“Life Is Meant to Be Celebrated”: The Aces’ ‘Gold Star Child’ Is a Disco-Pop Get together – and Everybody’s Invited!

Longtime Atwood Journal favorites – and a three-time Editor’s Decide – The Aces have constructed their repute on honesty, electrical energy, and plain chemistry. Comprised of sisters Cristal and Alisa Ramirez (lead vocals/guitar and drums), guitarist Katie Henderson, and bassist McKenna Petty, the band have spent the previous decade redefining what trendy pop-rock can really feel like: Queer, communal, assured, and completely alive. Recognized for his or her irresistible mix of sharp hooks, emotional transparency, and infectious power, The Aces have grown from Provo’s native heroes into certainly one of indie-pop’s most dynamic voices, praised for each their unshakable camaraderie and their commanding dwell reveals. With greater than 250 million profession streams and performances at main festivals together with Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Firefly, and OUTFEST, The Aces proceed to show themselves as a pressure constructed on authenticity, friendship, and fearless self-expression.

That spirit of freedom and fearlessness reaches its zenith on Gold Star Child – a self-made, confident celebration of affection, liberation, and residing loudly. After years of navigating major-label timelines, private upheavals, and the emotional weight of their most weak file up to now, Gold Star Child arrives as pure freedom. Written and produced largely on their very own, it’s their first absolutely impartial launch – and that autonomy radiates by way of each be aware. You possibly can hear it within the bass strains that strut, the disco beats that glitter, and the unfiltered pleasure that hums beneath all of it. It’s the sound of a band not simply discovering themselves, however reveling in the truth that they have already got.

“This album actually felt to me like we wished to make a celebration album – of how far we’d come from these 4 children in Orem, Utah, and step into who we actually are as adults now,” Cristal Ramirez displays. “I bear in mind being on the telephone with Alisa and saying, ‘Let’s do one thing enjoyable. We now have to rejoice. We now have to shake it off.’ I really feel like our followers look to us for hope – and we glance to our band for hope. That felt just like the pure development.”

As Alisa Ramirez provides, “Our foremost aim with this file was simply to have enjoyable and create one thing individuals may have enjoyable to and escape to. I feel that’s what we do finest.”

After we spoke about your final LP, Cristal referred to as it an album about reconnection to your youthful selves, to rising up in Utah, and many others. Gold Star Child positively does its personal justifiable share of connection, albeit otherwise. What is that this album about for you all?

Cristal Ramirez: This album was actually about having enjoyable whereas making it. We didn’t need something to really feel too severe, and we wished to seize our voice uniquely – as individuals and as a good friend group – greater than ever. After I’ve Liked You For So Lengthy, like Alisa was saying, we got here off that file and tour eager to make one thing lighter and reconnect with how we’ve at all times made music. You possibly can hear that in Beneath My Affect and When My Coronary heart Felt Volcanic – most of these songs are fairly dancey. “Caught” may be very harking back to a disco music. We’ve at all times had these roots and have been already making music adjoining to Gold Star Child, so it felt pure to lastly go there.

We wished to make one thing enjoyable and dancey. It grew to become this pure development of, “Let’s rejoice.” Like Alisa mentioned, let’s rejoice the truth that we acquired by way of all of that – that we’re out and proud, residing our dream, and assured in who we’re. This album felt like a celebration of how far we’ve come from these 4 children in Orem, Utah, moving into who we actually are as adults now. The entire thing was simply actually enjoyable. None of it was severe. We have been going by way of ups and downs, each as a band and personally, however we’d present up, and the music grew to become a option to really feel higher and transfer by way of every thing. It grew to become this beacon of sunshine for us – an area the place we may present up and be the very best variations of ourselves.

