THE ACES
The Aces just released their third album I’ve Loved You For So Long in which they reflect on their childhood, closeted love, mental health, and identity in the present. We unpack their source of joy with Astrophe this week, as well as what object they would hold while posing for an oil painting. Listen here and read below:
Outside of your art form, where do you find inspiration?
Cristal: I love boxing. I love combat sports. I find that kind of mentality and dedication to craft really inspiring. I watch a lot of boxing, and I box a lot.
Alisa: I feel like I get really inspired by being present in my life and writing things down like moments I had with friends that feel impactful. I also get inspired by other forms of art, painting and architecture, and art from different cultures like Mexico and Japan. I really like looking at like art over the decades in other cultures.
Where do you think you get your personal power from?
Cristal: A lot if it comes from being in The Aces. Feeling empowered by the girls and feeling like I'm in my element, in the band and performing. So a lot of my personal power comes from the confidence that I gain from being in the band.
Alisa: I agree, and also community. I get a lot of confidence from my larger queer community that I have here in L.A. across my friends and family. When you feel like you belong somewhere and you feel like you share values with a larger group of people, it empowers you to be able to stand behind those things and speak about them.
What is your favourite space?
Kenna: Nature
Cristal: A movie theater, I love to go to a movie theater. Or my living room. I love to be on the couch snuggled in watching a movie
Alisa: My bedroom. I have a lot of creative moments in my bedroom.
Is there a specific sonic theme, genre or instrument that you draw pure joy from?
We're really drawn to New Wave British bands like The Cure. Or our parents grew up in the eighties, so I feel like some of the first music they ever showed us was stuff that was really popular back then. A lot of late disco and early, new wave stuff.
How does visual aesthetic come to play in your work?
Alisa: It is a huge part of the whole process for me because I direct all of our visuals, and pretty often as soon as we write a song, I can see it and I know what I want to do visually. Then I’ll bounce it off with the girls and kind of refine it.
Sometimes it totally changes, but sometimes it's kind of the same as the initial thought. Visuals are really important for us. They feel like an extension of the song and often further convey we're trying to talk about. And the goal is always to bring even more depth to the song with the visual.
What are the core values behind your art?
Authenticity and Connection - to our fans and to people.
RAPID FIRE
What are you holding whilst posing for an oil painting?
Cristal: a Guiness and Teddy (my dog)
Katie: basketball and a guitar
Alisa: a coffee
Kenna: my bass guitar in one hand and my dog’s leash in the other hand
What do you own that you should throw out, but can’t?
Cristal: I have a box full of old movie tickets and other random stuff that i probably have had since high school. I need to throw out the scary random stuff in there
Kenna: I started on like a little time capsule where I've kept every single merch piece that I've ever had, and it’s folded up in a special box to my kids so they will have a curated collection of all of their mom’s vintage tees.
Who are you taking out, and where are you going? (time travel is allowed)
Alisa: Who’s deluxe? I want to take out a young Jane Fonda and do whatever she suggests because she’s cool.
Cristal: I’m taking out Judy Garland! And we’re going to the moon! And landing amongst the stars!
Katie: Marilyn Monroe
Kenna: I think it would be cool to take out Heath Ledger and talk to him and try to understand how felt about things, especially around being a method actor.
Band: If we’re taking people out as a group, we’re taking the Beatles out and we’ll go have a chat
Why do you think we are here on planet earth at this time?
Kenna: I think we’re here because survival of the fittest, baby! I recently have been watching the Chimp Empire show on Netflix, and it’s actually made me so essential. We literally came from that and humans are super resilient and I think that’s why we’re here. I think it just kind of happened and it’s a special little coincidence.
Cristal: I think we’re here to just have a good time!
See more from the Aces here.
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