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| Peaches: ‘My video is not porn. It’s an incredible piece of work’ | Peaches: ‘My video is not porn. It’s an incredible piece of work’ |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| Hi Peaches! It’s been six years since you last released an album. What have you been up to? | Hi Peaches! It’s been six years since you last released an album. What have you been up to? |
| So in 2010, I stopped touring I Feel Cream, then a theatre asked me to do a production, so I said I wanted to do Jesus Christ Superstar. Then they asked for a larger production, and Peaches Christ Superstar did a little tour in the States. Then we made a movie, Peaches Does Herself, then all of a sudden I was presenting it around the world at all these festivals. I was asked to play the lead in my first-ever opera, called Orfeo. The main role is a male character who represents music. I don’t know Italian or read music, so I had to take six months to learn it. | |
| Now can you speak Italian? | Now can you speak Italian? |
| No! But I had to learn how to sing these melodies. Then in 2014 it was like, let’s get down to it. I had bought a little house in Los Angeles and it had a garage, and I fixed it up. And finally called my friend Vice Cooler. We spent 10 hours a day in my garage for a year making the album. | No! But I had to learn how to sing these melodies. Then in 2014 it was like, let’s get down to it. I had bought a little house in Los Angeles and it had a garage, and I fixed it up. And finally called my friend Vice Cooler. We spent 10 hours a day in my garage for a year making the album. |
| Do you split your time between LA and Berlin? | Do you split your time between LA and Berlin? |
| Yeah. There’s a lot going on in LA. There is a lot of rules, but when you come anywhere from Berlin you’re just like, are you kidding me? I can’t have this glass drink in my hand? I can’t stand over there after 1.45am cos there’s a school nearby? If I had it my way, I would hang out in LA in the day and in Berlin at night. | Yeah. There’s a lot going on in LA. There is a lot of rules, but when you come anywhere from Berlin you’re just like, are you kidding me? I can’t have this glass drink in my hand? I can’t stand over there after 1.45am cos there’s a school nearby? If I had it my way, I would hang out in LA in the day and in Berlin at night. |
| It’s quite a big commute. | It’s quite a big commute. |
| I think if you did it going from Berlin you could do it. You know, back in time. | I think if you did it going from Berlin you could do it. You know, back in time. |
| You’ve shot a video for every song on your new album, Rub. | You’ve shot a video for every song on your new album, Rub. |
| Right now it’s such a good time, not only to make whatever you want, but you can show it wherever you want. So with these videos, there’s nothing that will hold me back from saying or doing what I want. For the song Rub, I wanted to do a video with all women, in every aspect, from the electrician to the makeup artist. I wanted to have it Jodorowsky[1] style, where nudity is not for a male gaze but just a freeing feeling. So my first image was like ... I want girls spraying or squirting off rocks. | Right now it’s such a good time, not only to make whatever you want, but you can show it wherever you want. So with these videos, there’s nothing that will hold me back from saying or doing what I want. For the song Rub, I wanted to do a video with all women, in every aspect, from the electrician to the makeup artist. I wanted to have it Jodorowsky[1] style, where nudity is not for a male gaze but just a freeing feeling. So my first image was like ... I want girls spraying or squirting off rocks. |
| Right … | Right … |
| Cos I have a friend in Paris who told me that she and her friends go on her roof and squirt off it. I was like, that’s amazing. So that was the impetus for doing it. For the video Rub, everybody is pretty well naked, and we also had a lot of not just queer porn performers but body-art people. We did it in the desert in Joshua Tree and we managed to have all women, and three women directors. It was a crazy bliss. | Cos I have a friend in Paris who told me that she and her friends go on her roof and squirt off it. I was like, that’s amazing. So that was the impetus for doing it. For the video Rub, everybody is pretty well naked, and we also had a lot of not just queer porn performers but body-art people. We did it in the desert in Joshua Tree and we managed to have all women, and three women directors. It was a crazy bliss. |
| Did you notice a difference with it being an all-female set? | Did you notice a difference with it being an all-female set? |
| Yeah! I know it sounds silly but you have to confront whether something is a patriarchal thing, like is that a male patriarchal problem? But everybody was so blissed out, it was amazing. The video is very successful. There’s a lot of bush, a lot of things going on. But it’s not porn. It’s an incredible piece of work. | Yeah! I know it sounds silly but you have to confront whether something is a patriarchal thing, like is that a male patriarchal problem? But everybody was so blissed out, it was amazing. The video is very successful. There’s a lot of bush, a lot of things going on. But it’s not porn. It’s an incredible piece of work. |