We type of packaged up that attractive confidence – our voice, the best way we speak to one another – and I feel you possibly can hear that on songs like “Jealous,” “She Likes Me,” and even “I’m Candy (I’m Imply).” That one’s a bit heartbroken and offended, however we’re utilizing phrases like doozy and goofy. It was a lot about wordplay, having enjoyable, and talking in our distinctive voice – saying issues we’d truly say to one another, like, “Rattling, that lady’s appearing f*ing goofy.” It was all enjoyable and energetic, and it’s about confidence, leaving outdated stuff behind, and moving into a brand new model of your self.

Gold Star Child is a celebration of queerness and euphoric escapist pop. Are you able to share the story of this album’s creation?

Alisa Ramirez: Like Cristal talked about earlier than, our foremost aim with this file was simply to have enjoyable and create one thing individuals may have enjoyable to and escape to. I feel that’s what we do finest. Even after we make music that’s extra somber or unhappy, it seems like house base for us to decorate it up in enjoyable disco or four-on-the-floor beats. That’s how we have been raised to narrate to music. At the very least for me and Cristal, after we have been unhappy, our mother would say, “Let’s activate some disco and dance till we really feel higher.” That was the vibe after we have been children – and it was a fairly cute treatment.

From a really younger age, that’s how we constructed our relationship to music. Disco was a few of the first music we ever heard. So after we went into making a file we wished to really feel enjoyable, our first intuition was, “Let’s make a disco file.” It’s simply essentially the most enjoyable, attractive style ever – it’s birthed each cool style since. It felt native to us.

We constructed this file into the world of Gold Star Child being a membership. We’re the in-house band that lives there – possibly it’s a bit classic – and there’s an entire universe of people that go to this membership, what they put on, what the vibe is. That’s the world we wish individuals to step into after they take heed to this file.

That’s why we have now the interludes and intros – issues that make it really feel immersive, like there’s rather a lot to seize onto and take part in in the event you’re a fan. We tried to color a vivid image of what going to Gold Star Child could be like, and we actually need to carry that to life on tour too. It’s about taking over your house, feeling snug in your pores and skin, having enjoyable, not caring what individuals assume – simply locking in with your self and your pals and having a good time.

McKenna Petty: I really feel like The Aces have at all times been about making a secure haven for us and for different individuals – whether or not it’s our reveals or our music – a spot the place individuals can come and really feel understood and really feel like they’ll go away all of the hardship of life behind. Gold Star Child is the epitome of that – absolutely realized in the best way we wished to create this entire world and this expertise for individuals to flee into. That’s what we have been doing throughout the making of this album, and that’s what the band has at all times represented to us.

Katie, you emerged on this album as a badass producer.

Katie Henderson: Thanks. Truthfully, I might simply say that I used to be the fingers on the keys, but it surely was actually the 4 of us creating one thing particular collectively. All of our concepts got here collectively, and being the one to assist get that out was a very particular expertise for me. However I actually really feel just like the 4 of us produced this file collectively.

McKenna Petty: Don’t promote your self brief.

Alisa Ramirez: Sure. Katie’s being humble.

Cristal Ramirez: Katie’s positively being humble. Katie put in numerous arduous work.

Alisa Ramirez: Numerous work. Numerous work. Positively all type of government producer, Katie actually constructed out these tracks, and clearly we had fingers in that too. However she’s underselling herself.

McKenna Petty: A particular a part of this album, too, is that we at all times knew she had this wonderful reward and expertise, and with the ability to see that absolutely realized has been unimaginable. I’m simply tremendous proud – it’s been so particular.

Katie, what was your expertise diving into the world of manufacturing?

Katie Henderson: I feel I used to be always asking inquiries to producers we’d labored with previously – even a couple of of the producers on this file, like Christian Medice, Keith Varon, and Aaron Shadrow. I used to be in a position to freely ask questions, and Christian was so collaborative and such an incredible producer to work with. He was actually encouraging to me whereas we have been making this album. I additionally took courses a couple of years in the past and simply saved chipping away, attempting to get to a spot the place I may do that with the women.

