A glittering, full-circle celebration of joy, queerness, and self-discovery, The Aces’ ‘Gold Star Baby’ finds the Utah-born quartet dancing through liberation with fearless disco flair. In this expansive Atwood Magazine feature, the band reflect on independence, identity, and creating a record that turns self-confidence into pure, communal euphoria.

Stream: “Gold Star Baby” – The Aces

Life is meant to be celebrated.

– McKenna Petty, The Aces

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Flashing lights, mirrorball shimmer, bodies in motion: Welcome to Gold Star Baby, the hottest club in every city – if you know, you know.

A neon-lit soiree gleaming with bold hooks, velvet bass lines, and four-on-the-floor catharsis, The Aces’ fourth studio album is a seductive revelry – one that finds them throwing the doors open to the party of the century and inviting us inside, to join them and dance the night away to their sweaty, sapphic, sparkling disco-pop songs. It’s euphoric and electric, empowering and immersive all at once – a glittering ode to confidence, queerness, and community that pulses with heat and heart. As timeless as it is transcendent, Gold Star Baby isn’t an escape so much as it’s an arrival: A radiant soundtrack to stepping into your best self, to feeling ten feet tall, and to celebrating the life you have.

I know where to go
Follow the rainbow
Every flavor you can come and taste ’em
When you come with me
I think you’ll agree
That you’ll never wanna go back, baby

Don’t know what to do
Don’t stress, I got you
I’m an expert in the field, I’m major
Say you’ve never tried
I say that I don’t mind
And you can thank me later

Do you like shiny things?
Think you know what I mean
Yeah, I’m a gold star baby
Oh, I’m so unique
You wanna learn some things?
I do it differently
You get a gold star, baby
When you’re good for me

– “Gold Star Baby,” The Aces

If 2023’s I’ve Loved You For So Long was The Aces’ reckoning, then Gold Star Baby is their release. Where their deeply personal third album found the Utah-born, LA-based quartet reflecting on queerness, anxiety, and adolescence through the lens of home and healing, its follow-up bursts through that catharsis with glitter, groove, and grit. Released August 15, 2025 via SoundOn, Gold Star Baby shimmers with liberation – a bright, bass-thumping exhale that swaps self-analysis for self-adoration. This time, The Aces aren’t just surviving; they’re thriving in full color, dancing through the afterglow of everything they’ve lived and learned.

Longtime Atwood Magazine favorites – and a three-time Editor’s Pick – The Aces have built their reputation on honesty, electricity, and undeniable 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 past decade redefining what modern pop-rock can feel like: Queer, communal, confident, and utterly alive. Known for their irresistible blend of sharp hooks, emotional transparency, and infectious energy, The Aces have grown from Provo’s local heroes into one of indie-pop’s most dynamic voices, praised for both their unshakable camaraderie and their commanding live shows. With more than 250 million career streams and performances at major festivals including Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Firefly, and OUTFEST, The Aces continue to prove themselves as a force built on authenticity, friendship, and fearless self-expression.

That spirit of freedom and fearlessness reaches its zenith on Gold Star Baby – a self-made, self-assured celebration of love, liberation, and living loudly. After years of navigating major-label timelines, personal upheavals, and the emotional weight of their most vulnerable record to date, Gold Star Baby arrives as pure freedom. Written and produced largely on their own, it’s their first fully independent release – and that autonomy radiates through every note. You can hear it in the bass lines that strut, the disco beats that glitter, and the unfiltered joy that hums beneath it all. It’s the sound of a band not just finding themselves, but reveling in the fact that they already have.

“This album really felt to me like we wanted to make a celebration album – of how far we’d come from those four kids in Orem, Utah, and step into who we really are as adults now,” Cristal Ramirez reflects. “I remember being on the phone with Alisa and saying, ‘Let’s do something fun. We have to celebrate. We have to shake it off.’ I feel like our fans look to us for hope – and we look to our band for hope. That felt like the natural progression.”

As Alisa Ramirez adds, “Our main goal with this record was just to have fun and create something people could have fun to and escape to. I think that’s what we do best.”

And they absolutely do it best. Gold Star Baby opens with a glistening burst of glitter and attitude – “the baddest, the raddest, make you go the maddest” – a radio-style introduction that sets the stage for a full-blown disco fantasy. “When we were building this record, the idea to do an intro like that felt natural, paying homage to famous disco jockeys and other voices of that era,” Alisa says, referencing legends like Frankie Crocker and the energy of ‘70s club culture. “The energy they brought just doesn’t really exist anymore. We wanted to capture that spirit – the confidence and community of what disco was. I feel like our band can bring that energy now, being queer and half Latina, and with what our shows have become for the queer community. It felt like a natural fit to dive fully into disco.”

That introduction doesn’t just open the door to the Gold Star Baby universe – it sets the tone for everything that follows. The title track is the album’s heartbeat, the song that lit the fuse for the entire record. “Gold Star Baby” is bold, euphoric, and gloriously self-aware – a shimmering manifesto of fearless empowerment and self-celebration. “I’m a gold star baby, oh, I’m so unique / You want to learn some things? I do it differently.” It’s playful and proud, a radiant invitation to step into your own light.

