If you are looking for tracks that boast pop sensibilities with a genre-bending edge, look no further than ill peach’s debut EP, “Excuse Us While We Find Our Minds”. A eccentric project, dreamed up by the talented minds behind ill peach, aka Pat and Jess, listeners can expect to enjoy a cacophony of experimental sounds met with ethereal vocals and lyrics. And, what better way to celebrate a debut release from grit pop’s fastest rising stars than the unveiling of a psychedelic music video for track “WILDFIRE”?
“We have worked on music together since college,” explains Jess when speaking on the band’s beginnings. “We’ve known each other since high school. Big nerds. Like musical theatre, Glee acapella group singing nerds. So I guess you could say that is what sparked the interest in pursuing music. I was writing songs solo, and Pat was in an indie band in Minneapolis, and then one day we decided to write a song together and then this pop singer from Germany called the “German Celine Dion” cut one of our songs. That’s basically what started it all.”
Upon the unveiling of the trippy music video for track “WILDFIRE”, the duo sat down with Wonderland to discuss their journey through music and their debut EP. Head below to read the interview and head to the band’s metaverse here.
Hey ill peach, how are you! How has this past year been for you?
Pat: Pretty good. That answer seems to change every day, but today we’re feeling psyched. This past year I would say I’m definitely seeing life in a brand new way. It’s like I’ve added a whole other point of view, one that has never been there before, which can make everything way more exciting but also terrifying. I guess it’s also cool because we have a garden now and I learned how to play tennis and surf.
Jess: Although this past year was challenging in so many ways, and so much happened, it felt good to create and put that energy into music and art. I also started a ceramic jewellery line with my sister; it was fun to learn another craft.
How did you guys first get into music, what sparked the interest?
Jess: We have worked on music together since college. We’ve known each other since high school. Big nerds. Like musical theatre, Glee acapella group singing nerds. So I guess you could say that is what sparked the interest in pursuing music. I was writing songs solo, and Pat was in an indie band in Minneapolis, and then one day we decided to write a song together and then this pop singer from Germany called the “German Celine Dion” cut one of our songs. That’s basically what started it all.
Last year was challenging for a lot of artists, did COVID affect your creativity in any way?
Pat: I think COVID just really created limitations creatively and just pushed me to discover different pockets of creativity. So a couple of musician friends of ours and I started an artist’s collective and record label called POP CAN RECORDS, and our first big project during COVID was a protest compilation featuring various artists that we put out right before the election called “Sound the Alarm”. Super proud of it.
You dropped your debut EP earlier this year! What was your mindset going into it?
“Excuse Us While We Find Our Minds” is our first collection of songs. It basically starts from our life feeling like it was falling apart in New York and slowly putting the pieces back together as we make our way to LA.