One in every of my favourite recollections from making the file was when the thought for “Jealous” got here to me – that guitar line and beat. I had this overwhelming pleasure handy it off to lyricists like Cristal and Alisa and simply see what would occur. There have been moments like that all through the file – like having a easy drum beat or concept for “Hearth within the Gap” and giving the bass to Ken, the guitar to Cris, and watching it unfold. Being a bit little bit of a gateway to their creativity was actually fulfilling for me, and people are my most cherished recollections from making the file.

With “Spending the Night time,” I didn’t even see Alisa earlier than it was completed. I used to be taking part in piano within the studio, and Cristal got here in and mentioned, “I like that chord development. What in the event you go right here? What if we modify this be aware?” I saved taking part in, after which Alisa got here in as Cristal walked out to the kitchen. They wrote the entire music in about 20 minutes. By the point I tracked the keys and acquired a bar down, they got here again in and mentioned, “It’s completed.” We recorded it in about an hour.

These experiences have been so particular – having an concept that would spark one thing in them, after which all 4 of us ending it collectively. We have been so excited, sending the Dropbox backwards and forwards like, “Guys, I feel this music’s a success. This music’s such a banger.” It was only a actually enjoyable expertise.

The DJ who introduces the file tells listeners that “the baddest, the raddest, make you go the maddest, The Aces will likely be serenading us with sounds of attractive disco pop magic all by way of the night time.” You primarily set the scene by asserting a musical shift of types and type of making a gift of to all people what’s about to occur subsequent. What impressed you all to bounce with disco, so to talk?

Katie Henderson: Alisa wrote that. Alisa had the thought to do it, so Alisa, you’re taking the ground.

Alisa Ramirez: With disco – if you already know the historical past of it, which I’m positive you do, you appear to be a complete music historical past buff – it’s simply essentially the most wonderful, liberating, political, badass style. It was music for minorities and individuals who have been misfits in society. The disco motion and tradition have been born out of basements, giving queer individuals and non-white individuals a secure house to be at liberty and discover.

I’ve at all times liked disco, however for this file I actually dove into its historical past. It made sense – no marvel it’s been such an intrinsic love all my life and for my mother and father. This style is such a giant a part of who I’m. After we have been constructing this file, the thought to do an intro like that felt pure, paying homage to well-known disco jockeys like Frankie Crocker and different voices of that period.

The power they introduced simply doesn’t actually exist anymore. The closest factor we have now now might be hip-hop, which advanced from disco and carries that very same sense of innovation and angle. We wished to seize that spirit – the arrogance and group of what disco was. I really feel like our band can carry that power now, being queer and half Latina, and with what our reveals have grow to be for the queer group. It felt like a pure match to dive absolutely into disco.

Who have been a few of your largest disco inspirations?

Alisa Ramirez: Throughout the board, there are such a lot of legends – Earth, Wind & Hearth, Michael Jackson, the Bee Gees, Diana Ross, Donna Summer season. It virtually felt like a giant parade of inspiration, diving into so many sounds. I even made a disco playlist of over 100 artists and songs that simply felt thrilling.

One thing we talked about rather a lot – particularly with Katie producing – was doing disco our method. We wished it to really feel like The Aces and sound trendy. We’re a four-piece band; we don’t have a horn or string part. We’re not the Commodores or Earth, Wind & Hearth, so we had to determine learn how to discover our disco roots as an indie rock band. That’s the place the sound acquired thrilling and distinctive to us.

We additionally began incorporating Latin percussion. Exploring me and Cristal’s Latino heritage has been one thing we’ve actually wished to do, and I really feel like we began sprinkling that in with this file and are excited to do much more of that.

One of many actually cool issues about exploring completely different genres and types of music is that your devices tackle completely different tasks. In indie rock, the guitar is usually the driving pressure; it’s a voice simply as a lot because the vocal is. However with funk, and I feel disco as effectively, the guitar nonetheless performs an essential position, although it’s usually a part of the rhythm part alongside the bass. Everybody’s trying to the drummer, determining the beat collectively in a method that doesn’t actually occur as a lot in rock music.
So what was it like studying new relationships along with your devices? And I’d love to listen to extra about the way you began incorporating your individual heritage into the songs.

