Nine Songs: The Aces

Nine Songs

The Aces

The Utah four-piece talk the songs that made them

07 September 2018, 09:00 | Words by Matthew Kent

(The Aces) (Nine Songs)

The pivotal songs in The Aces lives’ have not only provided inspiration for the music they write together, but how the four of them see the world.

Growing up surrounded by music instilled a desire to tell their own musical stories. When we meet in London, the Utah band - sisters Cristal and Alisa Ramirez and their long-time friends McKenna Petty and Katie Henderson - speak of their delight in playing to audiences all over the world. Cristal explains "It’s so amazing that we can go to other countries and people come to our shows, it feels really rewarding."

The Aces began writing together when they were children and their debut album When My Heart Felt Volcanic has effectively been a lifetime in the making. Alisa tells us “your first record is basically your life’s work. It’s the first thing you’ve put out in your entire life, it’s how people get to know you and start to see the full package of what The Aces is."

As well as providing a soundtrack to their childhood, the songs they fell in love with served as both inspirations and aspirations. Their shared love of Paramore charts their growth as musicians, from having posters of Hayley Williams on their walls to dissecting the storytelling and iconography of “Misery Business." Each of them bring their eclectic tastes to the mix, which takes in the relatability of a lyric by The 1975 that helped to provide an escape from small town conservatism, the euphoria of a disco classic and songs their parents handed down to them. The four of them are now taking on the baton and the songs here are a story of a love of music.

“Settle Down” by The 1975

Alisa: “There’s something about The 1975’s music ‘Settle Down’ especially, it’s a really important song to me and I connect with it really deeply. The rhythm is amazing, the beat, the guitars, everything’s amazing and I can’t sit still when I hear it. I was listening to their first record when we started writing our album and a lot of those sounds and tones really rubbed off on me and were referenced for a lot of the music that we make.

“It’s the lyrics and what it’s about that are so inspiring and special to me though. I love the line ‘For crying out loud, settle down / You know I can’t be found with you’, it’s like this secretive thing. Matty mentioned he wrote it about thinking about a gay experience and I’ve dated women in my life, so I related to that a lot.

“I grew up in a very conservative town where that wasn’t totally accepted, so growing up it was something I could relate to. I love how he talks about never learning his lesson in the pre-chorus; ‘You’re cold and I burn, I guess I’ll never learn.’ You keep trying with those people and maybe you shouldn’t.”

“You Rock My World” by Michael Jackson

Alisa: “MJ is my all-time favourite artist. I have a hard time picking my favourite song of his but ‘You Rock My World’ has always been a special one to me because there’s something about the whole vibe. The way ‘You Rock My World’ sounds is the epitome of my favourite music, it’s so funky and sexy and it just makes me feel really good.

“I’ve been listening to this song all of my life; Cristal and I grew up in a household where Michael Jackson was constantly playing and I think those kind of R&B and funk sounds are in our veins. We’ve had sessions where we’ve sat down and played Michael Jackson with his vocals soloed out, just blasting them through the bass speakers and getting inspiration from how passionate he is when he sings and how much he gives.

“He so effortlessly and coolly talks about being in love and that’s one of my favourite things about him. He can write about one of the most positive and uplifting things, but somehow he’s never cheesy.”

“Let’s Groove” by Earth, Wind & Fire

Cristal: “Earth, Wind & Fire is a huge one for me; we’re playing a festival in Napa Valley and they’re headlining, so that will be insane. My parents constantly played them when I was growing up, when I was waking up for school they’d blast ‘Let’s Groove’ and other songs like ‘September.’

“As a songwriter those interesting, high-energy vocals really come through for me and because I grew up listening to that I’m very influenced by them. ‘Let’s Groove’ is very much in my bones and I write melodies like that, our song ‘Stuck’ is very high in that way and it differs a lot in its melodies, so it keeps you entertained the whole time.

“They’re so feel-good and there’s something about them that makes you feel better. That’s something we really try to do with our music, to make it an escape and a healing process, or even just a moment where you can turn on the song and feel good. No matter what you’re going through or what your day is like, you can have that second to escape and feel excited. I think with Earth, Wind & Fire you just turn it on and you’re like ‘let’s dance, let’s get down.’”

“The Con” by Tegan and Sara

Cristal: “Tegan and Sara have been huge for me and I really fell in love with them when I was graduating from high school in my senior year. That was a strange year - you’re coming of age, you’re figuring things out, becoming an adult and turning eighteen and I listened to this record so much, there was something about it that felt so raw.

“There’s a lot of acoustic versions of their songs, where it’s just the simplicity of a very passionate vocal and a guitar and you can really feel that. It reminded me of why I wanted to be a musician again; we’ve been in this band since I was ten and Alisa was eight, it was eight years by that point and when you’re 18 and you definitely have those moments. I think anyone with any kind of passion or creative endeavour has moments like ‘Oh God, do I want to do this? I am even any good at this?’

“With this record Tegan and Sara brought out that passion in me again. It reignited my song-writing, it gave me this new perspective and a taste in my mouth that excited me at a time in my life when I really needed it. I keep an eye on them and everything they do, I’ll always be a lifelong fan.”

“I Want You To Want Me” by Cheap Trick

Katie: “My Dad listened to a lot of classic ‘80s music and ‘80s rock bands like Cheap Trick, The B-52's and that kind of stuff. I used to play sports when I was growing up and that was something me and my Dad always went to together, he would take me to all of my games, we’d drive back together, talk about how the game went and he would always play Cheap Trick.

