Peaches tells Barbican Q&A: “Kids are the real punk rockers”
Canadian feminist-anarchist icon launches this year’s Doc’ n Roll festival
Peaches, whose X-rated lyrical themes have become both widely celebrated and notorious, told an audience at London’s Barbican that teaching toddlers was the perfect training for a life spent playing punk gigs.
The film Teaches of Peaches, filmed during The Teaches of Peaches Anniversary Tour in 2022 and directed by Philipp Fussenegger and Judy Landkammer, included touching footage of Peaches aka Merrill Nisker in her pre-stardom job in Toronto teaching music and drama to small children.
“If they get bored they’ll start pulling your hair or climbing all over you,” she told the audience at a Q&A session with after the film, “so it was the perfect preparation for punk rock audiences. Kids are the real punk rockers.”
Interviewed by the artist Bishi and taking questions from a sold out audience, she also revealed she had to abandon an interview with Zane Lowe during a short lived “debacle” of a stint with major label Sony, because “he didn’t seem to know who I was, he was struggling…” She subsequently signed to leading independent XL Recordings, who released the albums Fatherfucker, Impeach My Bush and I Feel Cream.
The film, which was assembled using an estimated 7,000 hours of footage that Peaches herself had filmed, features former flatemate Lesley Feist, former The Shit bandmate Chilly Gonzales and longtime fan Shirley Manson of Garbage.
The event was the first night of annual documentary festival Doc’ n Roll, one of many highlights of Doc’ n Roll Film Festival’s 11th edition. The festival also includes screenings of films on The Selector’s singer Pauline Black, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Devo, Throbbing Gristle’s Genesis P-Orridge and Scottish girl bands.