“I think all of us collectively knew it was a really special anchor song for the record,” Cristal explains. “Sonically, it was exactly what we wanted to do – so disco, so fun, so dancey. That chorus really shines; it’s bold, it’s almost a chant. It captured everything we wanted sonically, and lyrically it hit that perfect balance of double entendre and vivid imagery. It checked all the boxes and felt like the perfect anchor song.”

From that moment on, “Gold Star Baby” became the record’s guiding light – the nucleus everything else orbited around. Its glitter, its attitude, its unapologetic glow shaped not only the sound, but the spirit of the album. It was the spark that turned into a full-fledged world – a disco-pop universe that The Aces built track by track.

“It paints such a clear picture in my mind of color and vibe,” Cristal smiles. “To me, everyone’s a Gold Star Baby – it’s the hottest, shiniest, sexiest version of yourself. It’s a persona to step into.” Its chant-like hook glows with the sweat and shine of the dance floor, embodying everything The Aces set out to do: Make you move, make you feel, make you celebrate.

If “Gold Star Baby” is the heartbeat, then songs like “Stroke,” “Jealous,” and “The Magic” are its pulse – quick, electric, impossible to ignore. “Stroke” is The Aces’ self-proclaimed “funky chicken” anthem – equal parts flirty, tongue-in-cheek, and utterly irresistible. With its tight groove and cheeky repetition, it’s both a wink and a flex. “We wanted something that makes you feel sexy and light and fun,” Cristal says. “That energy translates through the music and makes other people feel that way too.” The track pulses with attitude, affirming what this record is all about: Not taking yourself too seriously, owning your individuality, and finding freedom in joy.

“Jealous” is pure charisma in motion, an utterly alluring strut through the spotlight. “I know you’re jealous when I walk in the room / Oh, I’d be jealous if I met me too.” It’s witty, seductive, and unshakably self-assured – a pump-up song disguised as a disco banger. “That’s really what this record is about,” Cristal says. “The self – the sexy, confident songs. It’s about putting on your favorite outfit, ordering your favorite drink, and flirting with someone. It’s not that serious – and it works.”

That same spirit glows through “The Magic,” one of the first songs they wrote (and subsequently released) for the album, pairing flirtatious bass lines with a chorus that quite literally sparkles. Both tracks channel the thrill of self-expression and the freedom of not taking yourself too seriously – a theme the band leaned into intentionally. “We just wanted to talk about being hot and having fun,” Cristal laughs. “It’s not that deep, actually.”

Where the first half of Gold Star Baby is the party, songs like “Stroke,” “Twin Flame,” and “Fire in the Hole” are the euphoria that follows.

Their self-proclaimed “funky chicken” anthem, “Stroke” is equal parts flirty, tongue-in-cheek, and utterly irresistible – a cheeky, hypnotic jam co-written with Simon Wilcox. Driven by Katie Henderson’s slick guitar line, it’s playful, sultry, and refreshingly simple. “Simon really pushed us to keep it simple,” Cristal recalls. “She said, ‘Say stroke over and over.’ We were like, isn’t that too redundant? And she told us, ‘You can’t be afraid of simplicity.’” McKenna adds, “What I love about ‘Stroke,’ and so many songs on the record, is that they’re about personal experience. It’s about other people and love affairs, but really it’s about you.” That idea runs through the entire record: Every song centers the listener – the main character in this sparkling, self-assured world.

“Twin Flame” is quintessential Aces – slick, rhythmic, and emotionally charged, a sonic collision of love, lust, and liberation. It burns bright and fast, like the spark its title promises. “Fire in the Hole” is a full-blown disco fever dream built on falsetto harmonies and Bee Gees glow. “That one’s probably the most straightforward disco song on the record,” Cristal says. “We wanted to go high, keep it shimmery, super layered in harmony – it’s such a vibe.”

Each song amplifies the next, threading warmth, movement, and joy into a passionate, all-consuming 33-minute disco-pop party.

Gold Star Baby is a mirror of the freedom The Aces have found – not just musically, but personally and creatively. It’s the sound of a band reborn: Self-produced, independent, and entirely in command of their identity. “Our main goal with this record was just to have fun and create something people could have fun to and escape to,” Alisa says. “That’s what we do best – even when we make sadder music, it’s about finding joy in it.”

A warm, wild, and wondrous world unto itself, Gold Star Baby captures that very feeling – of letting go and leaning in, of building something entirely your own. It’s proof that The Aces have evolved without losing their spark: A band still fueled by friendship, still chasing connection, and still lighting up dance floors with songs that shimmer, sweat, and shine.

In conversation with Atwood Magazine, The Aces open up about the making of Gold Star Baby, reflecting on the freedom of independence, the euphoria of self-expression, and the joy of finding light after heaviness.

