Canadian-born, sometime Berlin resident Merril Beth Nisker, aka Peaches, has fans obsessed with her crotch, has had a song featured in 'Lost in Translation', recorded a duet with Iggy Pop and even introduced a new word to the English language. New album 'Impeach my Bush' is here to challenge, educate and encourage. It even features a song that can be played on the radio...

The 'Trash Companion Volume One' features a live performance of 'Rock Star' by Peaches at London's "premiere alternative clubnight" in 2001. And I was there. Genuinely I was. Being a fan of Chilly Gonzales at the time I had to check out his compadre and label-mate. It was completely insane. A Jewish lady in her mid-30s thrusting in pink PVC hotpants with, shall we say, a 70s-style bikini line and people fighting to take shots of this momentous occasion. In the words of the lady herself: "It was so goddamn packed that the makeshift stage was the size of a coffee table, bouncers stood in front of the stage at seven feet tall and Mignon and I had to climb on them throughout the show so that we could get up close and personal on the crowd's ass."

Her first album, entitled 'The Teaches of Peaches', sounds like it cost about a dollar to produce and is total, utter filth. The opener 'Fuck the Pain Away' was, for obvious reasons, never played on the radio but hear it in a club and it would get people thrusting like their lives depended on it. It was featured in 'Lost in Translation' as the soundtrack to Bill Murray's bemusement at watching a lady pole-dancing inches from his face. "The (audience) doesn't want to have sex with me, necessarily, they just want to have sex ...I see myself more as a conduit for sex. In the middle of one show, my sound guy grabbed his girlfriend and went to the bathroom to fuck." In the words of Miss Hilton, now that's hot.

"When I opened for Bjork and played 'Fuck the Pain Away'", she recalls, "there were 17, 000 people there and I couldn't believe how many knew the lyrics and sang along! People have told me, "you'll never get that song on the radio, or TV," but it's amazing how many know it. If people want the music, they're gonna get it."

Her second album not only features her bearded visage on the front but is entitled 'Fatherfucker'. That particular title could have scared people away but Peaches isn't in it for the shock factor. "In the "Peaches" way," she explains, "I'm not one to shy away from controversial words, I just turn them around to my liking. It really was the best title; all the machismo versus libido versus femininity ...it just seemed to fit and take it to a new level."

And the story behind that particular title? "Why do we call our mothers motherfuckers? Why do we stub our toe and say "Aww, motherfucker?" What is 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." Interesting theory, shame it doesn't seem to have been inducted into popular use since the album's release.

Single, and standout track 'Kick It' is a collaboration with the snake-hipped one - Iggy Pop. What was it like to work with the man himself? "Iggy and I had just met at one of his surprise performances at the Short List Awards in LA. I played the night before and I just happened to be there and I was like "oh, can I come tomorrow night?" So I did, and then I told him to come and see me play in Miami after his performance was, again, blowing me away like always. He actually did show up at my show and had my album and said it was great and was waiting for the live show and loved the live show. I really, really enjoyed meeting him. Later he called me and told me that he took 'Rock Show' and sang over it and said, "I want to put it on my album," so I said, "OK, then you have to be on mine," and he said, "OK, write us something." So I actually wrote the whole thing. I got to basically direct his parts and say, "hey Iggy, sing it like this."

I wanted to debunk the myths that I'm only about sex, which I'm sure most people get already, because it's really about the big blanket of sex in terms of gender and all kinds of things, not just sucking and fucking. In the Iggy track, I wasn't like, "hey Iggy, you got a big one, wanna fuck me?" It was more like going back and forth and really just rock n' roll. I also got to be the guitar player, which was really exciting."

And he returned the favour? "Yeah, I was also featured on his album. I have a band with Chilly Gonzales and Taylor Savvy - a backing band. We only do rock riffs. That rock band is older than Peaches, but it still goes on. When we play it's really quite intense and fun. Iggy asked me, "do you have any more songs for my album?" I sent him a few tracks and he used one of those too."

