Gen X-er living in a time machine, high on nostalgia. Flashbacks is the debut album by Peach on a beach, a tribute to growing up in Dartmouth, NS during the 80s. Available on streaming and CD. Check out YouTube videos for "Beeping and Bleeping", "Pizza Corner", "Before Call Display", "Anticipation Street" and "Boogeyman Trail". Released on May 3, “Zooming In" is an electro-pop, over the top tribute to my lifelong passion for maps. Official website: https://www.peachonabeach.ca/
Originally released on streaming in December 2023, a new YouTube video for "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" has been created for the 2024 holiday season to celebrate my festive tribute to a small artificial tree from my first Christmas in Clare, back in 1998.
I made the video with VideoProc using free clips from Pexels and shooting a few shots from around the basement. To create a nostalgic vibe, I added a retro TV filter and fuzzy transitions to evoke going back in time.
If you watch the video long enough, you'll see some old Polaroid photos from my (and wife Joelle's) childhood holidays with our families during the 1970s and 80s.
Poignant lyrics recall childhood memories as melancholic vocals blend with uplifting synths riffs, bells and piano to create a nostalgic soundscape.
Some 25 plus years later, I still hold on to the ragged yet symbolic "Charlie Brown” Christmas tree, now embraced by my wife Joelle who sings soothing backing vocals.
For a detailed review of the single and video, I invite you to read these articles by Dulaxi and Saiid Zeidan, bloggers based in the United States.
Hope you enjoy! Stay tuned for a new single coming winter 2025. Like the last few years, I'll be taking some extra time off from my day job over the Christmas break to tweak a few demos and plan for the next release.
New release October 4, 2024: “Clocks Ticking"by Peach on a beach (Larry Peach).
The third single from my upcoming album All Over the Map is a playful song with an important message.
The electropop song about climate change will have
you questioning your place in the universe while simultaneously dancing your
worries away.
Hypnotic synths and a captivating video remind listeners that lessons
learned in geology and geography classes are still relevant today.
Shout-outs to Shawn from Greenlight Studios for a fun video shoot in the classroom and on the beach and to Paul from The Music Box Recording Studio in Clare for his adept mixing and mastering!
Compared to his whimsical debut, the first single from Peach on a beach’s upcoming sophomore album All Over the Map hints at exploring more contemporary themes.
“Rabbit Hole” is a detour to the dark side, a reminder about the
futility of arguing with online.
The dark wave song is also an homage to The Cure, one of my biggest influences from the 80’s. Hypnotic synths and heavy percussion accompany
ominous lyrics and vocals, reminiscent of alternative artists of the era.
"Rabbit Hole" is also the first single I mixed and mastered in my home studio.
I wanted to create a trippy music video to promote the single -- click link below to watch on YouTube.
Participating in interviews on Eastlink TV with Tony, Lisa Doucette andTVGuyMichael
Reaching number 1 twice (!!) on the East Coast Top 30 for “Beeping and Bleeping” (Jan. 14) and “Pizza Corner” (May 20). "Pizza Corner landed at no. 26 on the CIOE year-end chart. Thanks again for your votes!
Creating a holiday song “Charlie Brown Christmas Tree” with my wife/number 1 supporter Joelle
Now for 2024. I took an extra week off in December to work on new material. In fact, some songs have been 2 years in the making. I’ve got at least 10 on the go and can’t wait to share ‘em with you!
I decided to make a holiday song thanks to a suggestion from a co-worker in late 2022. Last Christmas break I started creating the song and writing lyrics then continued to work on it throughout the year.
"Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" is a festive
tribute to a small artificial tree from my first Christmas away from home.
Poignant lyrics recall childhood memories as melancholic vocals blend with
uplifting synths riffs, bells and piano to create a nostalgic soundscape.
Some
25 years later, I still hold on to the ragged yet symbolic “Charlie Brown”
Christmas tree, now embraced by my wife Joelle who sings soothing backing
vocals.
The official music video for "Beeping and Bleeping" by Peach on a beach was released on YouTube on Saturday, October 1st at a gathering of friends and supporters at the Peach on a beach's residence in Clare, Nova Scotia.
Click the preview above or this link to watch video.
The video was filmed at Silverball Games arcade in Sunnyside Mall, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Video created by Shawn Bourque at Greenlight Studios.
"Beeping and Bleeping" is also now available on streaming platforms:
"Beeping and Bleeping” is a hip-hop track about my experience as a young teen playing arcade video games. The lyrics recall the iconic early 80s games, and the nostalgic vibe of the song naturally led to making a video.
Hope you enjoy!
Hailing from Dartmouth and based in Clare, Nova Scotia, Peach on a beach is Larry Peach. Inspired and influenced by 80s new wave and hip hop, 90s electro and comedy rock, Peach on a Beach is recording several singles prior to the release of his upcoming EP called Flashbacks.
"Beeping and Bleeping” is a hip hop track about my
experience as a young teen playing arcade video games. The lyrics recall
the iconic early 80s games, and the nostalgic vibe of the song naturally led to
making a video, which will be launched on a later date.
"This song is all about how much fun we had growing up in a
simpler era and living in the moment." says Larry Peach. "I’m
excited to share it and see how it connects with people”.
The intended market is Gen Xers who spent countless hours playing arcade
games in the 1980s, a demographic attracted to nostalgia and escapism. “I also
hope the song will resonate with younger audiences who enjoy playing any video
games or hip-hop music.”
And since Hurricane Fiona is crashing the party this weekend, I will delaying the launch of the music video. In the meantime, here's a sneak peek of the video. Hope you enjoy!