Together, Cristal Ramirez, Alisa Ramirez, Katie Henderson, and McKenna Petty dive into disco’s liberating history, the band’s evolution from introspection to exhilaration, and the deep bond that continues to anchor their art. We talk about queerness, creativity, and what it means to grow up without losing the spark that started it all – to arrive not as who you were, but as who you’ve always been becoming.

Dive into the full interview below, and catch The Aces on tour this winter as they bring Gold Star Baby to a club near you! For tickets and more information, visit theacesofficial.com.

“Even though the world feels so scary and it can be hard sometimes, it’s important to dance, to have fun with your friends, to feel sexy and confident,” McKenna Petty reminds us. “At the end of the day, that’s all we really can do.”

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:: stream/purchase Gold Star Baby here ::

:: connect with The Aces here ::

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Stream: ‘Gold Star Baby’ – The Aces

A CONVERSATION WITH THE ACES

Katie Henderson: I think it’s a crazy little feeling, isn’t it?

Cristal Ramirez: Yeah, it’s kind of refreshing on this record because the lead time between creating it and putting it out was probably the shortest we’ve ever had. We’re independent, but we’re with a smaller kind of label, a distribution label called Sound On. Making this record was a little bit more of an independent experience. We made the majority of it fully independent, and then putting it out, we were able to do so much quicker than we usually would.

I feel like the experience of putting this record out has been really, really fun and different in that way where the music is still relatively fresh to us as well. I mean, we’ve listened to it so many times – as fresh as it can be when you’re making a record – but we haven’t sat on this music for years. We really made all of this music last year and even some into the beginning of this year, so it feels exciting. It also just feels fun to get to put stuff out quicker because, as an artist, you’re still fresh to it.

Katie Henderson: I think it’s also fun to put out this music because it’s so high energy and dancey and fun. It’s nice to be releasing it while it’s still summery and warm outside – it matches the season, too.

McKenna Petty: Yeah, I feel like we’re very much in “Gold Star Baby” energy as a group right now. We’re just having fun – summertime, partying – so it feels right to release the song while we’re still in that energy. Sometimes, if you sit on something for too long, you’re in a completely different place once it comes out. But yeah, it definitely feels cohesive, which is fun.

Alisa Ramirez: Yeah, it’s been really refreshing – kind of like what Cristal was saying earlier. It’s been nice to be more in control of when and how we release music, and it definitely makes that window a lot shorter. When you’re with a larger partner, it’s not always a bad thing because they’re just trying to set everything up correctly for you to have a good moment. But it is refreshing, as an artist, to be able to move quickly and put music out while it’s still fresh to you.

McKenna Petty: I feel like the biggest thing we’ve all been talking about is how we’ve really come into our own in so many different areas. We’re all doing it ourselves now, which has been really fun – watching each other grow and develop in that way. We all have our individual strengths, and this time around we’ve really honed in on them. We’re in a really good flow in a way we’ve never been before.

Katie Henderson: Yeah, this record was full of a lot of firsts for us. Being independent, going through so much shift and change in our personal lives and together as a band, and trying new ways of writing – just the four of us in the room with no other collaborators. This record holds so much of that; it’s really special in a way our other records haven’t been. It’s our fourth record, but it feels like a new first-time experience in a lot of ways, which is really special.

McKenna Petty: We have an incredible management team, which has been so awesome. They help us a lot, but yeah – we touch everything. We have opinions on everything that has to do with The Aces. I love doing the socials and branding, Alisa is building a visual world, Katie’s producing everything, and there’s the storytelling. Everything is thought through and strategic.

Cristal Ramirez: Honestly, not that much changed in that regard. Even with a label, we kind of did everything ourselves and then had help with the workload. When we were with Red Bull, we were still the ones running all of our socials and doing everything – that’s just how we are. We don’t really hand much off to anyone outside the four of us. The only real change this time is probably that Katie produced the majority of the music, which has been really fun.

McKenna Petty: I think the main thing that’s changed is it’s been easier because it’s literally just us four.

Cristal Ramirez: We get to decide, yeah.

McKenna Petty: We know what we want to do. We’ve always been so involved, but before, we had to go through all the red tape. Now it’s just us – we get to decide what we want to do, and we’ve built such a good system together. It’s felt really efficient this time.

Cristal Ramirez: Yeah, that is nice. The barrier to putting stuff out is so much lower now. You don’t have to go through as many opinions and layers as you do when you’re with a label, which can be great and helpful, but sometimes a bit stifling. It’s fun that if the four of us love it and we’re ready, we’re going.

Alisa Ramirez: I mean, I think we’re still super proud of that record, but it’s a different kind of record. As artists, what you want to make changes depending on where you’re at in your life. We really base our music on what we’re going through at the time – it’s very personal. We don’t really do the whole character thing or stick to one specific sound. We’ve always played with genre and different feelings – sadder songs, happier songs, all kinds of emotions.

