#IMMUSICMONDAYS: The Aces Delve Into the Sounds and Meaning of Their Music
The Aces are an alternative pop band from Utah and released their first single
“Stuck” in 2016, and since then have gone on to release the EP ‘I Don’t Like
Being Honest,’ and the albums ‘When My Heart Felt Volcanic,’ and ‘Under My Influence.’ IndustryMe sat
down with The Aces to discuss artistry, heartbreak, their influences, queer love and
the recent single “Girls Make Me Wanna Die.”
Tell me about the influence behind “Girls Make Me Wanna Die.”
“Girls Make Me Wanna Die” is about first love, and specifically, queer first
love. Or young, unrequited love, really. It’s about falling in love with somebody
who doesn’t love you back or someone you just simply can’t be together with,
and it’s so aggravating that you wanna die.
Do you think your sound is going to change since the sophomore album? What
direction would you say The Aces are headed in?
It’s definitely changing quite a bit. We’re kind of rerouting in the sound of the
music we made when we were younger, which (was) a lot more indie and Rock, and
just more stripped back, so it’s pretty different than ‘Under My Influence.’
Your music has been described as unapologetic, raw, and honest. Was that a
conscious decision to write in this way when curating the project?
That’s always a funny question to us because I don’t really know as an artist if
there’s a choice in that. I mean there is, but I think the type of artist we are, that
wasn’t really a question. We’re artists for a reason, right? This is what we do;
we express our lives and our feelings and all these things. That’s just part of
the job; hopefully being honest and raw and opening yourself up to create
something. That’s just the kind of artist we are. There are all kinds of artists.
Some artists might not want to be as soul-bearing through their lyrics. Some
artists keep it lighter. But I think we like to use our art as an outlet and as our
journal.
Do you find writing songs about romantic relationships with women different from
ones you’ve written that are more ambiguous?
No. It’s really whether you use gender pronouns or not. That’s the only
difference. I don’t really find it different at all. I think the world can find it
different and that’s daunting. Like yeah, this is queer, and people have
something to say about that. But us as the people writing, I don’t feel like it’s
different. It feels normal and natural.
You’ve been described as alt-pop and your name has been connected to artists like
King Princess and the 1975. Do you identify with those artists or any artists in terms
of melody or sonic cohesion?
Yeah, for sure! I think those are two good ones. I think we could tour with
either of those artists and it would be fun.
My favourite lyrics are ‘She’s killing you with desire for someone else.’ Can you
explain the meaning behind this?
We’re talking about when the person that you have feelings for has feelings for
someone else, and how heart-breaking and hard that can feel.
How does your Utah background influence your lyricism?
It doesn’t, I don’t think. Yeah, I don’t think having a background from Utah
influences that. Actually, do you think so?
I actually think we are bolder in our lyricism because we’re from Utah. We’ve
been from a place where we weren’t safe or allowed to be our most authentic
selves, so honestly, I think that now because of that background, we’re very
unapologetic and very raw. Our lyrics are very straightforward most of the
time, especially ‘Under My Influence.’ So that’s how I would say it influences.
The Aces are on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok