Mit ihrem Song „Mariposa“ gingen sie im letzten Jahr viral, ihre Debüt-EP „Camp Nowhere“ ist ein zeitloser Genuss – die Peach Tree Rascals aus Kalifornien sind eine der spannendsten Kollektive auf dem Markt. Im Wortwechsel haben sie mit Anna über Camping, Ausgleich und Freundschaft gesprochen.
How did the release go?
Isaac: It was good to finally put it out because we had had it ready for like, damn near a year before releasing it so it kind of felt good for everyone else to feel those reactions that we felt while we’re making them. But as far as I’m concerned, like it’s more about what’s about to happen next.
The title „Camp Nowhere“ immediately led me to the topic of camping. All of our festivals here in Germany got canceled again, and I miss camping so much. So, tell me about your favourite camping experience!
Isaac: One of my favorites is when we climbed to the top of Vernal Falls in Yosemite. Me and Tarrek played catch across a waterfall with an 2021 feet elevation. So if one of us didn’t catch it, then the football would have falling off the cliff, and it’s like, and we couldn’t really lchase the ball because you might fall off the cliff. And, yeah, we lost the ball that day but it belongs to the wilderness now.
Prior to us even being a group and making music together, we went camping.
That sounds like scenes from a film. I definitely have to visit Yosemite when it’s possible again. So you guys do this camping thing on a regular basis?
Tarrek: It really is like a movie here.
Joseph: We always camp.
Isaac: Prior the pandemic I think the summer prior we went camping like five times.
Tarrek: Prior to us even being a group and making music together, we went camping. That was one of the things that connected us as friends: just going into Yosemite and camping and spending time in nature. I highly recommend visiting Yosemite! It’s unreal.
Joseph: When you’re sleeping, and you look up into the stars, you can see the Milky Way.
Tarrek: We’ve been connecting to camping for a long time and that’s one of the reason why we, are as down to earth as we are. Because whenever life gets too hectic or it gets too noisy and crowded, we get to escape and Yosemite is one of those main places.
During the pandemic last summer, it kind of pushed us to get out of the city and away from everything. We had to go to our safe place and we call it Camp Nowhere because it just felt like we were in the middle of everything and we had to escape and go somewhere in the middle of nowhere almost. To get into that zone where we can reconnect with the area, then with ourselves and, and move much more freely.
My family has a cabin house out there, that’s one of the places where we go to work and we just set up our studio there for like a couple of weeks. And do feel that energy in Camp Nowhere, just the free flowing down to earth and escaping from whatever it is that is holding you back, or weighing you down.
This sweet relief of not having to think about the everyday life for a bit.
Tarrek: You don’t think at all, you’re just there. You’re just alive and you feel the wind, feel the trees and feel that you can hear the birds you can see the deer, you’ll catch some bear out here, it’s crazy. It’s something else..
Dominic: I love turning off my phone while we’re out there.
Tarrek: There’s no service, even if you try. You don’t think about anything but the next step you’re going to take or the how incredible the view is and throwing a football and not trying to die. That’s it.
Wow that’s so sounds so beautiful and exactly what I could need right now. So, I need to find my own Camp Nowhere!
Tarrek: That’s one reason why like we ended up naming the EP „Camp Nowhere“ and not making it so specific. Because for us, it’s specifically Yosemite where we specifically go out there to escape. But for everyone else we want it to be just like that feeling that we get when we get there, anyone can get that anywhere.
…and it kind of made itself.
You released a lot of standalone singles in the last couple of years and now your debut EP. Was it any different for you working on a whole body of music rather than songs?
Isaac: It’s interesting because the way I remember those sessions, it felt like we were literally just making a bunch of songs, all over the place, and like, towards the end of the trip, you listen back to everything we made. Like you hear „OOZ“ and you hear „Change My Mind“ and it kind of made itself.
So you didn’t even plan to do it?
Tarrek: No. It kind of feels like we get trapped if we have an idea before, so every time we work, we just start with the chords and we just make music and then if it happens to like mesh together we get some standalone singles or songs that sound like they connect, then we put them together and that’s when we start to think about it. We try to go into making music as free and open as possible.
So I assume you don’t want to think about putting out an album in the near future? Because in the typical way, you put up some singles, then you put them onto it and EP with some new songs and then you say: okay now we’re at a point where we have to work on a full album to to fit into these ideals of the music industry.
Isaac: An album is always in the back of my mind in terms of where I want to be, what we want it to be. But as of right now we’re just continuously making songs, we’re gonna probably have a couple projects prior to the album just so we could raise our following and fight that lowering attention span that listeners have these days.
Tarrek: That was always the game plan, we weren’t trying to do it the traditional way. We wanted to release as many singles as possible until we had the following where a project would get the attention and recognition that deserves.
During the pandemic „Mariposa“ blew up on TikTok and gave us a platform, so we were able to start thinking about a bigger project. But like I said, we still just make a bunch of song, we’re focusing on these little projects because we have so much music. And one day, our goal for album is to try to get it on the charts and we’re trying to push until like, we can get there.
I think having a balance is extremely important because it keeps things in perspective.
You all live together, right? Do you have something like this good old work life balance that grown up people want to achieve or are you just constantly working on something?
Isaac: Right now we’re really zoned in on finding that balance, whereas like six months ago, maybe it was just making a bunch of music, and nothing else matters. I think having a balance is extremely important because it keeps things in perspective. But when it comes to making music, if you’re only focused on making the music and you’re not really paying attention to the outside world or in tune with your emotions regarding any type of subject matter, then the lyrics of the music don’t reflect where you’re truly at, and it’s very important for that to be shown.
Tarrek: Further than lyrics, when you find yourself just working on music, just focused on music, you want to get back into the real world for a little bit so you can find yourself again. Because it gets stressful and it gets clouded and everyday starts to feel the same, it gets repetitive. It’s not the way you want to go. I need to take a break, that balances super important.
When I read about you online and read about what other people wrote about you, I found that people really struggle to describe you and your music., And I wondered, what is the weirdest thing or the craziest thing you read about yourself?
Isaac: One time, a publication wrote that were from Oakland, but we’re really from San Jose.
Tarrek: I think Billboard tweeted that we were like one of the top five upcoming rock artists, and it was funny because, you know we have like little hints of rock in there, but we wouldn’t describe us as a rock artist.
Dominic: The next couple of days I kept yelling I’m a rock star.
It’s so strange what especially Americans describe as „Rock music“. When I look at the people that are nominated at the Grammys and the rock category I’m like, That’s not rock. How is this rock? But on the other hand, how do you want people to see Peach Tree Rascals?
Tarrek: Timeless. When they listen to our music and think in their head like: „wow, this doesn’t really like have like an era to it“. And I think a lot of our songs can stand the test of time and be listened to 20 years from now 30 years from now, like genre agnostic timeless, versatility, cross format.
I’m taking notes!
Tarrek: I like timeless music. I think people can see the versatility already, because we are very free flowing. We just keep going to make songs and if we like it, we’ll put it out and there’s a freedom to that. I want to inspire other people to not put yourself in a box. I’m tired of these box, put them in a bag!
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