I’ve Loved You For So Long felt so right at the time, and now “Gold Star Baby” feels right. It almost feels like I’ve Loved You For So Long had to happen so that “Gold Star Baby” could exist. All of our records lend to each other – after doing a record that was more introspective and about our roots, it feels good to be in a space of, “This is who we are now.” We’re celebrating that and arriving in our present moment as adults who are confident in our lives, our identities, and our music-making.

Katie Henderson: I think it’s interesting how much the process changes from creating a record to touring it. Your relationship with the music evolves after playing it night after night, and every record has had a different storyline. I’m excited to see what happens to “Gold Star Baby” after touring it, and I can’t wait for the energy it’ll bring.

I’ve Loved You For So Long was a really special experience, especially touring it. That was the first time we’d been to so many new cities – Australia, Japan – and that was such a specific and special experience with our fans. I’m really excited to have a new experience with this record, to bring this energy into those rooms all over the world, and see how that relationship with the album develops.

Cristal Ramirez: This album was really about having fun while making it. We didn’t want anything to feel too serious, and we wanted to capture our voice uniquely – as people and as a friend group – more than ever. After I’ve Loved You For So Long, like Alisa was saying, we came off that record and tour wanting to make something lighter and reconnect with how we’ve always made music. You can hear that in Under My Influence and When My Heart Felt Volcanic – most of those songs are pretty dancey. “Stuck” is very reminiscent of a disco song. We’ve always had those roots and were already making music adjacent to Gold Star Baby, so it felt natural to finally go there.

We wanted to make something fun and dancey. It became this natural progression of, “Let’s celebrate.” Like Alisa said, let’s celebrate the fact that we got through all of that – that we’re out and proud, living our dream, and confident in who we are. This album felt like a celebration of how far we’ve come from those four kids in Orem, Utah, stepping into who we really are as adults now. The whole thing was just really fun. None of it was serious. We were going through ups and downs, both as a band and personally, but we’d show up, and the music became a way to feel better and move through everything. It became this beacon of light for us – a space where we could show up and be the best versions of ourselves.

We kind of packaged up that sexy confidence – our voice, the way we talk to each other – and I think you can hear that on songs like “Jealous,” “She Likes Me,” and even “I’m Sweet (I’m Mean).” That one’s a bit heartbroken and angry, but we’re using words like doozy and goofy. It was so much about wordplay, having fun, and speaking in our unique voice – saying things we’d actually say to each other, like, “Damn, that girl’s acting f*ing goofy.” It was all fun and energetic, and it’s about confidence, leaving old stuff behind, and stepping into a new version of yourself.

Alisa Ramirez: Like Cristal mentioned before, our main goal with this record was just to have fun and create something people could have fun to and escape to. I think that’s what we do best. Even when we make music that’s more somber or sad, it feels like home base for us to dress it up in fun disco or four-on-the-floor beats. That’s how we were raised to relate to music. At least for me and Cristal, when we were sad, our mom would say, “Let’s turn on some disco and dance until we feel better.” That was the vibe when we were kids – and it was a pretty cute remedy.

From a very young age, that’s how we built our relationship to music. Disco was some of the first music we ever heard. So when we went into making a record we wanted to feel fun, our first instinct was, “Let’s make a disco record.” It’s just the most fun, sexy genre ever – it’s birthed every cool genre since. It felt native to us.

We built this record into the world of Gold Star Baby being a club. We’re the in-house band that lives there – maybe it’s a little vintage – and there’s a whole universe of people who go to this club, what they wear, what the vibe is. That’s the world we want people to step into when they listen to this record.

That’s why we have the interludes and intros – things that make it feel immersive, like there’s a lot to grab onto and participate in if you’re a fan. We tried to paint a vivid picture of what going to Gold Star Baby would be like, and we really want to bring that to life on tour too. It’s about taking up your space, feeling comfortable in your skin, having fun, not caring what people think – just locking in with yourself and your friends and having a great time.

McKenna Petty: I feel like The Aces have always been about creating a safe haven for us and for other people – whether it’s our shows or our music – a place where people can come and feel understood and feel like they can leave all the hardship of life behind. Gold Star Baby is the epitome of that – fully realized in the way we wanted to create this whole world and this experience for people to escape into. That’s what we were doing during the making of this album, and that’s what the band has always represented to us.

Katie Henderson: Thank you. Honestly, I would just say that I was the fingers on the keys, but it was really the four of us creating something special together. All of our ideas came together, and being the one to help get that out was a really special experience for me. But I really feel like the four of us produced this record together.

McKenna Petty: Don’t sell yourself short.

Alisa Ramirez: Yes. Katie’s being humble.

Cristal Ramirez: Katie’s definitely being humble. Katie put in a lot of hard work.

Alisa Ramirez: A lot of work. A lot of work. Definitely all kind of executive producer, Katie really built out those tracks, and obviously we had hands in that too. But she’s underselling herself.

McKenna Petty: A special part of this album, too, is that we always knew she had this amazing gift and talent, and being able to see that fully realized has been incredible. I’m just super proud – it’s been so special.

