IASPM Conference Artist Bios

IASPM Canada Conference Artist Bios

DJ BETTI FORDE

Betti Forde has been deejaying across Canada and internationally for over twenty years. She’s been hand-picked to open for Frankie Knuckles, Diplo, Felix da Housecat, Peaches, Lady Miss Kier (Dee-lite), Derrick Carter, CSS, Chromeo, Stonebridge, Colette, Cyndi Lauper, and Larry Tee, as well as headlining Pride celebrations all over North America and holding down residencies at Canada’s most legendary clubs including Celebrities in Vancouver and The Phoenix in Toronto. A true party-rocker, Betti takes the party from house to hip-hop, disco to funk, retro to future, and everything in between, but her true individuality as a DJ lies in her eclectic and impeccable taste in music and her intense presence and ability to connect with the crowd. Betti is also a critically acclaimed MC and singer, having been 1/3 of the legendary electro-hip-hop group Stink Mitt. Recently, she has delved into producing music and is delighted to have done an official remix of Peaches’ “Dick in the Air”. When she’s not rocking the decks or the mic, Maren is an Assistant Professor of Arts and Cultural Management at MacEwan University. 

DJ KOOKUM

Cheyanna Kootenhayoo AKA Kookum is a DJ and multi media maker from the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, and Cold Lake First Nations, their maternal Denesuline traditional territory. Based out of Vancouver, BC, Kookum has been making a name for their self across the country and is no stranger in the community. 

Kookum is an open format DJ inspired by EDM and Hip Hop music. This diverse-mix-diva is a force on the decks and always keeps the party hype, fresh, and unpredictable.

Kookum tours nationally and internationally with the Snotty Nose Rez Kids. Holds down weekly DJ residencies. Facilitates videography and DJ workshops, operates sound and lighting for community dance parties, and works with youth as a DJ mentor. You can also catch DJ Kookum performing virtually for online festivals, curating online events, hosting online workshops, making beats in the studio, and selling merchandise on their online store.
 
Kookum has been a video editor for just over 10 years editing television, documentaries and promotional videos. Kookum is also the music supervisor for the children’s television series called Coyote Science and hosts the Immersive Knowledge Transfer Podcast produced by the Indigenous Matriarchs 4 Media Lab. 

EEKWOL

Lindsay “Eekwol” Knight is half nehiyaw (a status member of Muskoday First Nation) and half settler(Russian) with a lived experience as an urban Indigenous person in Treaty Six Territory. She/her is an award-winning hip-hop performing artist and activist who has dedicated years to the culture and craft of hip-hop to create something unique and astounding to give back to the community. Eekwol uses her music and words to spread messages of resistance and revolution and keep Indigenous language, land, and culture alive for the next generations. Through her original sound, she displays her activist roots by living and creating as a supporter of hip-hop and Indigenous culture and rights. 

Along with her own creative work, she is frequently invited to work with musicians and young people across the country as a mentor and helper.  She achieves this through performances, workshops, speaking events, conferences and programs. 

In 2024 she has just released her 7th solo album called TMRWS.

PEACHES

PEACHES is an iconic feminist musician, producer, director, and performance artist, Peaches has spent more than two decades pushing boundaries and breaking barriers, dramatically altering the landscape of popular culture as she forged a bold, sexually progressive path that’s opened the doors for countless others to follow. Through music, art, film, theater, television, and books, she has upended stereotypes and embraced taboos, challenging social norms and patriarchal power structures while championing LGBTQIA+ rights and issues of gender and sexual identity with biting wit and fearless originality.

She first catapulted to international stardom with her “surreally funny [and] nasty” (Rolling Stone) 2000 debut, The Teaches of Peaches, an album which upended stereotypes and embraced taboos as it introduced the world to Peaches’ raunchily explosive persona. Since then, she’s released four more critically acclaimed albums prompting the New York Times to dub her a “genuine heroine” and Uncut to rave that she brings together “high art, low humor, and deluxe filth [in] a hugely seductive combination.” In addition to collaborating with everyone from Daft Punk and The Flaming Lips, to P!nk, and Yoko Ono her music has been honored with the prestigious Polaris Heritage Prize, and been featured in cultural watermarks like Lost In Translation, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Broad City, and studied at universities around the world. An equally prolific visual and performance artist, Peaches has directed over twenty of her own videos, curated a stunning book of Holger Talinski photographs documenting her life on and off the road, and participated in some of modern art’s most prominent gatherings, including Art Basel Miami and the Venice Biennale. In 2010, she unveiled Peaches Does Herself, an electro-rock opera spanning material from throughout her career that was arranged into a loosely autobiographical narrative. It morphed into a film of the same title, which premiered at the TIFF in 2012 before traveling to more than 70 festivals around the world. Peaches continued her foray into theater with a one-woman production of Jesus Christ Superstar, reimagined as Peaches Christ Superstar, which continues to be performed at theaters and festivals globally and was featured in 2016 as part of the Kammerspiele Munich repertoire. Ever eclectic, she sang the title role in a Berlin production of Monteverdi’s epic 17th-century opera L’Orfeo and joined forces with Yoko Ono on a recreation of her iconic 1964 performance Cut Piece at the 2013 Meltdown Festival in London. Ono later said that Cut Piece will never be performed again with such eloquence,” adding “I have a clear vision of future women artists led by the creative courage of Peaches.”

