time it was still very unprecedented to have bedroom recordings that were giving a new sound. But I made that album without recording it on a computer.
‘The second album (Fatherfucker) I worked on expanding gender roles. The third album (Impeach My Bush) became more like a revolution, you know, with what I was talking about. I got to collaborate with people in the actual music making. And now, how I’ve developed, is that first of all I have a secret weapon in that I’m actually a singer. I’ve waited three albums to sing.
‘I knew that if I sung then everything would’ve been for nothing, because it would have been easier for people to just click to a pretty voice. But now, because I’ve made these albums and developed my hardcore personality I thought it important to push myself so I decided to get rid of the guitars because I’ve been DJing more and can now show off my secret weapon.’
And it’s this new opus, I Feel Cream, that is potentially her best work to date. Bombastic basslines mix it up beside more vulnerable numbers like Talk To Me and Lose You.
‘There’s definitely been some shock with people not knowing I could sing,’ Peaches added before the phone dropped out a final time, ‘but this has been the album I’ve had the least negative comment toward. Not that that matters. I’m doing what I want. I’m developing. If I wanted to do an experimental noise album next I would… and I’m sure the fans would like it.’
Fans of Peaches are sure to love the DJ set she will be issuing forth at Capitol on Wednesday September 16, a night she promises will be a ‘hot sweaty party’. Tickets are available now. www.bocsticketing.com.au
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