Katie Henderson: I think I was constantly asking questions to producers we’d worked with in the past – even a few of the producers on this record, like Christian Medice, Keith Varon, and Aaron Shadrow. I was able to freely ask questions, and Christian was so collaborative and such a great producer to work with. He was really encouraging to me while we were making this album. I also took classes a few years ago and just kept chipping away, trying to get to a place where I could do this with the girls.

One of my favorite memories from making the record was when the idea for “Jealous” came to me – that guitar line and beat. I had this overwhelming excitement to hand it off to lyricists like Cristal and Alisa and just see what would happen. There were moments like that throughout the record – like having a simple drum beat or idea for “Fire in the Hole” and giving the bass to Ken, the guitar to Cris, and watching it unfold. Being a little bit of a gateway to their creativity was really fulfilling for me, and those are my most cherished memories from making the record.

With “Spending the Night,” I didn’t even see Alisa before it was finished. I was playing piano in the studio, and Cristal came in and said, “I like that chord progression. What if you go here? What if we change this note?” I kept playing, and then Alisa came in as Cristal walked out to the kitchen. They wrote the whole song in about 20 minutes. By the time I tracked the keys and got a bar down, they came back in and said, “It’s done.” We recorded it in about an hour.

Those experiences were so special – having an idea that could spark something in them, and then all four of us finishing it together. We were so excited, sending the Dropbox back and forth like, “Guys, I think this song’s a hit. This song’s such a banger.” It was just a really fun experience.

Katie Henderson: Alisa wrote that. Alisa had the idea to do it, so Alisa, you take the floor.

Alisa Ramirez: With disco – if you know the history of it, which I’m sure you do, you seem like a total music history buff – it’s just the most amazing, liberating, political, badass genre. It was music for minorities and people who were misfits in society. The disco movement and culture were born out of basements, giving queer people and non-white people a safe space to feel free and explore.

I’ve always loved disco, but for this record I really dove into its history. It made sense – no wonder it’s been such an intrinsic love all my life and for my parents. This genre is such a big part of who I am. When we were building this record, the idea to do an intro like that felt natural, paying homage to famous disco jockeys like Frankie Crocker and other voices of that era.

The energy they brought just doesn’t really exist anymore. The closest thing we have now is probably hip-hop, which evolved from disco and carries that same sense of innovation and attitude. We wanted to capture that spirit – the confidence and community of what disco was. I feel like our band can bring that energy now, being queer and half Latina, and with what our shows have become for the queer community. It felt like a natural fit to dive fully into disco.

Alisa Ramirez: Across the board, there are so many legends – Earth, Wind & Fire, Michael Jackson, the Bee Gees, Diana Ross, Donna Summer. It almost felt like a big parade of inspiration, diving into so many sounds. I even made a disco playlist of over a hundred artists and songs that just felt exciting.

Something we talked about a lot – especially with Katie producing – was doing disco our way. We wanted it to feel like The Aces and sound modern. We’re a four-piece band; we don’t have a horn or string section. We’re not the Commodores or Earth, Wind & Fire, so we had to figure out how to explore our disco roots as an indie rock band. That’s where the sound got exciting and unique to us.

We also started incorporating Latin percussion. Exploring me and Cristal’s Latino heritage has been something we’ve really wanted to do, and I feel like we started sprinkling that in with this record and are excited to do a lot more of that.

Katie Henderson: Cristal mentioned how our first record also has a lot of those disco elements, and I feel like you can hear that in the bass and guitar, too. The guitars are really rhythmic, which is very disco. On this record, especially, you can hear Ken’s bass playing – it sounds like her, but with those added disco bass elements, going back and forth and incorporating little things. Those elements have always kind of been in us; it was just about diving deeper into them.

Alisa really got into congas and different percussion. “She Likes Me” was especially fun because we went into the studio and just threw everything out. Alisa said, “Let’s experiment with all these different sounds,” and we ended up going for more of a bachata beat instead of a four-on-the-floor kind of thing. It was really cool to experiment with that, but it still feels very Aces.

McKenna Petty: I didn’t feel like it was a whole new thing. It feels like this is in our roots just as much as the indie rock side of us. It’s always been this blend. When My Heart Felt Volcanic and Under My Influence feel so similar to Gold Star Baby in a lot of ways. It felt really natural.

Cristal Ramirez: If you listen to our earliest songs – “Stuck,” “Strong Enough,” “Holiday” – they all have disco roots. We’ve always referenced disco throughout our career, and we’ve always said that. Disco has always been kind of the root note of The Aces. On this record, we just decided to really go for it, in a heavier-hitting way – and aesthetically, too.

Katie Henderson: I even feel like Cristal pushed herself vocally in new ways. The ad-libs on “Spending the Night,” for example – that high note at the end is wild. She really leaned into different things while still sounding like herself. Her natural instincts are there, but she pushed that disco, Bee Gees, ABBA kind of energy in the melodies, and it really shines through.

