“Peach Tree Rascals” is a rising group of stars with Filipino, Mexican and Palestinian influences. They release bright music full of light and pop. Their music has been attracting attention, as they are recognized by Spotify and gain fans of their songs “Mariposa” and “Mango.” Their love of making music translates into the excitement their evergrowing fanbase has for their sound and style. “Peach Tree Rascals” is a collective of musicians who are constantly gaining more and more attention, and with good reason. There is something special about their sound and energy of what they create. “Peach Tree Rascals” produces pure sunshine. I got the chance to catch up with the group to discuss what’s behind the light.
Please could start by identifying your names and what role you have in the band.
Issac Pech (IP) – Rapper / Writer
Dominic Pizano (DP) – Producer / Writer / Singer
Jorge Olazaba (JO) – Creative Director
Joseph Barros (JB) – Writer / Singer
Tarrek Abdel-Khaliq (TA) – Writer / Singer
Your music is very bright and sunny, do you ever want to focus on darker sounds and themes?
Not really, a few of our songs are more on the slower/gloomy side. I think the theme that shines through both our sunny and darker sounding songs is optimistic sadness. -IP
When it comes to making music the only thing we focus on is making something great and timeless. -TAK
Do you ever feel any pressure to exclusively make happy music?
I don’t make the music, but from a branding perspective I would say that in a sense I do feel a strange sort of pressure. Everyone is putting out so much sad, dark stuff it almost seems like the easy choice. It’s for sure easier for me to create a sad video. For me, having to transition to the bright and happy visuals to match the mood of the music has been has been a fair challenge. -JO
How do you maintain your sunny sound?
I think for us it’s been creating a sonic sound that is unique to PTR. It just so happens that that sound is more happy/optimistic, so regardless of the story behind each song, there tends to be a feeling of optimism. Everyone is out there trying to chase the next sad song, why can’t we be making music that’s the opposite of that? – DP
What is your story behind making music?
For me personally, I grew up wanting to be a singer because I was attached to and inspired by American Idol. But I never started writing and recording seriously until I met Issac and watched him make his own songs in his bedroom. First few projects I recorded were some pretty cringe worthy attempts of me trying to rap like Eminem and logic as a product of free-styling all the time with Issac. My senior year I started focusing more on my singing when I signed up for choir and my teacher believed in me and my voice. Then working with Dom we were able to figure out how to use my voice to create something special. -TAK
How did you all come to be a group?
After moving to San Jose in the middle of my freshman year of high school, I met and became best friends with Tarrek, Dom and Joseph during junior year. I had been rapping for a few years and would show them songs whenever we hung out. As time went on they would come over whenever I would record and started being more interested and involved the music. The group began to shape once Dom decided he wanted to pick up producing and do it for the rest of his life. Dom and I bought a 10×10 shed and with the help of his dad, built it in his backyard. After a few months of Dom in the shed, Joseph and Tarrek started contributing consistently and we began to form a sound. Jorge came into the picture thanks to a mutual follower we had on Twitter. I asked and offered him money to do the cover to one of my singles in 2016 and he did it for free. We became great friends and he became one of the most essential parts of the team and our inner group of friends. We continued to work for months until we had a list of songs we were confident. – IP
When did you know that making is what you wanted to do?
I realized making music was something I wanted to do during a time where I didn’t really have a direction in my life. I was blindfolded going through each day without a purpose. That was until Dom invited me to the shed to make music. I never had the confidence to make music, but I told myself “what’s the worst that could happen?” I had no idea what was going to happen, but we ended up making a pretty solid song that day. I remember Dom talking to me about how much he believed in me and his vision. His words carried a whole lot of weight which gave me more confidence. That was when it all clicked and the rest was history -JB
What inspires your music?
I big part of what I write about is life in San Jose. I think looking back to life there compared to where we are headed gives you great perspective. We might not come from a lot, but we’ve always made the best of every situation and the resources we have available. – TAK
What made you want to include different mediums of music in your songs? Is this important to you as artists?
We each bring something completely different to the table, whether it’s writing, rapping, singing, etc. It only made sense for us to find a way to blend our style and influences to create a unique sonic palette I think it’s important as a group to showcase our strong suits and if that means focusing on one aspect or all aspects in a song to make it amazing, that’s what we do. -DP
What’s next for you as a group?
We’re in the process of deciding what partners we want to work with on our music moving forward. We have an exciting lineup of music to rollout next year, with of course visuals. We’re most excited about getting on the road. We’re putting together a special show for fans and can’t wait to play it live. – DP
Feature image courtesy of Peach Tree Rascals’ team at Fancy PR