In 2019, Peaches starred as Anna in the Staatstheater Stuttgart’s new adaptation of Brecht/Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins and launched her first institutional solo art exhibition that premiered at the Kunstverein in Hamburg entitled Whose Jizz Is This? At the Kampnagel Summer Festival, Peaches’ futuristic stage happening There’s Only One Peach With The Hole In The Middle celebrated its world premiere. This production featured 16 dancers, a 12-piece orchestra, special guests, and a fully redesigned stage and light extravaganza. There’s Only One Peach… played at Royal Festival Hall (London, UK), Musikhuset Aarhus (Aarhus, DK), and Volksbühne (Berlin, DE). Peaches only continues to break new ground. In 2020 her seminal album The Teaches of Peaches turned 20, which NPR says fundamentally “shifted the window for sex in pop.” In a viral moment, Dave Grohl & Greg Kurstin’s 2020 Hanukkah Sessions sparked delight with a Grohl/Peaches duet of “Fuck the Pain Away.” She released the kinetic “Flip This,” which Rolling Stone said “challenges status quo and calls for systemic change.” 2021 saw her influence only further manifest. Peaches released the delightfully subversive “Pussy Mask.” “The perfect release” (Paper) was hailed by critics, including Stereogum who said it “combines her inimitable political critique, ribald wordplay, and enveloping electro.” She was also cited as the main inspiration for designer Anthony Vaccarello’s AW21 Saint Laurent collection, and “Fuck the Pain Away” was used as a climactic moment in Netflix’s Sex Education Season 3. She celebrated the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade with friends Cyndi Lauper, Nona Hendyrx, Linda Perry, and others on Amanda Shires’ “Our Problem.” 

Peaches launched The Teaches of Peaches Anniversary Tour in 2022, a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Peaches’ seminal album The Teaches of Peaches. It was met with sold-out audiences across North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom. Peaches extended the successful run to Australia and New Zealand starting in February 2023. In 2023, Peaches starred in Rick Owens’ Converse campaign and composed music for Owens’ Paris Fashion Week runway show, showcasing her multifaceted talents beyond the stage. Additionally, she embarked on a series of performances with LCD Soundsystem. Notably, Peaches and Shirley Manson collaborated to reinterpret Marianne Faithfull’s provocative track “Why’d Ya Do It” for The Faithful: A Tribute to Marianne Faithfull, showcasing her versatility and artistry across different genres and mediums. 

This year, farbfilms verleih and MAGNETFILMS will release Teaches of Peaches, a documentary filmed during 2022’s The Teaches of Peaches Anniversary Tour. Debuting in Berlinale’s Panorama category, the Teddy Award winning documentary seamlessly weaves together exclusive archival gems with dynamic tour footage capturing the transformative journey of Canadian Merrill Nisker into the internationally acclaimed cultural powerhouse Peaches. From the inception of the stage show to the rigorous rehearsals and riveting performances, the film provides an intimate look at the inner workings of a tour led by this beloved and globally celebrated icon. Peaches is currently working on a brand-new album, with more details to come. 

QUANAH STYLE

Quanah Style is Canada’s most infamous two-spirit trans artist, hailing from the Cree nation. Star of “Quanah TransOp” on Wow Presents and season 2 of “Canada’s a Drag” on CBC, she recently shot her first feature film role in a movie called “Broken Angel,” and is in production on a few new TV projects slated for later this year.

One part fearless ClubKid and another part powerhouse entertainer, Ms. Style has blazed a train from coast to coast. From Vancouver to Toronto & LA, she has garnered attention and few dance floors haven’t felt her presence. From her outfits and makeup to her music and show-stopping performances, Quanah has proven she is a force to be reckoned with as a groundbreaking artist. Her debut album was listed as Billboard’s top 10 dance albums of 2020.

She has opened for Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Hallucination, Peaches, Bif Naked and more.

SADIE HAWKINZ

Sadie Hawkinz is a femme punk trio from Regina, SK. Inspired by 90’s grunge and riot grrrl, their aggressive girl punk is an unfiltered reflection of femininity, misogyny, and identity. Get loud, get angry, and remember– SADIE HAWKINZ IS THE UGLIEST GIRL IN TOWN. 

SUNSET EMBASSY

Sunset Embassy kicks out urban prairie rock jams with sounds from the 80’s/90’s vibing on today’s feelings. These ambassadors of the setting sun surround you like the valley with hot summer guitar licks and dreamy cool evening echoes.

Sunset Embassy pulls inspiration from strong women and seeks to diversify the music scene in Saskatchewan and beyond. The band is fronted by two Indigenous women: Anishinabe guitar player and songwriter Jori Cachene (she/her), and Cree vocalist Sophie Littlechief Carteri (she/her), and is rounded out by three queer musicians: bassist Charity Marsh (she/her), keyboardist Jaecy Bells (she/her), and drummer Collette Parks (they/them).

Based in Treaty 4 Territory aka Regina, Saskatchewan, Sunset Embassy delivers music to dodge potholes to. Formed at GRR! music camp in 2019 out of dreams of forever.

IASPM Conference Artist Bios was last modified: September 25th, 2024 by Charity Marsh