In recent years, many women have worked and done a lot to break various ideas and long-held stereotypes about the role of female artists in the music industry. However, Nowadays, no one has taken this as seriously as The Aces, an amazing band with a lot to say.
Although they have been playing and releasing music for a long time (under a very similar name), this group of girls have become representatives of girl power in pop and alternative rock, because they bring a very raffled musical proposal that we even already had a chance to listen to in Mexico. However, They use their music to give an even more important message and if you can’t locate The Aces, no problem, here we are in charge of telling you about this bandota.
Who are the members of The Aces?
The Aces is an American band formed in Provo, Utah in 2016.. The group has four members: the guitarist Kate Hendersonthe bassist McKenna Petty and the sisters Alisa and Cristal Ramirez on drums, guitar and lead vocals respectively, who have been doing interesting things for a long time.
Their story began when the sisters Cristal and Alisa Ramirez were eight years old.. Although none of them remember exactly when they started thinking about a musical career, but both grew up in a home where there was always music: their father danced salsa with them, their mother covered 80s pop artists, and their older brother played in many local hardcore punk bands.
His beginnings as The Blue Aces
With interest in music to the fullest, the Ramirez sisters started playing while studying and putting together covers of their favorite bands on YouTube. Later, at Christmas parties, the two begged her best friend, McKenna Petty, to ask for a bass guitar as a gift, and they complied. The three learned to play in a self-taught way and began to think about the idea of putting together a band.
Finally, this idea came to fruition when McKenna’s friend Katie Henderson joined them.. It was like that in 2008 and after improvising in his neighbor’s garage, The Blue Aces was born, the first name with which these girls became known and with which they released two EP’s. But not only that, at that time they began to polish their talents and get exposure during high school, since they already played in local venues and bars.
Over time and as they expanded their presence within the music scene in their city, as The Blue Aces included them in several lists of best small media Provo and Utah bands, including Provo Buzz and Paste Magazine.. However, in 2014, the girls decided to pursue a professional music career after seeing Lorde win her first Grammy at age 18.
Without having connections in the music industry, the girls began seeking support to work professionally with accomplished producers. And it didn’t take long for them to get their hands on it, as several independent labels were interested in hiring them. But finally in 2016, The Blue Aces signed with Red Bull Records.
A new stage simply as The Aces
After signing with a label that backed them and after a long time as The Blue Aces, Katie Henderson, McKenna Petty, Alisa and Cristal Ramirez decided to shorten their name and leave it as The Aces. In this new stage, the band wrote two songs independently, “Volcanic Love” and “Stuck”, but at the same time they entered composition and recording sessions.
In 2017, The Aces embarked on their first US tour, who went through important stages like SXSW and even they shared the bill with bands like Portugal. The Man. But the most important thing was On June 23 of that same year they released their debut EP I Don’t Like Being Honestwhich had good reviews and even the first single, “Stuck” reached number 38 on the list Billboard Alternative Songs.
For 2018, The Aces joined the tour of the band Coin and in April of that year, the band surprised by releasing their first studio album, When My Heart Felt Volcanic, with which they began to gain more attention in the music industry. So much so that they played on the show Late Night Show de Seth Meyer and his song “Strong Enough” appeared on the soundtrack of the game NBA 2K20.
As if this weren’t enough, 5 Seconds of Summer announced that The Aces would be the opening act for their world tour Meet You There. Besides, the band announced their first headlining tours in the United States and Europe for the rest of 2018 and 2019, where they played big stages and festivals like Life is Beautiful, Austin City Limits and the Live Out of Monterrey… yes, they already debuted in Mexico.
The Aces put together their first song with a queer theme and gender pronouns
At the beginning of 2020, The Aces began releasing several singles from their second studio albumentre ellos “Daydream”, “Lost Angeles” y “My Phone is Trying to Kill Me”. Sin embargo, among those singles, a song called “Kelly” caught attention, which touches on queer themes and the first song by the band to use gender pronouns.
About this song, Cristal and Alisa Ramirez commented that although they had already thought about using pronouns in the music of The Aces (because three of the four members have declared themselves openly gay), they weren’t ready to step into that place as artists. They finally did it and sent a song that is undoubtedly a reflection of many queer people today.
It seems that 2023 will be the year of The Aces
Originally it was planned that The Aces would release Under My Influence in June 2020. But days before the premiere they announced that the album would be delayed in response to protests over the murder of George Floyd. After a lot of waiting, in mid-July they presented this album that once again had great comments.
With the advent of the pandemic, The Aces had to move the tour to promote their second studio album. However, in 2021 they toured much of the United States. In addition, they released a double single with two unpublished songs that did not appear on Under My Influenceas well as the single “Don’t Freak”.
In 2022, the band hit a couple of dates in the UK, Ireland and the US, also releasing the song “Girls Make Me Wanna Die”. But it seems that 2023 will be the year of The Aces, as they announced a huge tour that will go through Europe and North America. As if this weren’t enough, They also released their third record material called I’ve Love You For So Longwith which they seek to finish taking their proposal to the whole world.
What is it that makes The Aces special?
Definitely, The Aces is one of the most exciting bands in recent years, as they have a very interesting musical proposal.. Within their considerable discography, we can hear that they have experimented with a lot of genres, as their songs range from indie pop and synth pop to new wave and alternative rock.
To this we should add the content of his letters, because The Aces talks about things that can happen to anyone today, like meeting a person on the internet or walking down the street of bitterness because your crush doesn’t peel you. Although yes, as we mentioned before, they began to write some songs with gender pronouns, which makes their message even more universal.
Besides, The Aces is a band with a lot of attitudeWell, since they began to gain popularity and because all the members are women, have had to deal with the idea of gender in the music industry and stereotypes of “girl bands”. So through their songs, albums and shows, the group has sought to end these ideas, showing that their music is more valuable than the genre.
Definitely, If you want to hear a band that has something to say, as well as a good musical proposal and a lot of talent, you have to give The Aces a chance.. And we hope that they will return to Mexico very soon, because we want to see their evolution and this new stage live and in full color.
