Peach Tree Rascals are a music collective from San Jose, California. The group achieved fame with their song, "Mariposa," which went viral on TikTok. The group has been featured on New Music Friday and has received critical acclaim from Billboard, Pigeons and Planes, and MTV.
Now managed by Red Light's Gonzo Lübel & Kaz Chu, the indie pop group has finally come out of the woodwork with their new single "HIGHWITCHA." The track arrives over a year since the Rascals' last EP "End of Time." We were lucky to ask both management and the band questions about their new project, tools that helped in the release, and what fans can expect in 2024.
Describe how you both decided to manage PTR and what sets the group apart from other clients you’ve worked with?
Gonzo: I’ve been familiar with them since they got started and followed the journey until I got introduced to them when they were looking for new management in 2022. So there wasn’t a relationship but definitely was aware of them. I love their music. I love them as people. I love working with them.
Kaz: When Gonzo had the guys come in for a meeting at our office early 2023, I immediately loved their energy and how passionate they were about their art. It’s always so much fun to work with artists who not only make great music, but who really care about their craft & their fans, and everything PTR does reflects this.
Could you share some of your favorite tools or software that has helped activate the launch of this single (distribution, marketing, etc)?
Gonzo: One of the tools that is helping is ROSTR, so if you’re reading this right now, it’s working. This is our first release with Stem and the team there has been amazing, along with our internal team at Red Light. We treated this release very organically and took an “industry” step back to let the Rascals do what they do best: connecting with their fans [and] creating amazing visual content to supplement the music. Sort of took a polite “fuck best practices” approach and followed what felt natural to the guys. We kinda got lucky with this leap year and felt that putting the song out on the 29th would be cute.
You guys have been on a bit of a hiatus. What does it mean to be dropping new music and what sets “HIGHWITCHA” apart from the rest of your discography?
Isaac: It’s been such a long time since we’ve released music with a completely clear conscience. […] I feel as if most bands who had to endure what we endured throughout the last year and a half wouldn’t have made it through together to see today. I am eternally grateful for my brothers :-) "HIGHWITCHA" is probably the most laid back, smoke + relax song we’ve ever put out. Really excited to see how our listeners react.
The accompanying videos to each single fully captures the upbeat, vibrant, and often nostalgic energy infused in these songs. Does the song often inform the music video, or do you draw inspiration from elsewhere?
Jorge: Most of the time the song will inspire the whole feeling and direction of the video! When the song carries a certain emotion or feeling, we try to have the video adhere to those same feelings, and the way we get there is where we tend to get creative, either from just coming up with the visuals together, or from movies we’ve seen or even other music videos. We see something we love and think: "How can we do this by ourselves? How can we do it in a way where it’s true to us?"
You each have your own strengths in the creative process, whether it be songwriting, production, design, visuals, etc. Which part of the process feels the most collaborative and which part feels the most rewarding when a release finally comes together?
Issac: The most collaborative moments in our workflow are always the times where we create something from the ground up as a unit. Oftentimes, we form an idea and add to it as we go, but once in a while, we lock in a full song idea in one session - and to be able to go to sleep listening to a new song we created is one of most gratifying feelings I’ve ever experienced in music. In the mornings I wake up, drink coffee, and check out Spotify for Artists stats and hope to see growth - and my favorite times to do that is fresh after a release, hehe.
Joseph: The most rewarding aspect is being able to let go of an idea we put a lot of love and effort into and setting it free to the masses. Witnessing the positive energy that comes from it, and from then on, being able to move on to the next phase.
What can we look forward to from PTR later this year?
Issac: Music music music music music music. Aside from that we just wanna spread joy, love, and make people feel better than they did before pressing play on our song.
Tarrek: Finally going on our first full U.S. tour! It’s been long overdue but finally going to happennn.
Thanks so much to Kaz, Gonzo & PTR for answering our questions. Everyone's favorite boy band is back with their new single "HIGHWITCHA," so go listen! You should also peep their accompanying music video on YouTube, you might want to stay there a while :)
