by meghan brianna
photo courtesy fo peachy!
Carving out a path for himself in the music industry, Peachy! is a multi-faceted artist and is raging forward into the new year. Initially beginning his career with instrumentals, Peachy! has since branched out and released vocal tracks. With the growing acceptance of non-English tracks, Peachy! incorporates the Korean language into many of his tracks. We had the chance to sit with Peachy! and discuss his upcoming album, his musical upbringing, and the influence of his experiences on his music.
For our readers who are unfamiliar with Peachy!, take a moment to introduce yourself!
Peachy!: “Yo! My name’s Peachy!, I’m a musician from Atlanta, and I’m 19 years old. I work across various genres, but I’m best known for my lofi hip hop and pop music.”
Starting with the electric guitar, then self-teaching yourself the piano, bass guitar, and ukulele, what led you to learn all of these instruments?
P: “When I was eight years old, I bought myself Guitar Hero 3 using money from doing chores and stuff, and there was a song called One by Metallica on there. I loved the game, but at a certain point, I thought, ‘What if I could play this on a real guitar and not a video game?’ At the time, I was saving up money for a Nintendo DS (the HOTTEST gaming tech at the time) but decided to buy the cheapest electric guitar at my local music store instead. It was fun for a few years; I started ukulele in middle school, borrowing my friends’. Once I started producing music at 14, I was sat down in front of a keyboard or piano quite often, so I thought it was only natural (and beneficial) to pick up the basics. The only one I ever took lessons for was an electric guitar, but my last teacher, Max Eve, was super helpful in giving me the knowledge to transfer what I knew about guitar onto other instruments.”
You made your musical debut with instrumentals. At what moment did you know you wanted to start releasing vocal tracks?
P: “When I was in high school, I started going to concerts pretty often, seeing acts like Twenty One Pilots, Oceans Ate Alaska, Knuckle Puck, and Pierce The Veil. All these bands had such a powerful stage presence, and the ability to sing lyrics together with your favorite musician was magical to me. It still is, but now I realize it’s also amazing to be able to sing the poetry you’ve written with a crowd of people who’ve received value from your art. I wanted to make a difference and fully express the messages I tried to communicate with fans, so I began using one of the most valuable tools I had but had never used before: my voice. I may not be a great singer, but using my voice has allowed me to be more expressive than ever before and connect with more listeners.”
While creating your debut album, We Make Characters That Look Like Us To Feel Less Alone, you were traveling the world, visiting 11 countries. How did that influence your writing? What experiences are you drawing on for your next album?
P: “One of the largest factors of how comfortable I am while writing is my environment. Since I would produce music using almost no gear during my travels, it gave me the freedom to create wherever I could bring my laptop and headphones. One memory I’ll never forget is making my song ‘This Is What Happens’ while sitting in the grass on the side of a hill in Switzerland, watching the sunset. Inspiration can come from anywhere, and for me, it comes from everywhere. If I’m comfortable and in my element, the artwork I make reflects that.
As for this next album, I’m going to be singing more about myself. Everyone has been faced with something they don’t give nearly enough attention to during the pandemic: themselves. I’m also writing songs that are more positive because I don’t want to release an album that only reminisces on a negative experience. I want to help people find positive thinking in this mess, including myself.”
During your travels, you picked up communicating in several languages, including Korean. What made you choose to include tracks in English, as well as Korean, in your upcoming album?
P: “Well, English is generally the default for music these days. I spoke Korean for a bit before becoming a nomad due to my upbringing around the Korean community in Atlanta. Language has a large effect on the attitude with which we create and consume music. Over the past few years, it’s become much more acceptable for artists who sing in non-English languages to be mainstream, and I love that. I love that I can release a song, and even if it’s not in the listener’s native language, they can still connect with it while I retain my artistic freedom. It’s an inspiring and fresh experience for the music industry, and I’m glad this album will get to be a part of it.”
Congratulations on the release of “Blood!.” It’s an absolutely beautiful song. You wrote, produced, mixed, performed, and mastered the song entirely yourself. Take us through the creative process, and how this song came to be.