Katie Henderson: Cristal talked about how our first file additionally has numerous these disco parts, and I really feel like you possibly can hear that within the bass and guitar, too. The guitars are actually rhythmic, which may be very disco. On this file, particularly, you possibly can hear Ken’s bass taking part in – it seems like her, however with these added disco bass parts, going backwards and forwards and incorporating little issues. These parts have at all times type of been in us; it was nearly diving deeper into them.

Alisa actually acquired into congas and completely different percussion. “She Likes Me” was particularly enjoyable as a result of we went into the studio and simply threw every thing out. Alisa mentioned, “Let’s experiment with all these completely different sounds,” and we ended up going for extra of a bachata beat as a substitute of a four-on-the-floor type of factor. It was actually cool to experiment with that, but it surely nonetheless feels very Aces.

McKenna Petty: I didn’t really feel prefer it was an entire new factor. It seems like that is in our roots simply as a lot because the indie rock facet of us. It’s at all times been this mix. When My Coronary heart Felt Volcanic and Beneath My Affect really feel so much like Gold Star Child in numerous methods. It felt actually pure.

Cristal Ramirez: For those who take heed to our earliest songs – “Caught,” “Sturdy Sufficient,” “Vacation” – all of them have disco roots. We’ve at all times referenced disco all through our profession, and we’ve at all times mentioned that. Disco has at all times been type of the basis be aware of The Aces. On this file, we simply determined to essentially go for it, in a heavier-hitting method – and aesthetically, too.

Katie Henderson: I even really feel like Cristal pushed herself vocally in new methods. The ad-libs on “Spending the Night time,” for instance – that prime be aware on the finish is wild. She actually leaned into various things whereas nonetheless sounding like herself. Her pure instincts are there, however she pushed that disco, Bee Gees, ABBA type of power within the melodies, and it actually shines by way of.

Cristal Ramirez: Rising up, the kind of music we listened to – like Michael Jackson, The Pointer Sisters, Earth, Wind & Hearth, The Commodores, and Future’s Baby – that was what taught me to sing. My mother and father would always have these artists on, the place melody is God. The melody drives every thing. These songs are so iconic, and the vocals are the focus.

That’s at all times been Alisa’s and my intuition as writers – melody is king. We be sure that the melody is the place we wish it to be earlier than we even write lyrics. This file actually lent itself to that, as a result of in disco, the melody is in your face – it’s enjoyable, it’s daring, it’s the vocal level of the music.

I naturally are inclined to sing that method, however much more so on this file, it was about going for these large moments – actually sending it. Even “Gold Star Child” – that entire refrain has this push that’s in your face and a bit aggressive, in a method that seems like being in a membership, dancing, yelling alongside. It’s energetic, and it enhances the entire narrative.

How literal was this mandate of constructing a disco file? Did you speak about it, or did it occur organically, and all of the sudden you wakened and the subsequent album was a disco file?

Cristal Ramirez: I feel it was a mixture of each. Alisa and I had a very lengthy dialog on the telephone after we completed our world tour, and I bear in mind it vividly. It was late at night time, and we have been speaking about every thing – what sort of music we wished to make subsequent, after we even wished to start out once more. We’d been touring for nearly a 12 months and a half straight, and I bear in mind saying, “I simply need to make enjoyable stuff. That’s all I really feel referred to as to. I would like pop hits. I would like it to be mild. I need to make music we will dance to. I would like our reveals to really feel lighter after I’ve Liked You For So Lengthy.”

These reveals have been so particular and exquisite, however they have been essentially the most cathartic and emotional reveals we’d ever performed – each for us and for our followers. I’d look out into the group and see individuals crying, and I don’t assume I’d actually ready myself for that emotional trade occurring each night time for over a 12 months.