Cristal Ramirez: Growing up, the type of music we listened to – like Michael Jackson, The Pointer Sisters, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Commodores, and Destiny’s Child – that was what taught me to sing. My parents would constantly have those artists on, where melody is God. The melody drives everything. Those songs are so iconic, and the vocals are the focal point.

That’s always been Alisa’s and my instinct as writers – melody is king. We make sure the melody is where we want it to be before we even write lyrics. This record really lent itself to that, because in disco, the melody is in your face – it’s fun, it’s bold, it’s the vocal point of the music.

I naturally tend to sing that way, but even more so on this record, it was about going for those big moments – really sending it. Even “Gold Star Baby” – that whole chorus has this push that’s in your face and a little aggressive, in a way that feels like being in a club, dancing, yelling along. It’s energetic, and it complements the whole narrative.

Cristal Ramirez: I think it was a mix of both. Alisa and I had a really long conversation on the phone after we finished our world tour, and I remember it vividly. It was late at night, and we were talking about everything – what kind of music we wanted to make next, when we even wanted to start again. We’d been touring for almost a year and a half straight, and I remember saying, “I just want to make fun stuff. That’s all I feel called to. I want pop hits. I want it to be light. I want to make music we can dance to. I want our shows to feel lighter after I’ve Loved You For So Long.”

Those shows were so special and beautiful, but they were the most cathartic and emotional shows we’d ever played – both for us and for our fans. I’d look out into the crowd and see people crying, and I don’t think I’d really prepared myself for that emotional exchange happening every night for over a year.

We were sharing really intimate stories – moments of self-loathing, confusion, and darkness – and going to that mental space nightly was hard. I didn’t anticipate how difficult it would be. When I came off that tour, I felt like I had really processed it all, especially as a singer performing those words every night. I know the girls felt the same. We all came off the tour feeling like it had been a beautiful moment, but also realizing that where The Aces shine most is in dancing through that heaviness, moving through it.

I remember being on the phone with Alisa and saying, “Let’s do something fun. We have to celebrate. We have to shake it off.” I feel like our fans look to us for hope – and we look to our band for hope. That felt like the natural progression, which led to Alisa saying, “What if we make a disco record?” We were already making disco-adjacent songs, because that’s always been part of our core influences. We wanted to dance, so we were already like, “Four to the floor, Katie, give us a funky guitar line, Ken, give us a funky bass.” And then Alisa said, “No, really – what if we make a disco record?”

At first, I was like, “Stop telling me what the record’s gonna be! I don’t know what I’m making yet.” I’d get bugged at her, and she’d go, “No, I’m telling you, we have to make a disco record – it’s going to be so fun.” She was diving into the history of disco and all the films around it, and she’d call me saying, “The history is so cool – it’s so rooted in queerness. We have to make a disco record.”

And I’d say, “I’m an artist – I don’t know what I’m making yet! Quit telling me!” But naturally, we started to come to this place where I realized she was right – and it was so fun. It was exactly what I wanted to make. Katie and Ken were having so much fun with it too. So it was both: we naturally fell into it, and Alisa had this strong idea she pushed for. It all lined up perfectly, and we started going into sessions intentionally saying, “Okay, we’re writing a dancey disco pop record.” It was cool to have that lightning rod of intention, because we’d never really done that before.

McKenna Petty: It’s cool hearing you talk about it, Cris, because it makes so much sense. I’m kind of a science nerd – I love reading about trauma and the process of healing – and it’s actually research-based and trauma-informed that once you go through the talking part, the next step to fully complete the circle is movement. You have to move your body to move through it all.

That’s what this feels like. I’ve Loved You For So Long was the talking part – and now we want to dance through it, to move. I think it’s really important to do both.

Katie Henderson: When we wrote “Gold Star Baby,” that was the moment everything clicked. When we had the conversation about making it the album title, it tied the whole world of the record together. Once we landed on that, it pushed everything else forward. It felt like, “Oh, this is a full, complete, beautiful disco record.” It just felt complete.

Cristal Ramirez: We wrote “Gold Star Baby,” and I think all of us collectively knew it was a really special anchor song for the record. Sonically, it was exactly what we wanted to do – so disco, so fun, so dancey. That chorus really shines; it’s bold, it’s almost a chant. It captured everything we wanted sonically, and lyrically it hit that perfect balance of double entendre and vivid imagery. It checked all the boxes and felt like the perfect anchor song.

When we were putting the tracklist together and thinking about what to call the album, the concept of Gold Star Baby felt perfect – a little eerie, mysterious, and open-ended. It paints such a clear picture in my mind of color and vibe. To me, everyone’s a Gold Star Baby – it’s the hottest, shiniest, sexiest version of yourself. It’s a persona to step into. I remember saying to Alisa, “I think we should call the record Gold Star Baby,” and she was like, “You literally took the words out of my mouth.” Then we went over to Katie’s, and as soon as I said it, everyone immediately agreed.