| In the video for Light in Places, you have a performer called Empress Stah, who shoots lasers out of a buttplug. | In the video for Light in Places, you have a performer called Empress Stah, who shoots lasers out of a buttplug. |
| In that video we made an infinity box and you can only have two people in there, so I’d be in there with the DP[2], and this light swinging around in there. I love it. I’m really happy we shone a bit of a political light, like, see it another way. | |
| What’s the political light? | What’s the political light? |
| My same political rant, that people should feel comfortable in their bodies. | My same political rant, that people should feel comfortable in their bodies. |
| So much has changed in terms of gender, women, feminism and how we talk about sex since your first album. The Teaches of Peaches came out in 2000. Gay marriage is legal in the US now.Exactly, yeah. | So much has changed in terms of gender, women, feminism and how we talk about sex since your first album. The Teaches of Peaches came out in 2000. Gay marriage is legal in the US now.Exactly, yeah. |
| So if Rihanna is doing a mainstream pop song called S&M, for example, do you ever think, I did this first?[3] | So if Rihanna is doing a mainstream pop song called S&M, for example, do you ever think, I did this first?[3] |
| Well, my goal was always to bring that to the mainstream, although people would look at me crazy, like how could that ever be mainstream? It blows my mind. I’m not like, damn, what am I going to do now? To me, it’s great. It’s mainstream and I can celebrate it. | Well, my goal was always to bring that to the mainstream, although people would look at me crazy, like how could that ever be mainstream? It blows my mind. I’m not like, damn, what am I going to do now? To me, it’s great. It’s mainstream and I can celebrate it. |
| Did you ever expect it to go mainstream? | Did you ever expect it to go mainstream? |
| No. I was just like, god, our struggle. But you also have to be careful, and I’ve said this a lot lately, but things are growing exponentially in every direction. It’s like a dot in the middle and everything goes out. There’s more feminist discourse and there’s more post-gender visible, you know … but there’s also more Mormons and more Republicans and more gay Republicans, which is always very strange. But there’s still things like, for instance, I have a song on the album called Dumb Fuck. England has a problem not just with “fuck” but with “dumb fuck”. They don’t want to use that. | No. I was just like, god, our struggle. But you also have to be careful, and I’ve said this a lot lately, but things are growing exponentially in every direction. It’s like a dot in the middle and everything goes out. There’s more feminist discourse and there’s more post-gender visible, you know … but there’s also more Mormons and more Republicans and more gay Republicans, which is always very strange. But there’s still things like, for instance, I have a song on the album called Dumb Fuck. England has a problem not just with “fuck” but with “dumb fuck”. They don’t want to use that. |
| Who has a problem with it? | Who has a problem with it? |
| Radio will not play this song. I don’t know if this is the same as in the States, but there’s a double standard with hip-hop. One of the biggest songs this year is “I ain’t fuckin with you, you dumbass bitch”[4] . I love that song, don’t get me wrong. But that gets to be on the radio and I say “Dumb Fuck” and I can’t get that on the radio. | |
| Who is the dumb fuck? | Who is the dumb fuck? |
| It’s a bad relationship. It’s about that person being cowardly. | It’s a bad relationship. It’s about that person being cowardly. |
| I’m paraphrasing, but John Waters, who you once toured with, has said it’s harder and harder to shock people, because something like Jackass is just accepted as normal entertainment. Do you feel that way if you see Miley Cyrus with tape over her breasts? | I’m paraphrasing, but John Waters, who you once toured with, has said it’s harder and harder to shock people, because something like Jackass is just accepted as normal entertainment. Do you feel that way if you see Miley Cyrus with tape over her breasts? |
| You know, whatever. Tape over your tits. Which was started by Wendy O Williams, who was amazing. It’s all because of what we’ve all done, right? The thing is, that shouldn’t stop us from enjoying and celebrating and questioning and finding the new way. | You know, whatever. Tape over your tits. Which was started by Wendy O Williams, who was amazing. It’s all because of what we’ve all done, right? The thing is, that shouldn’t stop us from enjoying and celebrating and questioning and finding the new way. |
| So is pushing boundaries in the mainstream to be celebrated? | So is pushing boundaries in the mainstream to be celebrated? |