We have been sharing actually intimate tales – moments of self-loathing, confusion, and darkness – and going to that psychological house nightly was arduous. I didn’t anticipate how troublesome it could be. Once I got here off that tour, I felt like I had actually processed all of it, particularly as a singer performing these phrases each night time. I do know the women felt the identical. All of us got here off the tour feeling prefer it had been an attractive second, but additionally realizing that the place The Aces shine most is in dancing by way of that heaviness, transferring by way of it.

I bear in mind being on the telephone with Alisa and saying, “Let’s do one thing enjoyable. We now have to rejoice. We now have to shake it off.” I really feel like our followers look to us for hope – and we glance to our band for hope. That felt just like the pure development, which led to Alisa saying, “What if we make a disco file?” We have been already making disco-adjacent songs, as a result of that’s at all times been a part of our core influences. We wished to bounce, so we have been already like, “4 to the ground, Katie, give us a cool guitar line, Ken, give us a cool bass.” After which Alisa mentioned, “No, actually – what if we make a disco file?”

At first, I used to be like, “Cease telling me what the file’s gonna be! I don’t know what I’m making but.” I’d get bugged at her, and she or he’d go, “No, I’m telling you, we have now to make a disco file – it’s going to be so enjoyable.” She was diving into the historical past of disco and all of the movies round it, and she or he’d name me saying, “The historical past is so cool – it’s so rooted in queerness. We now have to make a disco file.”

And I’d say, “I’m an artist – I don’t know what I’m making but! Stop telling me!” However naturally, we began to return to this place the place I spotted she was proper – and it was so enjoyable. It was precisely what I wished to make. Katie and Ken have been having a lot enjoyable with it too. So it was each: we naturally fell into it, and Alisa had this robust concept she pushed for. All of it lined up completely, and we began going into classes deliberately saying, “Okay, we’re writing a dancey disco pop file.” It was cool to have that lightning rod of intention, as a result of we’d by no means actually completed that earlier than.

McKenna Petty: It’s cool listening to you speak about it, Cris, as a result of it makes a lot sense. I’m type of a science nerd – I really like studying about trauma and the method of therapeutic – and it’s truly research-based and trauma-informed that after you undergo the speaking half, the subsequent step to completely full the circle is motion. It’s a must to transfer your physique to maneuver by way of all of it.

That’s what this seems like. I’ve Liked You For So Lengthy was the speaking half – and now we need to dance by way of it, to maneuver. I feel it’s actually essential to do each.

Katie Henderson: After we wrote “Gold Star Child,” that was the second every thing clicked. After we had the dialog about making it the album title, it tied the entire world of the file collectively. As soon as we landed on that, it pushed every thing else ahead. It felt like, “Oh, it is a full, full, lovely disco file.” It simply felt full.

Why the title “Gold Star Child”?

Cristal Ramirez: We wrote “Gold Star Child,” and I feel all of us collectively knew it was a very particular anchor music for the file. Sonically, it was precisely what we wished to do – so disco, so enjoyable, so dancey. That refrain actually shines; it’s daring, it’s virtually a chant. It captured every thing we wished sonically, and lyrically it hit that good stability of double entendre and vivid imagery. It checked all of the bins and felt like the right anchor music.

After we have been placing the tracklist collectively and desirous about what to name the album, the idea of Gold Star Child felt good – a bit eerie, mysterious, and open-ended. It paints such a transparent image in my thoughts of colour and vibe. To me, everybody’s a Gold Star Child – it’s the most well liked, shiniest, sexiest model of your self. It’s a persona to step into. I bear in mind saying to Alisa, “I feel we should always name the file Gold Star Child,” and she or he was like, “You actually took the phrases out of my mouth.” Then we went over to Katie’s, and as quickly as I mentioned it, everybody instantly agreed.

Katie Henderson: It was simply there. It made a lot sense – we didn’t even have to consider it.

