How Peaches Gives Dan Levy’s ‘Big Mistakes’ a Queer Thrill

Dan Levy as Nicky in Episode 107 of Big Mistakes.

Dan Levy in 'Big Mistakes.' Spencer Pazer/Netflix Logo text

If you were ever wondering what Big Mistakes and Schitt’s Creek creator Dan Levy’s life would sound like, it’s Peaches.

“Peaches has been the soundtrack to the majority of my life,” he told The Hollywood Reporter while discussing the release of his new Netflix series. “From a very young age in my 20s when I was going and seeing her in Toronto at small clubs, she’s been on most of the playlists I’ve put together for a lot of the things I’ve written.”

Levy could have chosen to keep the prolific queer electroclash artist, who he describes as having a lawless sound, a massive but largely unspoken source of inspiration. Instead, he turned to her to score Big Mistakes.

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“She was the only person I wanted from the beginning, before we even cast it. She was in the early playlist of just simply writing the show,” he explains. “I was finding myself going back to her music, going back to some of the playlists that she put together and really responding to the sonic world that she lives in. She has a sense of humor. She’s self-aware, all of the qualities that I wanted this show to feel like.”

Levy would reach out to the Canadian musician and producer, whose three-decade-long career has seen her collaborate with everyone from M.I.A. to John Malkovich, after cutting the show’s first episode. It was accompanied by a “lovely little note begging” — and she said yes.

“I’ve never done scoring before or anything like it. But Dan’s been a longtime fan and really felt like the spirit of my music and what I do would fit this show,” Peaches told THR in an interview before the series released.

This is the first time the boundary-pushing artist scored a series, working alongside co-composer Nora Kroll Rosenbaum, but she and her music are no stranger to film or TV soundtracks. Peaches’ music has been featured everywhere from The L Word, Mean Girls and Lost in Translation to South Park, The Handmaid’s Tale and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.

But this was different. Peaches was asked to create her signature sound of which her voice is a distinguishable, essential element — without uttering a word. It was a new opportunity to discover how to infuse her identity through the music.

“I’ve had to find a way to express without my voice, which is challenging and great, and also a little out of my comfort zone. But the point of the actual Big Mistakes is about being out of your comfort zone. I think we all felt that way. We felt, ‘Let’s get out of our comfort zone and go,’” says the artist, who released her first album in 10 years, No Lube So Rude, in February. “Dan always says, ‘Your voice is there. There’s a scream in every episode because of the theme music.’”

Taylor Ortega as Morgan with Dan Levy as Nicky in Big Mistakes. Courtesy of Netflix

The process paired Peaches and Rosenbaum, neither of whom had ever worked together before. “I wish I knew her my whole life. She’s so amazing and it was so great working with her. It was kind of like a blind date. That’s how it felt coming into the show because I know Dan’s work and nothing had felt quite like this.”

“The two of them brought out the best in each other. I think the score is one of the crucial elements that sets this show apart from the rest,” Levy says. “What makes Peaches so fantastic is there is a lawlessness to the way she operates in entertainment. She doesn’t give a fuck what anyone thinks or believes. She is like, ‘Take it or leave it. This is who I am.’ Not just from a musical standpoint, but almost the entire package and visual show.”

According to Peaches, that’s what Levy asked her to translate into the show’s sound. “He wanted me as a disruptor. The music is a disruptor. It’s the motivator for their bad decisions, their big mistakes. It’s pushing them into these areas and saying, ‘Yeah, go for it. Do this. Let’s go.’ Like the id and the ego,” she explains.

“Dan made it very specific that he didn’t want things to fade out. He wanted them to be just cut — when you’ll have maybe 10 seconds of music, but it won’t fade out. Insatead, it’s about finding this point where it wakes you up and out of it. That was the assignment. Also, don’t be traditional, giving in to the emotions with a violin or to echo the sentiment. It’s keeping up the thrill ride.”

That thrill ride, Peaches notes, was defined by three emotional auras. “The big keyword for Nora and I was “thrill” because it’s like a thrill ride. Are you on the upside of the thrill ride or down? It’s the constant thrill. Sometimes it’s more heightened, either from a moment of revelation thrill or a moment of getting out of your comfort zone, or it’s complete terror.”

Levy and Ortega in Big Mistakes. Spencer Pazer/Netflix

Alongside the rollercoaster effect shaping the show’s musical journey, Peaches is famous for her genderbending, queer musical vision, which she also embraced within the series’ score.

“Queerness always has an authenticity to it. I think about every seminal moment in history, be it music, be it architecturally, it all goes back to queerness and then gets watered down and shifted and becomes very mainstream,” she says. “In my case, you don’t have to call it electroclash or indie sleeze or whatever — but the rough, very queer sound that turned into EDM. I’m very conscious not to make it that kind of sound that would telegraph to me not having the personality it needs and the power of queerness.”

The process of composing for the entire series was an “all gut” experience she tells THR, and one that allowed her and Levy to take a big leap. “I feel so proud of the work that she’s done, if I can even express pride,” Levy tells THR. “But she should be really, really thrilled because she’s just crushed it.”

See the entire tracklist from the Big Mistakes score below; season one is now streaming on Netflix.