Peaches Fulfills Teenage Fantasy With 'Peaches Christ Superstar'

Holger Talinski

2010 has been quite a year for Peaches. In addition to starring in her one-woman adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Jesus Christ Superstar' in Berlin (dubbed, of course, 'Peaches Christ Superstar'), the built-to-shock electro rapper and singer wrote and performed an original rock opera based on her own music. She also co-starred in her friend Chilly Gonzalez's movie 'Ivory Tower,' created an art installation out of things people have thrown her way onstage and rocked Art Basel Miami Beach with a laser light show.

"This year has been an insane, amazing creative year for me," Peaches tells Spinner. "To me, it's much more than music. Music is definitely the heart of it, but there's so much to explore."

Known for albums full of provocative, often explicit songs and hilariously volatile live performances, Peaches took a few minutes on the eve of the North American debut of 'Peaches Christ Superstar' to explain the importance of staying grounded and why she has mixed feelings about 'Glee.'

Where did the idea for 'Peaches Christ Superstar' come from?

When I was 15, somebody gave me the soundtrack and I quickly got obsessed with it. It was between a musical and prog rock and that was fascinating to me. It had no dialog whatsoever, just songs that revealed the whole story, so I really enjoyed listening to it and imagining the whole thing. I quickly started to learn it and I would sing along with it and I fantasized in my head, like, "Wouldn't it be cool one day to do the whole thing yourself?" But then I thought, "That's a completely ridiculous idea," and I didn't think about it again until a theater in Berlin approached me last year and said, "We'd like you to do a production at our theater." Right away, out of my mouth flew, "OK, how about 'Peaches Christ Superstar?'"


Is the show choreographed?

I'm just trying to really express the emotion in each of the characters without acting, but it does move me to do some movements and I do have a lighting person who's trying to find me to do cues. It's pretty much everything coming from my voice as opposed to a Peaches show, where I'm running all over the theater -- on people, over people, on the lights, you know.

How did your own rock opera, 'Peaches Does Herself,' come into being?

After I did 'Peaches Christ Superstar' in Berlin, the same theater asked me to do an original work, so I did my own opera called 'Peaches Does Herself,' which was based on 24 of my own songs. It was amazing that I could be able to tell a whole story, a fantastical story based on my own songs. That was a grand feat for me. I'd like to bring it to a central location where a lot of people can see it.

How much of the craziness at a Peaches show is spontaneous, and how much is planned out?

It's a bit of both. It's spontaneous and that spontaneity has spawned experience, let's say. I always jumped into the audience, and that turned into "I wonder if I could sing a whole song while I'm crowd surfing?" And that turns into, "I wonder if I could sing a whole song crowd surfing and spinning my body?" Then I'm like, "I wonder if I can stand up? I wonder if I can walk on people?" Now it's at the point where I put out my foot and people put their hands there.


You've cultivated this larger-than-life persona on stage. How do you stay grounded, and not go into Lady Gaga territory where you live it all the time?

I don't have a problem with that, really. I think I'm pretty grounded. Chalk it up to [the fact that] I'm a little older than her, or I trust myself and what I do when I do it is fine. You really have to be grounded or there is no ground -- and then it's over. People do get angry at me for being grounded, actually. After the show, they're like, "Why aren't you having sex with me right here and putting a vodka bottle all over me?" And it's just like, "Sorry, I just got it all out onstage."

On the subject of musicals, what do you think about 'Glee'?

Oh, God, I have such a crazy love/hate relationship with 'Glee.'

Why?

Well, I'm obsessed with karaoke. I love to do karaoke performances of like 'Total Eclipse of the Heart,' but 'Glee' has just done everything -- I don't know what to do. They're subversive, but they do it in such a clean way. It really screws with my head. [Laughs] It's really like 'High School Musical,' but it isn't. There's that bite underneath, and I almost don't know if I can handle the approach.