Even in the darkest of days and the gloomiest of skies, there's just something about a Peach Tree Rascals song that feels like a ray of sunshine.

From their vibrant melodies that bring a smile to your face to their relatable lyrics that comfort the soul, the California-based music collective knows just how to turn some of life's bleakest moments into something beautiful. 

Recognised for their sunny, feel-good pop hits like 'Mariposa' and 'Mango', Peach Tree Rascals—which comprise best friends Dominic Pizano, Issac Pech, Tarrek Abdel-Khaliq, Joseph Barros, and Jorge Olazaba, as well as Jasper Barros and EJ Atienza—center themselves on having fun and doing good. While their journey together hasn't always been peachy, it's only they're glad to be on with one another. 

"No matter what is going on in our heads or in our own lives, when we're together, we feel better about it," Tarrek says to Bandwagon. 

As they embark on a new adventure together with their first-ever Asia tour this July, we caught up with Peach Tree Rascals to talk about being best friends, creating music, and what to expect from their concerts. 

You guys started making music in your homes in San Jose and now you're heading out to Asia to perform festivals and do your own headlining shows, how has it been processing your growth as a group?

Tarrek: It's been a lot of learning. 

Isaac: A lot of growing pains. 

Tarrek: Yeah, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of good things, a lot of bad things. I think now we're at the best place we've ever been, the best position and best mentally. We communicate better based on the experiences we've had and we know more about what we want, what we don't want. 

Isaac: There comes a point where you decide for yourself and the people around you: are we doing this? Or are we not doing this? We decided that recently.

Did you guys ever think that your music would reach people all the way across the world?

Tarrek: We did or we just felt like we made music that anyone anywhere could listen to and could connect—no matter what language we're speaking, no matter what we're talking about. Just based on the sound and the feeling alone, we would just want it to connect with anybody and everybody. 

The reaction we've gotten from Malaysia, especially when 'Mariposa' started to gain its popularity is different than anywhere in the world. We never expected it to have that much support and love and create that big of a fan base out there. It's something that we've been waiting to do, waiting to come to Malaysia since 'Mariposa' came out so it's amazing to finally have the chance.

What do you guys hope people take away when they watch a Peach Tree Rascals show?

Isaac: I hope they understand us as a group after finally getting to see [what we do] in person. Maybe they walk away from the concert saying: 'I fully get it now'.

Tarrek: We want people to know that we just want everyone to have as good of a time as they possibly can. Whether there's something going on—everybody's dealing with stuff in their lives like mental health, family issues, work or whatever it is but the message we like to bring is to leave all of that at the door. When we're in there together, we're just having the best time and living in the moment, singing songs and dancing and forgetting about everything else. Then hopefully by the time they leave the show, they feel like everything's gonna be okay.

 

 

 

 

 

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All of you guys come from your own individual backgrounds, with big creative ideas of your own. How do all of that come together to make Peach Tree Rascals work? What's usually the dynamic when you guys make music together?

Dom: Usually, either Joe or Jasper or myself play some chords or something and then that would inspire the whole vibe of where the song is gonna go. From there, we just start creating a song like that—we usually freestyle over some chords and find a really good verse idea. That would be a hella rough draft and then they would writing through it. From there, we just keep it short, keep bouncing off each other off of each other's
ideas and it eventually comes into one complete song.

Isaac: No idea is a bad idea unless Dom says so (laughs).

Your music tends to centre around this overarching theme of optimistic sadness and pushing on with life even though it sucks sometimes. Where do these stories and ideas usually come from?

Tarrek: From our lives and our own experience. There are so many of us in the group and we all have our own individual backgrounds, cultures and just experiences and families. It's different for everybody so each song, we try to bring our own personality and our own experiences into it and we just try to find a way that makes it all connect. Sometimes we don't even have to try it—we've been friends for so long and we're good at communicating everything with each other so we just kind of flow onto the same page and flow with the same feeling no matter what the song is.

And the reason there's more optimism in the feeling than maybe the meaning of the song or the lyrics is because when we're all together, we feel good. No matter what is going on in our heads or in our own lives, when we're together, we feel better about it. And when we write down whatever's going on in our lives, it becomes more clear to us so when we record and make music, it feels like we're relieving ourselves from all the stress or whatever's going on at home or in our heads. I feel like that all translates really well in the music and we're able to take the bad and turn it into something beautiful.

Are there some artists that you guys look towards for inspiration?

Tarrek: Everybody! I don't think there are artists that we don't know we don't look for.

Isaac: There's something to find in everything, something to find in everybody.

What's your favourite thing about being in a band? Especially since you guys have been friends for so long, what makes you guys want to keep going at it together?

Tarrek: The laughter and the joy.

Isaac: Yeah, I like not being alone for too long. Even if we're not talking but we're in the same house, it doesn't feel like you're really that alone at any time.

Finally, what are you guys most looking forward to for your Asia tour?

Isaac: The fans! 

Jasper: The food!

Tarrek: Fans and the food and then hopefully food with the fans at some point.

Are there any specific dishes you guys are looking forward to eating?

Jasper: Balut! Jorge wants to try balut.

Jorge: Is that the duck...? Yeah, I just want to try everything. 

Tarrek: I'm going in with an open heart, open mind, and an open tummy. 

Peach Tree Rascals will be heading out on tour in Asia this July with shows in Tokyo, Seoul, Manila, Bangkok, Singapore, and Jakarta, as well as a set in Kuala Lumpur's Good Vibes Festival. 

Listen to Peach Tree Rascals here.