| Some people say they’re just using it as marketing, but they’re still out there. | Some people say they’re just using it as marketing, but they’re still out there. |
| Or people might say they’re bad role models. | Or people might say they’re bad role models. |
| Listen, kids find their role models. Kids come up to me and say, I found you when I was 12. Recently this boy told me he saw me opening up for Marilyn Manson ten years ago, but he was nine. His dad took him to Marilyn Manson, I opened up, and he said, no forget Marilyn Manson, it’s her! He’s in a band now. A great band. I don’t think we look for role models. I think they find us. You can’t tell a kid. It’s not going to stick if you say, you have to listen to Beethoven. Then it’s like, no, Rachmaninoff is my jam. | Listen, kids find their role models. Kids come up to me and say, I found you when I was 12. Recently this boy told me he saw me opening up for Marilyn Manson ten years ago, but he was nine. His dad took him to Marilyn Manson, I opened up, and he said, no forget Marilyn Manson, it’s her! He’s in a band now. A great band. I don’t think we look for role models. I think they find us. You can’t tell a kid. It’s not going to stick if you say, you have to listen to Beethoven. Then it’s like, no, Rachmaninoff is my jam. |
| I first saw you live in around 2002, during the whole electroclash scene. | I first saw you live in around 2002, during the whole electroclash scene. |
| Actually, electroclash was before its time. It was so queer and so out there that people couldn’t handle it, you know what I mean? So it died and became nu rave, which was more focused on fashion and it was straight. And then it became huge. I realised, whoa, they took everything good about electroclash and made it straight. | Actually, electroclash was before its time. It was so queer and so out there that people couldn’t handle it, you know what I mean? So it died and became nu rave, which was more focused on fashion and it was straight. And then it became huge. I realised, whoa, they took everything good about electroclash and made it straight. |
| It filtered down into pop eventually, too. | It filtered down into pop eventually, too. |
| I would say like when Britney Spears started to get all sexed up, like, um, I’m Britney Bitch, or even that one from a few years ago, “You want a Maserati? You want a hot body?”[5] That’s an ultimate electroclash song. And definitely Gaga was hanging around that electroclash scene seeing people like me play. I just think it’s amazing cos people are down on electroclash but it really has suckers. It influenced a lot. | I would say like when Britney Spears started to get all sexed up, like, um, I’m Britney Bitch, or even that one from a few years ago, “You want a Maserati? You want a hot body?”[5] That’s an ultimate electroclash song. And definitely Gaga was hanging around that electroclash scene seeing people like me play. I just think it’s amazing cos people are down on electroclash but it really has suckers. It influenced a lot. |
| Close Up is great. I love that you got Kim Gordon [6] on it. | Close Up is great. I love that you got Kim Gordon [6] on it. |
| She came in and did one take. I was a little nervous, I thought maybe it’s not her kind of music, but it was really a testament to her experience. There was no fear. I had even greater respect for her after that. Something exciting is going on outside … [Peaches is distracted.] Oh, they’re watching my video – the one with Margaret Cho [7]. I’m watching them blush now. | She came in and did one take. I was a little nervous, I thought maybe it’s not her kind of music, but it was really a testament to her experience. There was no fear. I had even greater respect for her after that. Something exciting is going on outside … [Peaches is distracted.] Oh, they’re watching my video – the one with Margaret Cho [7]. I’m watching them blush now. |
| What happens in this one? | What happens in this one? |
| I think we might be fucking a watermelon right now. We have these knitted naked suits but they’re male. Hers is yellow cos she’s Margaret “Asian” Cho and mine’s pink cos I’m white. I found these outfits so in the video we put them on and do things like go jogging. And we do a bunch of stuff. It’s fun! | I think we might be fucking a watermelon right now. We have these knitted naked suits but they’re male. Hers is yellow cos she’s Margaret “Asian” Cho and mine’s pink cos I’m white. I found these outfits so in the video we put them on and do things like go jogging. And we do a bunch of stuff. It’s fun! |
| Foot notes (1) Alejandro Jodorowsky, cult Chilean psychedelic film director | |
| (2) Director of photography | |
| (3) Some of Peaches’ most famous songs are Fuck the Pain Away, Shake Yer Dix, Lovertits and Diddle My Skittle | |
| (4) Big Sean’s very sweary hit I Don’t Fuck With You – we’re pretty sure it’s not played on daytime radio | |
| (5) 2013’s Work It | |
| (6) Sonic Youth’s iconic bass player | |
| (7) US standup and actor | |
| Peaches’s new single Light in Places is out now. The album Rub is due in September |
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