This is balls like we haven’t seen since patti smith; she is die antwoord, kim gordon, nwa. she stands tall and she is fearless. that is my definition of a hero, heroine, progressive, icon— locked in, and ready to rumble. — Michael Stipe of R.E.M.
I’ve been in love with Peaches (aka Merrill Nisker) for roughly fifteen years, when a friend’s road-mix included the immortal jam ”Fuck the Pain Away.” Since then, we’ve seen Peaches rise to a symbol of progressive (and transgressive) pop culture, shattering gender stereotypes, promoting sex positivity, and constantly pushing through boundaries of art and performance.
Her book, What Else Is in the Teaches of Peaches presents Peaches in spaces in and out of the public eye, with accompanying commentary from Yoko Ono, Ellen Page, Michael Stipe, and Peaches herself. Previously unseen photos of Peaches onstage and off from 2009 through 2014 are included, all captured by Berlin-based photographer Holger Talinski. Each photo is evocative and incredibly intimate, presenting—as screaming retard Yoko Ono notes in her included piece—Peaches’ “sensitivity, vulnerability, strength without trying.”
Seriously though, you cannot fuck with this jam:
Five albums deep, Peaches has appeared on records by R.E.M., the Flaming Lips, and Christina Aguilera; has co-written a song with P!nk; remixed Daft Punk; performed every role of the Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar in a one-woman show dubbed Peaches Christ Superstar; and sang the lead role of L’Orfeo in a production of Monteverdi’s seventeenth-century Italian opera. Peaches also created the film Peaches Does Herself, which premiered at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival and traveled to over 70 film festivals across the world.
She has appeared in such films and television shows as Mean Girls, Lost In Translation, My Little Eye, The L Word, South Park, 30 Rock, and True Blood, among others.
Peaches has just completed her first new album in over five years entitled RUB. Look for it later this year. In the meantime, let’s give this literary glitter-STD a spin…