Cristal Ramirez: It’s humorous as a result of we by no means actually overthink our album titles. They simply type of current themselves. When My Coronary heart Felt Volcanic got here from an Edgar Allan Poe quote I noticed on Tumblr. I believed it was so sick and advised the women, and everybody liked it instantly. Beneath My Affect was the identical – Alisa got here up with it and mentioned, “What if we name it Beneath My Affect? Such as you’re coming beneath the affect of our band.” It felt punk and funky, and we have been like, “Yeah, f* yeah, that’s it.”

With I’ve Liked You For So Lengthy, it felt like a love letter to ourselves – the anchor music of that file, about coming house and revisiting recollections. All of our album titles really feel like these little presents that simply arrive in our brains. We by no means query them. It’s in all probability the one a part of our profession we don’t stew over or hyper-analyze.

That is in all probability for the very best, particularly when every thing else causes a lot grief, for good causes. Let’s stick on the title observe for another minute. “I am a gold star child, oh, I am so distinctive. You need to study some issues? I do it in a different way.” What does it imply to be a “Gold Star Child”?

McKenna Petty: No matter you need to be…

Cristal Ramirez: Being numerous issues.

Katie Henderson: That could be a query you have to ask your self, Mitch.

Cristal Ramirez: What does it imply? What does it imply to you, Mitch, to be a Gold Star Child? That’s the query we’re asking all people. What does it imply to you?

It seems like this observe is the cornerstone, each sonically and thematically, to the file. Would that be correct?

Cristal Ramirez: I feel it’s positively a giant cornerstone, for positive. Songs like “Jealous” and “The Magic” have been the primary we wrote for the file, they usually actually set the tone. These two songs seize what this file is about in numerous methods. There’s exploration of a relationship that comes collectively and falls aside – and I feel, as younger queer individuals, going by way of these relationships in your 20s is such a core a part of queer adolescence. We positively discover that.

However I feel the true cornerstones of the file are the self – the attractive, assured songs. These have been written very deliberately, and I’ve to offer Alisa numerous credit score for that. I bear in mind going into classes, being the extra delicate one, able to discover emotions, and Alisa was like, “I don’t need to speak about any of that. I simply need to speak about being scorching and having enjoyable.” And I used to be like, “Really, so actual.” We determined, okay, this one’s nearly placing in your favourite outfit, ordering your favourite drink, and flirting with somebody. It’s not that severe – and it really works.

The loopy half is, in the event you got down to make one thing that makes you’re feeling attractive and lightweight and enjoyable, that power interprets by way of the music. It makes different individuals really feel that method too. That’s what we have been chasing. We had simply come off a very intense tour, and it was like, didn’t we are saying we wished to have enjoyable? Let’s even have enjoyable – in a method that’s genuine to us. Everybody may use an album they’ll simply have a blast to. Shit’s f*ed up sufficient.

“Stroke” is one other private favourite of mine. That music is only a jam, and it hits in all the precise methods. What’s that music about for y’all?

Katie Henderson: Sure, I really like that music. It’s simply having its second as a result of I’ve at all times liked that music.

Cristal Ramirez: That music’s superior. We labored with this wonderful songwriter, Simon Wilcox, who we’ve collaborated with earlier than – she wrote on Beneath My Affect with us. She’s unimaginable. She at all times brings in the very best phrases, ideas, and power. It was me, Alisa, Simon, and Katie within the room, and I feel it was Katie’s first time actually producing for a session that included one other songwriter – not simply us.

Katie Henderson: Yeah, and I used to be so nervous about it. However Simon’s so heat. We spent a very long time simply speaking about what we have been making. She actually wished to know the world we have been residing in whereas creating these songs, and that made it such a simple house to be in. However I used to be positively nervous that day.

