- Words Rosie Byers
- Photograhy Jess Gleeson
Celebrating the release of her debut EP, 'Manic Dream Pixie', Peach PRC talks famous co-signs and manifesting pop girl stardom.
In the early days of lockdown, Peach PRC was the bubblegum pink-haired TikTok personality who won our hearts with candid videos, sharing everything from stories from her days working as a stripper to real-time mental health struggles. Backdropped by a handmade CD wall in her bedroom, Adelaide-raised Peach, born Shaylee Curnow, let us in on her dream: to become a big time, high glam, mega famous pop star. Acoustic versions of early tracks like “Blondes” caught the attention of industry bosses, who started to put the puzzle pieces together — with frank songwriting, sugary vocals, an already engaged fan base and her own artistic identity, Peach was ready for the role.
Now, with millions of streams, major performances at TikTok’s For You Fest and Sydney WorldPride, and co-signs from Paris Hilton and Maisie Peters under her belt, Peach PRC is stepping into the main pop girl shoes she manifested years before. Her new debut EP, ‘Manic Dream Pixie’, references Paris along with other inspirations ranging from Mia Khalifa to her inner child. From saccharine dance tracks to sad pop bangers, the six-track project both establishes her own distinctive sound, and showcases the complexities within it. Peach PRC might have built a music career off the back of her own personal brand, but don’t box her in to it.
A few days after it’s release, we caught up with the artist to talk pop inspo, hearing her tracks on the radio, and making her mood boards come true.
What does it mean to you to have your debut project out in the world?
It means the world. It’s songs that are really close to my heart, that are really raw and big parts of my soul, and are songs that I’ve just been dancing to by myself because I couldn’t post them anywhere, so the EP is fun but it’s also really meaningful.
Is there a song you’re most proud of? Why?
The song I’m most proud of is “Dear Inner Child”. This song started on TikTok, and funnily enough Mia Khalifa had commented saying about it being ‘inner child work’ and I thought that it was such a good point, then I wrote the second verse. There was a bit of a gap in-between when I started writing the song to when I finished it, so that’s why towards the end of the song I talk about, ‘now I wear it for me’ and I’ll ‘dance for me and I’ll ‘sing for me’. And I talk about “Dear Inner Child” like it’s a sequel to “Heavy”, a previous single that I put out.
Lyrically ‘Manic Dream Pixie’ covers so much – has writing been a cathartic thing for you processing the past few years?
It’s definitely something I do almost every day. It’s almost a way of journaling and it’s not something I make a routine of, I do it because I genuinely enjoy it. It brings me a lot of peace and joy when I can get something off my chest in a way that rhymes that is fun through music. That’s something I feel very lucky to have a gift for.
Did you connect with your local music scene growing up? Or has the internet always been a place of inspiration and finding like-minded people?
I didn’t connect with people musically growing up, but I had friends who were musicians in the punk and rock scene, so we weren’t involved musically, we just happened to be musically adjacent. It was definitely the internet that was my little pocket of putting my songs out and finding other artists who were doing similar things.
Maisie Peters is an artist who I found on TikTok that I look up to, her songwriting is incredible and actually I found out that’s she’s a fan of me! A friend of ours put us on FaceTime and Maisie was like, ‘oh my god Peach!’, and I was like, ‘no way!’ I knew her before she has taken off the way she has, she is so successful and I’m so proud of her.
How does it feel to be someone people all over the world have found common ground with?
It feels overwhelming in the best way, but it’s something I’m learning to balance. There’s a fine line between being someone who’s triggering for people to listen and watch, and someone who’s comforting for people to listen to and watch. I think I haven’t always got that right and I’m always learning and working on that.
What message do you want to represent to those people?
I don’t really have a direct vision; I am just being who I am. I know that sounds cliché, but I’m just existing and people seem to find what they need from that, and it could be completely different from one person finds in me and my music, so I’ll leave it open to them to take whatever message they find.
Who did you look up to in pop culture when you were younger?
SO many, and I still look up to them! I loved Kesha, she is a huge inspiration to me, she’s a genius, she is funny and silly her story telling is so smart and camp. Katy Perry was also another one. I love the early 2010s pop girls, they are so inspiring to me. Carly Rae Jepsen, I absolutely love her, I think she was so underrated for her time. I love everything about her and her music.
How did it feel to get co-signed by Paris Hilton?
That felt really surreal, and very out-of-body. Not only just having her duet the video, she also personally reached out to my team and asked to hear the whole song before it was released because she loved it so much. She genuinely was a fan of the song and had messaged me and said she listened to all of my other music like “Josh” and “God Is A Freak”! I sent her my EP before it was released and she said ‘I just had a listen and It’s adorable, I love it’, so it’s sweet that she’s not only a fan of the song because it was a tribute to her, but she is a fan of my music in general — which is unreal to me.
Who would be your dream collab?
I have so many. I’ve always said that on a song I would like a rap feature. I love Doja Cat, I also think she is a genius and so innovative, if I could be as ambitious as possible, I’d choose her. I’m also obsessed with Ice Spice right now, I really love her. Writing-wise I would really like to collab with Kesha, and The 1975 are a big inspiration to me and always have been.
As an artist you have a really strong visual identity, how did you build the visuals of this EP?
It was a hard one, because I have such a vision. I wish I could just paint what my imagination is onto a platform. But because I have to work with so many people and have such a big and great team, it’s so hard to give my exact visual to 20 people to build a set or a costume, or whether it’s editing a video or a photo. So I do a lot myself and I watch a lot of tutorials and stay up a lot of nights trying to learn how to do this stuff. The aesthetic is based on creating this other-worldly hyper fairy, feminine land that it feels like a comfort space for me.
You have an equally distinctive sound within the pop space, did that just come naturally or did you have a longer process for finding your sound?
I think it maybe came naturally, it’s the only music I really listen to so that has been the main influence I’ve had. It’s something I’ve definitely developed since I put music out, I’ve evolved a lot from when I started to where I am now with the way I make music. There a lot of things about production that I’m having to listen and learn as I go along, but writing style is something that comes naturally to me.
What’s your dream scenario for hearing your song come on the radio?
I feel like my friends always hear my songs on the radio in different places, but I’ve never had it happen to me. It has happened once drunk in an Uber, when I was falling asleep in the back and “Josh” came on the radio. I sat up and was like ‘this is my song!’ and the driver thought he meant this is in general ‘my song’, but I was like ‘no…this is MY song! This is me singing!’. That would still be my dream scenario, in a car or something.
What does the dream look like in five years?
I do a mood board every year and they come true. I am yet to have one that’s not manifested. I think I have this spooky ability of sometimes accidentally, and sometimes on purpose, manifest things. In five years ahead I would love to take my career as far as it goes and as far as it will take me. But I’ve already made it beyond what I thought I could.