Katie Henderson: It was just there. It made so much sense – we didn’t even have to think about it.

Cristal Ramirez: It’s funny because we never really overthink our album titles. They just kind of present themselves. When My Heart Felt Volcanic came from an Edgar Allan Poe quote I saw on Tumblr. I thought it was so sick and told the girls, and everyone loved it immediately. Under My Influence was the same – Alisa came up with it and said, “What if we call it Under My Influence? Like you’re coming under the influence of our band.” It felt punk and cool, and we were like, “Yeah, f* yeah, that’s it.”

With I’ve Loved You For So Long, it felt like a love letter to ourselves – the anchor song of that record, about coming home and revisiting memories. All of our album titles feel like these little presents that just arrive in our brains. We never question them. It’s probably the only part of our career we don’t stew over or hyper-analyze.

McKenna Petty: Whatever you want to be…

Cristal Ramirez: Being a lot of things.

Katie Henderson: That might be a question you need to ask yourself, Mitch.

Cristal Ramirez: What does it mean? What does it mean to you, Mitch, to be a Gold Star Baby? That’s the question we’re asking everybody. What does it mean to you?

Cristal Ramirez: I think it’s definitely a big cornerstone, for sure. Songs like “Jealous” and “The Magic” were the first we wrote for the record, and they really set the tone. Those two songs capture what this record is about in a lot of ways. There’s exploration of a relationship that comes together and falls apart – and I think, as young queer people, going through those relationships in your 20s is such a core part of queer adolescence. We definitely explore that.

But I think the real cornerstones of the record are the self – the sexy, confident songs. Those were written very intentionally, and I have to give Alisa a lot of credit for that. I remember going into sessions, being the more sensitive one, ready to explore feelings, and Alisa was like, “I don’t want to talk about any of that. I just want to talk about being hot and having fun.” And I was like, “Actually, so real.” We decided, okay, this one’s just about putting on your favorite outfit, ordering your favorite drink, and flirting with someone. It’s not that serious – and it works.

The crazy part is, if you set out to make something that makes you feel sexy and light and fun, that energy translates through the music. It makes other people feel that way too. That’s what we were chasing. We had just come off a really intense tour, and it was like, didn’t we say we wanted to have fun? Let’s actually have fun – in a way that’s authentic to us. Everyone could use an album they can just have a blast to. Shit’s f*ed up enough.

Katie Henderson: Yes, I love that song. It’s just having its moment because I’ve always loved that song.

Cristal Ramirez: That song’s awesome. We worked with this amazing songwriter, Simon Wilcox, who we’ve collaborated with before – she wrote on Under My Influence with us. She’s incredible. She always brings in the best words, concepts, and energy. It was me, Alisa, Simon, and Katie in the room, and I think it was Katie’s first time really producing for a session that included another songwriter – not just us.

Katie Henderson: Yeah, and I was so nervous about it. But Simon’s so warm. We spent a long time just talking about what we were making. She really wanted to understand the world we were living in while creating these songs, and that made it such an easy space to be in. But I was definitely nervous that day.

Cristal Ramirez: Katie killed it, though. I could tell she was nervous – she was flying around between the guitar and the keys, trying to come up with something. We started with a different idea that none of us were really into. I finally said, “I’m not feeling this,” and Alisa was like, “Same.” So we shifted, and Katie started playing that guitar line. It immediately felt so classic Aces to me – I was like, “We need something like that on the record.” Every band needs a tried-and-true sound you can recognize, and I think “Stroke” is that for us. [Cristal’s phone dies]

Katie Henderson: Maybe her phone died or something – but yeah, I can continue what she was saying. “Stroke” really does have that Aces sound. When we were first working on ideas, we told Simon we wanted everything to have this “funky chicken” energy – everything was so funky. The first few ideas weren’t quite there, and Simon just sat there and said, “It’s not funky chicken enough.” Then when we started playing that guitar line and building the track, she was like, “This is it.”

We experimented a lot – we even added those “ah-oohs” that “The Magic” has, and Simon loved them. It was so fun. She kept pushing us to dig deeper, to bring out more of ourselves. It was just a great experience making that song with her. [Cristal returns]

Cristal Ramirez: Sorry, my phone literally died in the middle. I’m sure Katie wrapped it up beautifully. That song was so fun to make, and Simon really pushed us to keep it simple. I remember we had this joke, and then Alisa and I wanted to go somewhere else melodically, and she said, “No – say ‘stroke’ over and over.” We were like, “Isn’t that too redundant?” And she said, “You can’t be afraid of simplicity. I’m telling you.” And I was like, “Well, you’ve got the hits, so I’m gonna listen to you.”

McKenna Petty: What I love about “Stroke,” and a lot of songs on the record, is that they’re about personal experience. It’s about other people and these love affairs, but really it’s about you. That’s such an interesting lyrical theme – like “She Likes Me,” it’s about your inner experience, feeling sexy and hot, and how relationships affect you and how you feel.