Cristal Ramirez: Katie killed it, although. I may inform she was nervous – she was flying round between the guitar and the keys, attempting to give you one thing. We began with a unique concept that none of us have been actually into. I lastly mentioned, “I’m not feeling this,” and Alisa was like, “Identical.” So we shifted, and Katie began taking part in that guitar line. It instantly felt so basic Aces to me – I used to be like, “We’d like one thing like that on the file.” Each band wants a tried-and-true sound you possibly can acknowledge, and I feel “Stroke” is that for us. [Cristal’s phone dies]

Katie Henderson: Possibly her telephone died or one thing – however yeah, I can proceed what she was saying. “Stroke” actually does have that Aces sound. After we have been first engaged on concepts, we advised Simon we wished every thing to have this “funky hen” power – every thing was so funky. The primary few concepts weren’t fairly there, and Simon simply sat there and mentioned, “It’s not funky hen sufficient.” Then after we began taking part in that guitar line and constructing the observe, she was like, “That is it.”

We experimented rather a lot – we even added these “ah-oohs” that “The Magic” has, and Simon liked them. It was so enjoyable. She saved pushing us to dig deeper, to carry out extra of ourselves. It was only a nice expertise making that music along with her. [Cristal returns]

Cristal Ramirez: Sorry, my telephone actually died within the center. I’m positive Katie wrapped it up fantastically. That music was so enjoyable to make, and Simon actually pushed us to maintain it easy. I bear in mind we had this joke, after which Alisa and I wished to go someplace else melodically, and she or he mentioned, “No – say ‘stroke’ time and again.” We have been like, “Isn’t that too redundant?” And he or she mentioned, “You possibly can’t be afraid of simplicity. I’m telling you.” And I used to be like, “Properly, you’ve acquired the hits, so I’m gonna take heed to you.”

McKenna Petty: What I really like about “Stroke,” and numerous songs on the file, is that they’re about private expertise. It’s about different individuals and these amorous affairs, however actually it’s about you. That’s such an fascinating lyrical theme – like “She Likes Me,” it’s about your interior expertise, feeling attractive and scorching, and the way relationships have an effect on you and the way you’re feeling.

Cristal Ramirez: Precisely.

Katie Henderson: It’s attractive. It’s so attractive.

Cristal Ramirez: Even after we write love songs, they’re about how I really feel. It’s not a couple of back-and-forth between two individuals – it’s, “I’m with the most well liked lady within the room,” or, “Stroke my ego, inform me I’m scorching.” You’re the primary character all through the entire file. Everybody else – the love pursuits, the individuals, the events – they’re orbiting round you. You’re at all times on the heart. That was such a enjoyable and distinctive option to discover all these narratives – conserving you on the coronary heart of it, whether or not you’re the listener or the one singing the phrases.

That is actually cool. So, I’m the primary character in my model of this music.

Cristal Ramirez: After all.

That is the way you get the funky hen.

Katie Henderson: I advised him in regards to the funky hen take a look at.

She advised me in regards to the funky hen take a look at.

Katie Henderson: Funky hen.

What are a few of your favourite tracks of this file? What are the highlights that you just hope individuals actually take heed to?

McKenna Petty: I’ll go first. I really feel like “Twin Flame” is a quintessential Aces music. Sonically, that’s one other cornerstone of this album – it checks each field of what we have been going for. It’s so enjoyable, so energetic, and does precisely what we wished this file to do. So I’d say “Twin Flame” is my favourite proper now.

Katie Henderson: Oh yeah. “Stroke” has at all times been certainly one of my favorites – I really like that music. And I really like “Twin Flame” a lot, too. I can’t assist it, however… I’m sorry, “Hearth within the Gap” is a banger. It goes so arduous.

Cristal Ramirez: The 2 I’ve been going between essentially the most this previous month are “She Likes Me” and “Hearth within the Gap.” “She Likes Me” has that good Latin affect – a part of me actually desires to do a full Spanish model of it as a result of it could go loopy.

