The Aces on ’emotional’ third LP and growing up in Mormon Utah: ‘Three out of four of us are gay’
Exclusive: 'It's been made very clear to our community that the fight is not over in the States'
Walking through the sunny streets of Chalk Farm midweek, you’d be right in expecting our chat with The Aces take place at iconic London venue The Roundhouse. But the girl group have chosen to mark the release of their latest record with a gig in a much more intimate setting up the road: The Camden Assembly.
The capacity upstairs is just 200, and even though there will be no struggle to get a glimpse of the band, I arrive mid-afternoon to a handful of fans eagerly waiting outside. “That’s The Aces fans. we’re lucky that way, they’re very dedicated,” lead singer Cristal Ramirez tells me when I alert her to the small queue already forming.
The band was formed when Cristal and her sister Alisa Ramirez were eight years old. One Christmas, they asked best pal, McKenna Petty, to ask for a bass for Christmas. She was successful and they formed: Blue Aces. In 2008 the band reached its current line up when Petty’s friend, Katie Henderson, joined.
“It’s our most sincere body of work today”
They reflect hours ahead of the release of their third album I’ve Loved You For So Long, and couldn’t seem more sure of themselves. “It’s our most sincere body of work today. We’re older, we went through a global pandemic. That really changes you as a person. Everyone just got really intentional about what they wanted out of life and more certain of what they wanted more certain of what they didn’t want,” Cristal notes.
“That happened to us, with our career. We just honed more into our craft. We used the ways we were feeling to really inspire us to write this record to open up about our past.” There was more time for this to take place due to any sort of travelling coming to a complete halt. “We were just pretty much sitting indoors trying to think about what the fuck we were gonna do today,” she adds.
“Three out of four of us are gay, so you can imagine what that was like”
Tracks like ‘Girls Make Me Wanna Die’ and ‘Suburban Blues’ are pointed reminders of their upbringing in Mormon Utah. They act as a nostalgic look back at the formative experiences that shaped who they are as a band today. Alisa explains: “Three out of four of us are gay, so you can imagine what that was like. For us, this band was our community. It was where we could be free and express ourselves.”
It’s acted as a similar space for their fans too. “It’s a really beautiful thing to see at our shows. It’s like a mirror, [crowds] mirrored our situation and that’s really special. At the end of the day, the whole reason we do this is for connection and community. It was always that for us when when we needed it. The fact that we’re able to, like pay that forward and give that to people is the most special thing about The Aces,” Alisa adds.
The drag show bans sweeping the US are a key conversation point during our interview, as the girls grew up in a very religious part of the States. Laws passed in states such as Tennessee, Florida and Montana in recent months are putting LGBTQ+ rights at risk across the US. There’s a similarly harmful rhetoric quickly feeding over to the UK. “On one end, we have made the most progress we’ve ever made,” Cristal says.
“It’s to be celebrated, but it’s been made very clear to our community that the fight is not over in the States,” she points out. “We’ve lived in LA for the past four years. Sometimes, you get into your bubble and you’re like, ‘Oh, my God, homophobia’s not a thing anymore’. Then you leave LA and you’re like, ‘No, homophobia really f**king a thing, and Target is in on it too, I guess, what the f**k?”
“The short answer is, everything has changed, it’s completely different”
They released their last album Under My Influence during lockdown, which was delayed by a month in response to the George Floyd protests. Alisa tells Attitude: “We put out a song the day George Floyd was murdered. We were just like, ‘We’re not going to talk about the song at all, it is not important’.” So the record was pushed back. The girls wanted to focus on Black Lives Matter and use their platform for that instead.
It also paved the way for a much more personal third LP. The band’s drummer continues: “When we went into the third record, so soon after the second one came out, we were just like, ‘Okay, why did we do this? What’s important to us? What’s at the root of what are our core values as a band?’ We discovered what it always was from the beginning. We were about community and connection for people, safe spaces, and joy and hope. It kind of sent us on this journey. Cristal was really struggling with her mental health, so we started there really.“
It’s pretty clear a lot has changed for the group in the last few years. Their style and approach feels completely fresh. “The short answer is, everything has changed. It’s completely different,” reflects Alisa. “There’s still that intrinsic The Aces message always intertwined in the story. It starts on a note of love and ends on a note of hope… but there’s a lot of fucking sad and intense emotional processes!”
UK/EU Tour Dates | AUGUST 2023
14 – Sziget Festival, Budapest
17 – De Helling, Utrecht
18 – Pukkelpop Festival, Brussels
19 – Frequency Festival, St. Pölten
22 – Whelans, Dublin
24 – KOKO, London
25 – The Mill, Birmingham
27 – SWG3 Warehouse, Glasgow
28 – Academy 2, Manchester
29 – The Globe, Cardiff
The Aces’ third studio album ‘I’ve Loved You For So Long’ is out now via Red Bull Records.