In a place where queer identity wasn’t always accepted, The Aces turned their music into a sanctuary—not just for themselves, but for fans around the world. They became voices for acceptance, weaving authenticity into pop melodies. And now, with their fourth album, Gold Star Baby, they lean into disco-pop, Latin heritage, and queer storytelling more than ever.
In our conversation with lead singer Cristal Ramirez, she opened up about the band’s roots, their music influences, the joy of embracing their Latina heritage, and what it means to create music that celebrates queerness, love, and self-expression.
A Conversation with The Aces
TNM: Let’s talk origins. What were your earliest musical influences, and how did you shape the idea of forming an all-female band?
Cristal: Musical influences for us were a bunch of disco music, which was so fun to explore on Gold Star Baby. So, like The Commodores, Earth, Wind & Fire, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, The Pointer Sisters. Destiny’s Child was a really big one. I think our melodic instinct comes from a lot of really good disco, R&B/pop music. And then, on the rock side, Katie was obsessed with bands like Weezer and The Beatles—stuff that was more classic rock and indie. McKenna was super into Toto and Depeche Mode, The Cure, a lot of really cool indie music, Young the Giant, stuff like that. That kind of was our earliest inspiration.
TNM: How significant was the band in your journey of self-discovery and acceptance during your early years?
Cristal: I mean, it was everything. It was completely crucial for us to be able to be where we are today. If we didn’t have each other, I don’t know where we would be. We were really each other’s safe space in our hometown, and we felt like we didn’t fit in in a lot of ways. So I think The Aces was like solace for all of us—a place to feel like we could be whoever we wanted to be, and we were allowed to be whoever we wanted to be.
TNM: How has your songwriting process evolved since the early days?
Cristal: I think it’s evolved a lot. When we first started the band, it was really just me and Alisa writing the songs. Even before that, it was me and Katie, and then it was me and Alisa. Now, this record was all four of us. A lot of it was written by all four of us together in a room, and half of it was produced by us—by Katie. So, it’s evolved a lot, and that’s why I think Gold Star Baby feels like the most “our voice.” Lyrically, it feels like the most us because we really wrote it together.
TNM: As an all-female band in today’s music scene, do you feel a sense of responsibility toward young female and LGBTQIAN+ fans?
Cristal: I mean, I think it’s really important because it was really important for me as a teenager to see a band like Tegan and Sara being so comfortable in their own skin and out in their identity. It really saved my life and saved my entire pursuit of music—to see them. So I think it’s incredibly important, and it just feels like we get to pay it forward to, hopefully, the next generation of queer and female musicians.
TNM: Your songs often use gender-inclusive language. Why is that meaningful?
Cristal: It’s so funny because on our first album I don’t think we even meant to—we just weren’t out yet. We didn’t want to say “he” because we weren’t singing about men, but we weren’t ready to say “she.” So, we just kept it very gender ambiguous.
And then we have a lot of trans fans and nonbinary fans, and people come up to us and say, “Thanks so much for keeping this gender ambiguous, I really relate to it, I don’t use pronouns,” or whatever it may be. That was amazing because it was a really beautiful part of the community we are creating. I think, more than anything, what’s really important is to be honest—as honest as you can be in your songwriting—and the right people will find you.
TNM: How does Gold Star Baby differ from your previous record, I’ve Loved You For So Long?
Cristal: It just felt like the natural evolution after I’ve Loved You. We did the reflection and self-discovery and looking back, and now Gold Star Baby is living in the moment and looking to the future. It just felt like the next step in our creative journey.
TNM: Your band blends queer identity into Gold Star Baby. Why is the label “sapphic disco-pop” meaningful to you?
Cristal: It’s incredibly important. The disco genre in general is a genre that was really birthed out of minorities, queer and POC. For us, it made sense because we grew up listening to that music, and we really loved that music so much naturally already. And we’re half Latina, and our dad was playing a lot of Latin music in the house as well—Selena, Marc Anthony, Juan Gabriel, stuff like that. So we grew up really listening to this kind of music anyway, and then, on top of it, being queer, it just was like, “We have to explore this further.”
TNM: Tell me more about how the Gold Star Baby “metaphorical club” concept came to be.
Cristal: Alisa came up with it. She is such a director, she loves film, she has a director’s mind. She directed the music video for Gold Star Baby. She came up with this idea that it was a club because we were really trying to create the feeling of what it feels like to be in your favorite outfit, drinking your favorite drink, having your favorite perfume on, being with your favorite people, you know?
And hit the club, dance your ass off, have a good time. That’s what the music was really created from—a place of wanting to evoke that feeling. And so, Alisa had this idea to make it a club, which is amazing, and we all loved it immediately. I hope listeners feel they just get to shake off whatever is going on in their life and just have a really good time.
TNM: The track “Twin Flame” weaves Latin influence—what does bringing your heritage into your music feel like?
Cristal: It’s truly been a very healing, beautiful experience to do that. I think for the first time in me and Alisa’s lives—and I’ll speak for her because I know she feels the same way—this is the first we’ve ever really, really been able to embrace our heritage through our music. That has been so rewarding and so beautiful, and it’s made me feel so, so proud and even more proud to be Latina.
TNM: If Gold Star Baby were one color, what would it be?
Cristal: I can’t, it’s rainbow. It’s gotta be rainbow. It’s a technicolor universe.
TNM: Do you have a favorite track you can’t wait for people to hear?
Cristal: I mean… it’s out now, all of them. But “She Likes Me,” I love so much. That’s the one I gravitate toward all the time.
TNM: What’s one of your most memorable touring moments so far?
Cristal: There are so many. I think one of my most memorable experiences was going to Japan and playing for a packed room of Japanese fans and feeling like, “How in the hell did these four girls from Orem, Utah, make it over here? And how the hell do this many people love our music?” I mean, obviously, I’m so proud of our music, and I knew, and I know people will love it, but it’s just a really trippy feeling to have a completely different culture of people and you’re 14k miles away from home and people know your music. So that was crazy.
TNM: Have you performed in Southeast Asia yet? Any plans for Thailand?
Cristal: We have not, and we really, really want to because we know we have a lot of fans over there. We’re coming! Don’t worry.
TNM: Are there queer artists you’re currently loving?
Cristal: I’m really loving this artist named Reyna Tropical. They are a nonbinary, Colombian Peruvian-Mexican–influenced style artist, and I love their music a lot.
TNM: What advice do you have for new all-female bands just starting out?
Cristal: To bands in general, even bands that aren’t women: you have to really love it. If you really love it, and you really love to make music and create things then you’ll find your way. You just have to be persistent. I think that’s what I would say to anyone that wants to be a musician, “You just have to be able to keep going, no matter what happens, no matter how much money you’re making, no matter if the fans are showing up to the shows yet. You have to just keep pushing and pushing and eventually something will stick and you’ll keep building.” It takes a lot of persistence.
TNM: Where do you see The Aces in five years?
Cristal: I see The Aces continuously making records, touring, sharing the experience with fans. Hopefully garnering more and more like-minded people and fans around us and just continuing to do what we love.
TNM: What message would you like to send to Thai fans and new listeners?
The Aces: Join the party! Welcome to Gold Star Baby. We love you, and we hope you have a good time.
Stream “Gold Star Baby” here: https://theaces.lnk.to/goldstarbaby