Now that you are in the same league with these superstars, do you find yourself at all starstruck? "With Iggy Pop and definitely (director) John Waters. Oh my god, meeting him I was like so nervous. He was so nice. He was just like, "oh get out of your dressing room and come meet my friends." With Matthew Barney, I was pretty starstruck too; he was on the Bjork tour. I was like "rraaooawoa," but he's totally cool. You meet people in the right context and then it’s fine."

How did the collaboration with (former Notion cover star) Pink come about? "(After getting an initial offer from Britney) I thought, "what can I write for her that they're not gonna water down?" But when Pink approached her to contribute an intro rap to 'Oh My God', she jumped at the chance. "She said, "this needs you on it!" I was psyched. So I wrote some raps and we did a little thing together and I'm really happy about it. She's not afraid to be sexy and raw; she's not a puppet like some people think."

You've opened for possibly the widest variety of singers and bands ever. How do you deal with harsh reactions and heckling from audiences? "It's cool. I mean, I really feel like Lenny Bruce in those situations. You really find out where people are at when you're putting your way out there. I actually feel really good heckling my audiences. It usually doesn't happen in my audiences; it happens when I open for other people. Like when I opened for Queens of the Stone Age, someone shouted, "get off the stage, gay man," or "you suck!" and I'm like, "yeah, and I swallow," and they're like, "oh, she just got you at your own game buddy." I turn them round right there. So, it's important for me to do that. But I must say I didn't get blazingly high or drunk before I opened for them because I really wanted to be able to come back, because I knew it wasn't my audience. I had to be doubly on top of things. When I opened for Bjork, it was because she wanted me to, not because some agency said, "oh, it's good for Peaches' career," or whatever. So I did and then her audiences were really tough, too - they wanted their little angel, and rightly so. She's amazing, you know? I was upsetting them; they were screaming at me, "shut up!" Of course there is always the half that is totally into it, giving signs like "I love you." So, it's not all negative, and that's the point, that it's positive and negative. People are actually having a reaction, that's important."

Is the name Peaches taken from the song 'Four Women' by Nina Simone? "I don't think that I'm a black slave or something like that, but it was just because at the end of the song, she sings, "what do they call her, they call her Peaches!" and the way she said it was just so raw and so pure and energetic; I was like sing it to me. So I changed my name so she'd be singing it to me."

'Impeach my Bush' is Ms Nisker's third album. Some of the people who make appearances on this album include Joan Jett, Josh Homme, the Gossip's Beth Ditto, Samantha Maloney (formerly drummer with Hole) and her one-time roommate, Leslie Feist. The title leads you to think Peaches has cleaned up her act and gone all political on our asses but that couldn't be further from the truth.

'Two Guys For Every Girl' is her reaction to hearing approximately a zillion songs about guys and their fantasy of two women. Peaches, aided and abetted by Beth Ditto on chorus vocals, turns that on its head, "I wanna see you do your little nasty brother." 'Boys Wanna Be Her' is an electro AC/DC track about a girl rocker that everyone wants.

Samantha Maloney is onboard to play drums as one quarter of Peaches' new live band. The line-up is completed by ex-Courtney Love guitarist Radio Sloan and JD Samson from Le Tigre on keytar and sequencing. This will be the first band she has ever toured with and means the Peaches live experience will be even more of a sheer rock n' roll free for all.

The first single to be released from the album is 'Downtown'. Lauren Laverne played it on her breakfast show on XFM and a handful of listeners called into ask why she was playing the kind of pop tripe on her show that belongs on Capital FM. Oh, if only they knew.

'IMPEACH MY BUSH' IS AVAILABLE NOW THROUGH XL RECORDINGS. SEE PEACHES LIVE AT THE CARLING WEEKENDER.

WORDS: LYNSEY HOSKINS