“He’d play ‘I Want You To Want Me’ and tell me “You should play this Katie, you should cover this song” and it’s such a good memory for me. My Dad was so encouraging for me to play the guitar and that era of music inspired me a lot.

“I was in fifth grade, so I was ten years old and I remember playing it all the time and daydreaming to it, it’s insane with these big, crazy guitar solos. There was a sixth grade talent show coming up and I had a couple of my best friends that I’d jam with and we thought we could play the song. There’s this big call and answer chant in the chorus, with the crowd chanting and I used to daydream that I’d play the guitar and I could get my sixth grade class to chant that back.”

“Reptilia” by The Strokes

Katie: “I started playing the guitar when I was seven. I’d taught myself bass-lines and power chords but I stayed at pretty much at the same level until I made a couple of new friends who were better musicians. This was before I met these guys, we wanted to make a band and be serious about it.

“I was in sixth grade and me and my friends used to listen to ‘Reptilia’ a lot. It’s the kind of song where everyone’s heard it, but you don’t realise it’s that song until you hear the solo. I was starting to mature with my guitar playing at that point and I thought “This solo is the first one I’m going to nail and really be good at.” It was the first song I really worked hard at, I learned the solo and that’s when I became a much better guitar player and really took it up a level.

“We got to meet him in New York, I told him this was the first solo I ever learned and he was like ‘No way!’ He was at our show and that was crazy, he’s a really nice guy.”

“Wild Child” by Enya

McKenna: “It’s funny, I’m not a Celtic music fan but I love Enya, it’s so different to what I usually listen to. I like all types of music but when we’re on tour I can’t even listen to normal music, so I’ll just turn on Enya for days. Enya, for some reason, at any time and I’m so soothed by it.

“I was actually born to this song, I was literally coming out of the womb to it and it’s really special to me. It’s called ‘Wild Child’ which I love, and the message of it is to be yourself. I just love that I was born to it, it reminds me a lot of the strong women in my life, like my Mum and my Sister. My Sister just had a little girl and they played Enya too, so it’s a family tradition now.

"Enya is so interesting, I read that she was in this castle and never left Ireland. I think it’s so cool how pure it all is, she’s an artist and she got pretty big, but she didn’t care about all of that."

“Don’t Panic” by Coldplay

McKenna: “Coldplay were the first band that I loved and they’ve always been one of my all-time favourite bands. I remember my Mum got a Coldplay CD when I was ten or eleven, I listened to it a lot and it inspired me to be in a band.

“I’ve always loved the message of this song, basically the whole thing is that we live in a beautiful world, but don’t panic. It helps me a lot, because I get anxious a lot of the time and I think it’s a good message.

“I saw them play ‘Don’t Panic’ live in San Francisco, they played it acoustically and it was so good. I like their older stuff because it’s more nostalgic to me, but the first time I saw them live was for the newer stuff and I still loved it. I think their career is amazing and I really look up to them. They’ve have such good messages in all of their music.”

“Misery Business” by Paramore

Cristal: “Hayley Williams has been one of my main inspirations for as long as I can remember, as a front person she’s so commanding and so amazing. Her voice is effortless and flawless, you can tell she’s really taken care of her voice and knows how to use it.

Alisa: “We love their new album, we listened to it a lot when we were making our album.

Cristal: “It’s such a huge influence, Paramore are one of our original, original influences. We were influenced by them at a very young age and we’d watch their music videos on our parents’ computers.

Alisa: “I can remember this video in my head to a tee because I watched it so much.

Katie: “I remember watching the video and there’s that part where she’s cutting her hair off and everything, it was so visual for me.

Cristal: “100% I see it, I can see all the writing everywhere. It was really iconic for us to look up to Hayley Williams and Zac Farro on drums, as musicians we fell in love with them.

Alisa: “I was probably 10 or 11 years old and that was probably the first time I thought about having a favourite band and Paramore became my favourite band. Then I remember being in a sixth grade interview and I said ‘Hayley Williams is my hero.’ ‘Misery Business’ was such a jam, especially at that junior high age. They played it when I finally saw them live three years ago, they’re so good live and no one matches Hayley’s energy.

Katie: “I met McKenna when we were in junior high at 13 years old and they’d already been together a little while. I remember I went over to their house to play with them they had a Paramore poster up and I was thinking ‘OK, we like the same thing.’

McKenna: “We had their poster up in our band room…

Cristal: “…and we were writing songs trying to copy ‘Misery Business.’

Alisa: “At that age I don’t think I fully realised what that song was about.

McKenna: “I totally talked about it with my cousin.

Cristal: “I love the bridge - ‘I watched his wildest dreams come true, not one of them involving you.’ I think that’s such a cutting lyric, that ‘shit, wow!’ to be everything he ever wanted and for that to have nothing to do with you is just so good.

Alisa: "The way they tell the story is so interesting, they paint the picture so clearly and I love that.

Cristal: “Hayley and her incredible lyrics, she’s such an amazing storyteller. She very much paints a colour and a mood that you can really get into. With ‘Misery Business’ you’re running through a movie in your head, because she’s painting it and setting up this crazy story of her wanting this guy, this girl gets involved to spite her and she gets him in the end. It’s so angsty and so over the top, but it’s such a story and that’s what she’s amazing at.”