Cristal Ramirez: Exactly.

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

Cristal Ramirez: Even when we write love songs, they’re about how I feel. It’s not about a back-and-forth between two people – it’s, “I’m with the hottest girl in the room,” or, “Stroke my ego, tell me I’m hot.” You’re the main character throughout the whole record. Everyone else – the love interests, the people, the parties – they’re orbiting around you. You’re always at the center. That was such a fun and unique way to explore all these narratives – keeping you at the heart of it, whether you’re the listener or the one singing the words.

Cristal Ramirez: Of course.

Katie Henderson: I told him about the funky chicken test.

Katie Henderson: Funky chicken.

McKenna Petty: I’ll go first. I feel like “Twin Flame” is a quintessential Aces song. Sonically, that’s another cornerstone of this album – it checks every box of what we were going for. It’s so fun, so energetic, and does exactly what we wanted this record to do. So I’d say “Twin Flame” is my favorite right now.

Katie Henderson: Oh yeah. “Stroke” has always been one of my favorites – I love that song. And I love “Twin Flame” so much, too. I can’t help it, but… I’m sorry, “Fire in the Hole” is a banger. It goes so hard.

Cristal Ramirez: The two I’ve been going between the most this past month are “She Likes Me” and “Fire in the Hole.” “She Likes Me” has that perfect Latin influence – part of me really wants to do a full Spanish version of it because it would go crazy.

Cristal Ramirez: Or at least the outro in Spanish. We need a little Spanish in there. But yeah, “She Likes Me” is one of my favorites on the record. And “Fire in the Hole” – I love that one because it’s probably the most straightforward disco song on the album. When we wrote it, we were chasing a Bee Gees moment – we wanted to go high, keep it shimmery and harmony-heavy. I love that song. It’s such a vibe. Every time I start the record, that’s one of the first ones I go to.

Alisa Ramirez: Yeah, I think “She Likes Me” is what I’ll pick today. It’s such a fun song, and in the context of everything else we’ve made, I feel really proud of that one.

She got pilates at six am
Then she’s got breaking your heart at ten
She’s such a hottie
It’s not just in her body
It’s in the way she speaks and her intellect
And I remember the night we met
It was a full on competition
Cause all the boys want her, and all the girls too
But we locked eyes from across the room

You like her long hair
Her hour glass figure
But she likes me
She likes me
You like her full lips
The curvature of her hips
But she likes me
She likes me
Oh I’m possessive
And I can get aggressive
You can look don’t touch
Look don’t touch
You wish you had her
But she’s with someone badder
And she likes me
She likes me

McKenna Petty: I’d just say that life is meant to be celebrated. Even though the world feels so scary and it can be hard sometimes, it’s important to celebrate – to dance, to have fun with your friends, to feel sexy and confident. At the end of the day, that’s all we really can do, and it’s important.

Cristal Ramirez: Yeah, I agree. I just want people to put on their favorite outfit and dance in the mirror. This album is meant to be fun and celebrated. I hope our fans can take it and, wherever they are in life – whether they’re going through a queer journey or some other moment – find a brief escape in it. A bit of joy and celebration.

Be excited about how far you’ve come, who you are, and step into the version of yourself you want to be – even if it’s just for the duration of the show or while listening to the record. If, for those 45 minutes, you can feel free and fully yourself, that’s everything. That’s why I listen to music – to feel like the most realized, larger-than-life version of me. I hope it can be that for anyone who listens.

Katie Henderson: Agreed.

Cristal Ramirez: Oh, that’s good. I’m on Karol G all day long. I just listen to Karol G. I turn on Latina Forever when I need to kill a bug in my bathroom, and it gets me through it.

Alisa Ramirez: Does it pump you up?

Cristal Ramirez: It pumps me up. So yeah, I’m listening to a lot of Karol G right now.

Katie Henderson: I know Alisa and I have been listening to 54 Ultra.

Alisa Ramirez: Yeah, 54 Ultra is sick. I’ve also been listening to a lot of Cris MJ – he’s so sick.

McKenna Petty: I’ve been listening to our Spotify Blend playlist whenever I work out, and it’s actually so fire. All of your fun Spanish songs keep coming up – I’m like squatting to them.

Katie Henderson: Yeah.

Alisa Ramirez: I’ve also been loving Debbii Dawson. She’s really good.

Katie Henderson: I’ve been listening to a lot of Little Dragon, too. They’re so fun.

McKenna Petty: Do you like Debbii Dawson too?

Cristal Ramirez: I was literally gonna say that! In the spirit of talking about disco artists – if you haven’t listened to Debbii Dawson, she’s doing some wild stuff. She sounds like modern-day ABBA, and I don’t know how she does it or who she’s working with, but I want albums on albums from her.

McKenna Petty: If ABBA and Dolly Parton had a baby, it’d be her. We’re big fans.

Cristal Ramirez: She’s f*ing sick.

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 © Dana Trippe

Gold Star Baby

an album by The Aces