Our cover feature with The Aces was published in February 2022.
What do you get when you bring Katie Henderson, McKenna Petty, Alisa Ramirez and Cristal Ramirez together? The Aces. From practicing in their garage to selling out their own headline tour, this group is absolutely crushing it. They have landed on Billboard charts such as Top Albums, Emerging Artists, and Heatskeekers Album, as well as the Breakthrough 25 for Rolling Stone.
Two years ago, the quartet released their debut album When My Heart Felt Volcanic which was featured on The Recording Academy’s list of 11 Artists Keeping Rock Alive and Billboard’s Best Overlooked Pop Albums of 2010s. Additionally, they have made tv appearances on shows like Late Night with Seth Meyers and MTV TRL with Sway Calloway. Currently, they have been on a roll, working with other hot groups like 5 Seconds of Summer, COIN and X Ambassadors on the road.
Back in November, they embarked on their sold-out headline tour which kicked off in Seattle. Just days later, they called with Beyond The Stage from the back of their bus on the way to San Francisco for their third show. The group has loved every moment of performing live – as headliners and guest acts – thus far and have been embracing fans along the way. “Touring during COVID is a whole different experience…It’s not like it was before, but we’re just grateful that we’re able to be out playing shows,” bassist McKenna expressed.
Receiving over 46 million streams since its release in October 2021, their new album Under My Influence covers deep, vulnerable, and relatable topics that promote honesty and trust like the group openly expresses with one another and their fans. In the past, the group has avoided using gendered pronouns in their music, however, this album entails explicitly queer lyrics.
Lead singer Cristal explained this came from a place of unsureness at the time of their debut album; McKenna didn’t identify as queer and Katie wasn’t out at the time, so the band didn’t want to misrepresent any of its members. They also feared that using such lyrics could limit their fanbase.
Fast forward three years, the band had grown up a lot. “It felt super natural for us to step into our power as queer women and tell our stories and just be completely honest and let those stories be out in the world,” shared Cristal. When writing the music for Under My Influence, The Aces organically started using the pronouns “she” and “her”, agreeing to leave it that way because it was true to their stories being told in that moment.
Alisa explained that it took almost all of 2019 to write the album. “Cristal and I would go with one of our collaborators and write a song, get the bones of it, and then Katie and Kenna would come in, and we would all record the live instruments and finish it together,” she explained.
However, amid prepping for an album release, the pandemic transpired. Suddenly, the band’s plan to tour fell apart and they were forced to turn back to writing more music. Unfortunately, with the world at a halt, they faced a bit of writer’s block and felt uninspired. Alisa continued, “Here we had all this music we were just putting out that we spent a year creating, and so our tank felt empty, creatively…So, a lot of 2020 was spent just putting that record out and making the best of the situation.”
Using a desire to return to their roots and approach things in a simpler way as motivation, most recently the band has been writing more with most of their music stemming from “organic jam sessions.”
Encapsulating this same pure energy, the band has worked to create a safe space for fans and listeners with not only Under My Influence, but all their music and shows. “We have really special fans and they’re all so nice to each other,” said McKenna. “We just really want to cultivate that and help it thrive and grow even bigger and stronger.” The Aces created a realm where people can be whoever they want to be and just hang out and make new friends with other fans.
Months prior to their headline tour, the group released a video for their single “Don’t Freak” which appeared fun to shoot for its allude to the classic 70s punk pop vibes. The concept came into fruition when second bandmember Alisa heard the song. She explained, “It felt black and white and kind of like lightning crashing in the track, and it just feels really, really cool.”
With the song being about mental health and the struggles people face with it, the band wanted to paint a picture of that space for viewers, creating a disoriented feeling. Alissa continues, “It felt like this Twilight zone-esque song. So, I wrote this treatment and linked up with a director named Daniel Carberry who is absolutely amazing. He executed it perfectly; we’re really happy with how it turned out.”
With over 3.8 million streams since its fitting release during Mental Health Awareness Month (May), “Don’t Freak” is highly acclaimed. Cristal explained that the band is currently exploring topics they hadn’t before. “I really, really struggled with really, really intense panic attacks throughout the pandemic and also just have had general anxiety disorder my whole life,” she shared. The band wanted to expand their repertoire to topics outside of love and relationships, and felt this theme was an important one to cover as it is a part of who they are as The Aces.
The Aces have certainly come a long way since their start. Katie shared, “We used to practice in a tiny basement in Cristal’s house and then in my house, rattling the dinner plates upstairs. We just played any opportunity we had. We’d play shows for our friends in our hometown, so to be opening for other bands and headlining our own tour is pretty surreal.” They are ecstatic to be back on the road, playing in front of audiences. Being away from their fans for two and a half years has allowed them to miss and cherish the live shows. “To see how our new album resonates with our fans and to hear them singing every word back to us, has been such a cool experience,” continued Katie.
While on the road, The Aces has had time to stream other artists while traveling between shows.
McKenna shared that she’s been listening to the new Beach House EP. “It’s just a healing, soothing track. I tend to listen to really healing, sleepy music on tour for some reason, like Enya and stuff.”
Cristal has been jamming to Phoebe Bridgers, whom she has gotten really into recently.
While Katie found this question to be a bit difficult, she finds herself listening to Arctic Monkeys on tour, as well as the latest Avenue Beat album “the debut farewell album”.
And last, but certainly not least, Alisa has been listening to “a lot of shoe-gazey stuff. I listen to a lot of Cocteau Twins, The Cure, The Smiths, stuff like that. But then also, I’ve been listening to Taylor Swift’s new version for Red. It’s interesting, a lot of fans will ask about that one, so it’s been fun to talk to them about it.”
Connecting with fans and staying true to themselves appears to be The Aces top priorities as artists. With 91.6 thousand Instagram followers on their group page and 950 thousand monthly Spotify listeners, the band’s fanbase is constantly expanding and evolving just like they are.
Here at Beyond The Stage, we applaud them on their effort to be open and honest with listeners and never hide their true colors. With more music on the way and a burning desire to keep playing live shows, The Aces have many avenues awaiting them.
Check out our issue with The Aces here.
Purchase a print copy here.
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