Hailing from Dartmouth and based in Clare, Nova Scotia, Peach on a beach is Larry Peach. Inspired and influenced by 80s new wave and hip hop, 90s dance and downtempo, Peach on a Beach is recording several singles prior to the release of his upcoming EP called Flashbacks.
Earlier in the year I considered many options that seemed to fit at first glance. But the main goal was to find a unique nom de plume/artist name.
And that's where I hit the wall.
As I was dreaming up a name for this project, I thought of using a derivative of Depeche Mode. For a few weeks I toyed with the idea of some sort of play-on-words with my surname Peach.
In French, a peach is une peche. Working in a French Acadian community for over twenty years, I have been referred to as both La peche or Le peche.
But the problem was finding a unique version that wasn't already in circulation by another music artist on Spotify and other streaming platforms.
The Peach Mode - While initially envious I wasn't the first to claim this one, I have made peace with it. This outfit actually has created some really fab electro tunes!
Le Peche Mode / The Peche Mode - Although seemingly available, these names sounded much too similar to the electronic godfathers.
Alas, this research soon became fantasy as I grappled with a serious issue:
Is it legal to use a similar name as another artist?
After some online research and a brief chat with my lawyer, I decided to bail from any possible future legal headaches.
Apparently, if the other artist has trademarked the name they use, then they have broad rights to prevent you from using any name that could reasonably be seen to cause confusion among consumers. Your name does not have to be an exact match, if it's close enough to cause confusion then you could be in violation of their trademark.
So after this sobering news, it was back to the drawing board and brainstorming alternative artist names.
And soon enough, a litany of new possibilities bubbled to the surface. You would think this exercise would be relatively easy, given that I am a one-person outfit with full creative control.
But the process quickly devolvedinto an exercise of inanity, as these curious samples reveal:
LP. Used by American singer-songwriter Laura Pergolizzi since circa 2006.
Peach! Dang, taken!
Peachman. See above.
Peach Schnapps. Formerly a nickname at uni. But now, too boozy.
Peach Snaps. Too whimsical.
Peach Snapped. Too psychotic.
Peach Jam. Too vile.
DJ Jammy Peach. Yeah, I'm not really a DJ.
Daft Peche. See above, legal issues.
Daft Peach. See above.
Twisted Peach. Getting inane...
Twisted Peach Jam. Gonna stop here.
After having spent some time erasing this random silliness from the whiteboard, I circled back to an obvious choice: Larry Peach.
Sure it's safe, and it's me, and it's legal and all. But I wanted to be at least a little creative...
Following copious amounts of hand-wringing, it turned out my artist name had been staring right at me all along. On my iPhone.
For years, I've logged into my Instagram account under the handle:
peachonabeach
I chose this name when I first signed up for Instagram in late December 2013, to post a photo of a cool snow shower on Mavillette Beach. My first run beach photo would be added a few weeks later.
In fact, the majority of my posts illustrate beach runs, or spending time on a beach, near and far.
You see, the beach has always been a major source of inspiration.
I’ve run on Mavillette Beach a few hundred times: in thick fog, pouring rain, humid heat, and during a light snowfall. And it’s a completely different experience every single time.
But the beach is so much more than just a place I go for runs. It’s therapy.
Emotions soften when I start feeling the flow of an inspiring run on the hard sand.
Along la Baie Sainte-Marie, there’s a special mix of salt, sand, sea, sky and above all, solitude, and space.
All these natural elements come together to a carefully curated playlist to create a symphony of spirituality.
The beach is also my lab: where I contemplate and ruminate over current challenges and where new ideas start to bloom. More recently, thoughts of creating music are part of this experience.
I am so grateful that my favourite beach is located a short and scenic seven-minute drive from home.
***
Peach on a beach's debut single, "Beeping and Bleeping", is a hip hop track about my experience as a young teen in the early 1980s and part of the first generation of kids who enjoyed playing video games in arcades.
The single will be released on Thursday, September 22, while the video will be released on Friday, September 23. Below is a short teaser:
I was inspired to inventory my favourite 100 music videos for two main reasons:
1) the epic nostalgia experienced while currently binging on The Goldbergs (Thanks to Patrick Carr for the heads-up), and 2) Lee Turner's and Richard Cross' top 10 music videos shared on Facebook this past fall.
Growing up in the suburbs of Nova Scotia, I was a hopeless music video junkie. Starting
in junior high during the early 80s, we watched Switchback with Stan the Man
and that cool ASN program on Saturday nights, Atlantic Canada's Choice. On high school weekdays before supper we
turned on CBC's Video Hits with
Samantha Taylor, and on weekends, Good
Rockin' Tonight hosted by Terry David Mulligan and eventually Stu Jeffries.
For the night owl, the U.S.-based Friday
Night Videos kept us entertained.
The best part was also the worst: having to wait
then hope your favourite song made the cut. Yet all those countless hours binging on video shows as a teen has prepared me for this moment. Now I am ready for a deep dive into the vast reservoir of memorable videos, many forever etched in my psyche.
This exercise will not only feature the usual suspects that you can easily find on a Rolling Stone webpage; I plan to sprinkle in a few cult faves, forgotten classics and hidden gems, too!
The selection process will be happening over the next couple of weeks, as I watch, mull and organize over 200+ videos into a top 100 format.
The assembly is a consolidation of many methods:
Memory recall
Online and magazine lists
You Tube rabbit holes
Previous lists including my own charts from the 80s
My CD + MP3 collections
Researching new bands
Once satisfied with my rankings, I will aim to post one daily, starting with #100. Each post will feature a YouTube link, along with some commentary explaining why it deserves to make the cut.
Although the 80s may have been the halcyon days of music videos, let's not forget about the passion and the polish from some of those shot during the 90s and 00s. Even a few more recent videos will also make the cut.