Cristal Ramirez: Or at the very least the outro in Spanish. We’d like a bit Spanish in there. However yeah, “She Likes Me” is certainly one of my favorites on the file. And “Hearth within the Gap” – I really like that one as a result of it’s in all probability essentially the most easy disco music on the album. After we wrote it, we have been chasing a Bee Gees second – we wished to go excessive, hold it shimmery and harmony-heavy. I really like that music. It’s such a vibe. Each time I begin the file, that’s one of many first ones I’m going to.

Alisa Ramirez: Yeah, I feel “She Likes Me” is what I’ll choose immediately. It’s such a enjoyable music, and within the context of every thing else we’ve made, I really feel actually pleased with that one.

She acquired pilates at six am
Then she’s acquired breaking your coronary heart at ten
She’s such a hottie
It’s not simply in her physique
It’s in the best way she speaks and her mind
And I bear in mind the night time we met
It was a full on competitors
Trigger all of the boys need her, and all the women too
However we locked eyes from throughout the room

You want her lengthy hair
Her hour glass determine
However she likes me
She likes me
You want her full lips
The curvature of her hips
However she likes me
She likes me
Oh I’m possessive
And I can get aggressive
You possibly can look don’t contact
Look don’t contact
You would like you had her
However she’s with somebody badder
And he or she likes me
She likes me

What do you hope listeners finally take away from Gold Star Child, and what have you ever taken away from creating it and now placing it out into the world?

McKenna Petty: I’d simply say that life is supposed to be celebrated. Despite the fact that the world feels so scary and it may be arduous generally, it’s essential to rejoice – to bounce, to have enjoyable with your pals, to really feel attractive and assured. On the finish of the day, that’s all we actually can do, and it’s essential.

Cristal Ramirez: Yeah, I agree. I simply need individuals to placed on their favourite outfit and dance within the mirror. This album is supposed to be enjoyable and celebrated. I hope our followers can take it and, wherever they’re in life – whether or not they’re going by way of a queer journey or another second – discover a temporary escape in it. A little bit of pleasure and celebration.

Be enthusiastic about how far you’ve come, who you might be, and step into the model of your self you need to be – even when it’s simply during the present or whereas listening to the file. If, for these 45 minutes, you possibly can be at liberty and absolutely your self, that’s every thing. That’s why I take heed to music – to really feel like essentially the most realized, larger-than-life model of me. I hope it may be that for anybody who listens.

Katie Henderson: Agreed.

Within the spirit of paying it ahead, who’re you all listening to today that you’d suggest to our readers?

Cristal Ramirez: Oh, that’s good. I’m on Karol G all day lengthy. I simply take heed to Karol G. I activate Latina Eternally once I have to kill a bug in my toilet, and it will get me by way of it.

Alisa Ramirez: Does it pump you up?

Cristal Ramirez: It pumps me up. So yeah, I’m listening to numerous Karol G proper now.

Katie Henderson: I do know Alisa and I’ve been listening to 54 Extremely.

Alisa Ramirez: Yeah, 54 Extremely is sick. I’ve additionally been listening to numerous Cris MJ – he’s so sick.

McKenna Petty: I’ve been listening to our Spotify Mix playlist each time I work out, and it’s truly so fireplace. Your entire enjoyable Spanish songs hold developing – I’m like squatting to them.

Katie Henderson: Yeah.

Alisa Ramirez: I’ve additionally been loving Debbii Dawson. She’s actually good.

Katie Henderson: I’ve been listening to numerous Little Dragon, too. They’re so enjoyable.

McKenna Petty: Do you want Debbii Dawson too?

Cristal Ramirez: I used to be actually gonna say that! Within the spirit of speaking about disco artists – in the event you haven’t listened to Debbii Dawson, she’s doing a little wild stuff. She seems like modern-day ABBA, and I don’t know the way she does it or who she’s working with, however I would like albums on albums from her.

McKenna Petty: If ABBA and Dolly Parton had a child, it’d be her. We’re large followers.

Cristal Ramirez: She’s f*ing sick.

— —