P: “I had this song on my phone as a voice memo for some time before I decided to make a full track out of it. In fact, the intro (that exact voice memo) has nothing to do with the rest of the song. I just liked the way it sounded. A couple of weeks after my return to NYC from Seoul, I rented out a cabin in the woods to get some recording done without noise or distraction. At this point, I had written out the first verse in Korean, but decided to change it to English for the ease of the listener. After being in isolation from civilization, I felt more comfortable to stretch my voice, so I also rewrote a few of the melodies. The album artwork is actually a photo I took in the same woods I recorded the track in.”
“Blood!” was your third and final release of 2020. How does “Blood!” compare to the other two?
P: “2020 was a bit of a break for me. In February I released my song Pop Star, which was much closer to what I was used to in the world of bedroom pop. It was also my introduction to properly releasing music in another language.
The second release was part of a lofi compilation album coordinated by Taku, who I’ve known for some time but never properly worked with until then. I love how friendly and genuine he is — in this industry, most people will put on a mask in order to work with you or take advantage of you in some way. Taku had a creative vision that he wanted to achieve, and in seeing that I thought it was a great opportunity to get back into the world of lofi beats for a bit.”
What do you want listeners to take away from listening to “Blood!?”
P: “I love it when listeners can find their own way to connect with my art. It’s very common for me to get messages and hear interpretations of my music that while it was not the intended meaning, it still serves a great purpose. This song was about my struggles with a friendship gone wrong, but who knows what value someone will find in it? Maybe it’ll help them through a breakup, some family issues, or otherwise. The song served a purpose to me, and now I feel it’s the listeners’ time to find what it means to them.”
With this upcoming album, is there a theme to encompass the project?
P: “Strictly speaking, no. I’m working on making happier songs because, despite most of my catalog being sad, I’m quite a happy person! These new songs will focus more on personal issues rather than strictly romantic scenarios. The idea of the album is to ask myself questions about my growth and development as a person, but also to share experiences I’ve rarely written about before, such as my experience with anxiety, panic disorder, and being in the public eye.
I’d also love to explore the concept of silence in music. Music doesn’t have to be complex to serve a purpose. As someone who values silence, ambiance, and tranquility, I would love to find new ways to implement these ideas into modern music. Our world has more than enough noise.”
COVID-19 put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on everyone’s plans for 2020. What were you looking forward to in 2020, and what were you able to accomplish?
P: “I was really looking forward to returning to Indonesia. My first time there didn’t go very well ‘cause of a festival mishap, and I had a trip set up for the spring of 2020. My experience with the festival organizer was horrible but the people, the culture, the coffee, everything about Indonesia I loved and was very excited to come back to. There were other trips I had planned to take, lots of concerts were canceled, and all the isolating at home took a hit so hard on my mental health I really didn’t release much music in 2020. I say all this, but in honesty, I’m still very grateful to have experienced the positive sides of 2020 for me. I still got to travel quite a bit, and I’ve had plenty of time to dive into new hobbies. I didn’t get to see a whole lot of friends, but I don’t regret much of how I spent 2020, if at all.”
photo courtesy fo peachy!
Where do you hope to see yourself in five years?
P: “This may seem corny, but all I want to be in five years is happy. I don’t know if I’ll still be making music, I don’t know where I’ll be living, what my salary will be, and to be honest, those details don’t matter to me. I still feel I have more to say with my music, so I don’t see myself quitting any time soon, but if that does happen, I imagine it’d be for the best. I’m comfortable with the paycheck I make currently, so I’m not much concerned about growing on social media or maintaining my streaming revenue. As long as I’m happy and I can help people, that’s where I want to be in five years.”
I am enthused to see what the future holds for you. To finish off this interview, do you have any words for your fans and listeners, and do you have any words for the people who have yet to discover Peachy!?
P: “My music is constantly changing and evolving, so each song has its own unique flavors! I hope you find some value in my work, and shoot me a message on social media if you do find something you connect with! You can also text me to join my community at +1 (404) 476-6030!”