The rising pop star discusses the journey from her early releases to her new EP, an honest and powerful introduction to her artistry.
In a world where new music pops up by the minute, there is truly no artist out there like Peach PRC. Dressed in all pink, from her crocs to the colour of her hair, she sits down next to me to discuss her new EP, “Manic Dream Pixie”, her early releases, and her growing loyal fanbase.
The first time I discovered the magic of her musical mastery was following a breakup, one of those classic tales where every time you think you’ve moved on, your ex slides back into your messages. Frustrated and confused, I turned on the song “Josh,” which my sister had sent me a while before. Coincidentally written about someone with the same name as the subject of my own story, the song became a cathartic anthem that grounded me time and time again. “I’m so glad, I love that it’s cathartic for people, because it was for me to write it,” she tells me. “It was also a bit scary, because I had so much anger when I wrote it, but by the time I put it out, I was kind of over it. And then I had to promo it and was like, ‘…oops sorry, Josh.’”
This wasn’t the only time that Peach PRC was a bit nervous or unsure about whether or not to release a track. “Sometimes, I’ll put songs on TikTok when I don’t think I’ll ever release them but I’m proud of them and want to show them to someone,” she explains. “But then sometimes people get really attached to it or it does well on TikTok.”
One of these songs was her hit single “God Is A Freak”, which propelled Peach PRC into the public eye. “I genuinely posted it because I didn’t think my label would let me release it. I was like, ‘I don’t think they’ll want this, so here you go. You can have it.’” She laughs as she explains that her label had to quickly scramble behind it. “It went crazy, so they put it out within a week. And because it was such a fast turnaround, everyone was like, ‘This is so obviously like a marketing thing.’ And I’m like, ‘I genuinely did not think they were gonna back me saying, ‘God is a freak, and I’m getting railed on the couch.'” I did not think that was a lyric they were going to be cool with. And it ended up being my most streamed song.”
Continuing to take cues from her loyal fanbase — The Peach Pit or Silver Cans, there are debates on the name — she decided on the title and tracklist of her new EP, “Manic Dream Pixie”, with their help: “I wrote a song called ‘Heavy’ and one of the lyrics is, ‘they’ll kiss me, manic dream pixie.’ Basically, [the term] manic pixie dream girl wasn’t rhyming, so I swapped the two words. And for some reason, people really resonated with that specific line. I saw that a lot of people were getting that tattooed and naming their accounts after that. It was such a big thing with my core fans, so I thought it would be a cool thing to call the EP, because if it’s something that people connect with, I thought it’d be a nice representation of who I am. And I think the EP is kind of an introduction to me.”
As a project, “Manic Dream Pixie” is a dynamic, expansive, and deeply personal compilation of six songs, ranging from dance pop anthems to introspective, heartbreaking, and melancholic tracks. From start to finish, Peach PRC takes us on a winding journey of her past two years, a time in which she discovered her sexuality and embraced the healing power of sharing music with listeners who relate to the very situations she thought were unique to her. Opening with “Kinda Famous”, a song written about chasing a guy through a nightclub, and transitioning directly into an ode to her current girlfriend, “Perfect For You”, it is easy to feel how much has occurred in the space between. The latter, which Peach never expected to release, is the picture-perfect depiction of a will they, won’t they moment. Capturing the flirtatious, butterfly tension between two people who are hesitant to make the first move, she wrote it purely for its muse. With an interpolation of Paris Hilton’s “Stars Are Blind” as a nod to a sweet, personal moment, she thought it would be purely for them. Lucky for us, it’s now out in the world. And, after granting permission for her to include the interpolation, Hilton herself reshared the finished song and even reached out personally to express her love for it.
Moving through the EP into “Favourite Person”, her own personal favourite (no pun intended) on the project, she showcases the strength and confidence she has in her vision: “That one was a demo that I was just hell bent on keeping. The producer that I originally did it with was like, ‘I don’t like it, it’s too 2005, it’s dated.’ And I was like, ‘No, I love it. Leave it.’ I had to fight for that to stay the way that it was. And I’m really proud of it.”
Both “Favourite Person” and “Dear Inner Child”, the closing track, were originally left off of the tracklist. “The only reason they’re on the EP was because of [the fans],” she explains. “I’ll put songs on TikTok when I don’t think I’ll ever release them but I’m proud of them and want to show them to someone. But then sometimes people get really attached to it or it does well on TikTok. With these two, people kept asking about them. I was kind of worried that they wouldn’t fit with the vibe of what I was going for in the EP, but now I’m really glad that I did because I think it shows a nice duality.”
And it certainly does. Bringing all of the chapters together into one comprehensive story, Peach PRC created a short film for the EP that is equally as captivating as the songs themselves. As we move through the film, we see Peach’s character evolve into her boldest, truest self — shedding off all the excess expectations and pressures and revealing all the glittery pink that has always lived underneath. “I had this story of this imaginary fairy pixie friend that was actually me all along,” she explains. “Within a few hours I wrote the entire script, start to finish. I was so dead set on it. I was like, ‘there will be no deviations from this and I want co-production credits because I want to direct it.’ I was not a director, because I have no experience doing that, but I was a control freak with the whole thing. I wanted it exactly how I wrote it. And I’m glad it stuck to that.”
Sticking to her gut and remaining authentic has worked well for Peach PRC, whose music resonates with listeners globally. And, with plans for an album in discussion, she is just getting started.
