Photos by Dylan Simmons. Words & interview by Ava London & Dylan Simmons.
Having recently made their Coachella debut in April following the release of their sophomore EP, Quiet Pleasures, it would seem the sky’s the limit for Arizona-based shoegaze act Glixen. So how did Glixen manage to cut through the noise generated by the latest, widespread shoegaze revival prompted by the gargantuan success of bands like Wisp and julie? My answer lies in how Glixen has reconceptualized the melodramatic, fuzzed-out shoegaze sonic archetype into a uniquely feminine, sensual sound.
In Glixen’s live act, Aislinn Ritchie’s melodic voice pitches wraithlike through guitar drones oscillating between textured grit and atmospheric haze. Bassist Sonia Garcia’s serenity manifests as it-girl stoicness, serving as a foil to the intensity palpable in drummer Keire Johnson’s performance as he pounds out Glixen’s rhythmic backbone. Esteban Santana maintains the catchy, reverb-laden guitar chords which juxtapose so well with Ritchie’s whispered vocals. For a lack of more refined phrasing, Glixen makes shoegaze for the girls, with layers of heavy instrumentation amplifying leather-clad Ritchie and Garcia’s ultra-cool dispositions and effeminate performances.
Before their headlining show at the Constellation Room in Santa Ana, we met with Glixen backstage as LA-based alt rock band Starling warmed up the crowd. We had the pleasure of speaking with Aislinn and Esteban about Glixen’s rise to prominence amongst Arizona’s alternative acts, the increasingly genre-less underground music scene, and the band’s eclectic sonic references.
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This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity purposes.
Dylan Simmons: We just wanted to hear a little bit about how the band formed, and just a[n] overview of your guys’ background.
Aislinn Ritchie: So I had a band before, and we moved on, broke up and stuff, and I wanted to start something new. Once COVID lockdown really hit, I was like, “I want to do something different.” So I asked Esteban if he wanted to write with me. And from then on, we just started writing, and we got Kiere as our drummer. Then I asked Sonia — we needed a bass player, so I asked her if she could play bass.
Ava London: You guys are, like, forever friends, right?
Aislinn: Yeah.
Ava: Were you worried to ask?
Aislinn: Yes, I was! I didn’t ask her first; I asked somebody else. But I just knew she would be perfect for it, because I kept thinking about it. I just kept thinking of the future, and it just felt like she would be a part of it.
Ava: Was it the best touring with her?
Aislinn: Oh, yeah! Like, we get ready together, we dress up together. We have each other, which is nice, because [I] feel like it’s kind of rare. It’s like, usually all guys. Even when we go on tour with other bands, we’re the only girls.
Dylan: Where it’s like all guys and one girl– I feel like that’s just every alternative band.
Aislinn: Yeah. [laughs] But yeah, I just was like, “You guys, I want to do this. Let’s tour. I want to take this serious. I want to take this as far as we can. I just want to make music.” So we started practicing and writing, and we wanted to make our first show special. So the next year, after the shows started coming back, we did a really special show in Phoenix in a beautiful white warehouse. And we had visuals, and our first batch of merch — it was just [me and Esteban] printing it. It was a lot of work, but it was so special.
Ava: Did you know promoters and stuff from [your first band]?
Aislinn: Yeah! I was 18 when I started my first band, and my goal was always to play venues in Phoenix. So, I started with house shows, and those bands played venues, so those bands would ask us to open, and then I started to meet the promoters from Phoenix. I also worked at a lot of coffee shops. So one person in particular — he works for Psyko Steve in Phoenix — he would come into the coffee shop I worked at, and we just got to know each other, and he really took me under his wing in my first band. He honestly helped me in my first band get a lot of shows that I wanted to open for, these shoegaze bands or other bands that I really liked. And then I started Glixen, and he was just there for me– His name’s Jeff Taylors. I just will always remember that, because he’s one of the reasons why we played so many shows, because we knew each other, he liked what I was doing, and, yeah!
Ava: Do you have any favorite acts that you got to open for in Arizona?
Aislinn: Probably Ringo Deathstarr. We — my first band — opened for Swervedriver. Those are the bands that I looked up to. Another band that really took us under their wing, too, was Citrus Clouds from Phoenix. There wasn’t that many shoegaze bands in Phoenix, so we kind of all had to, you know–
Ava: Just find each other.
Aislinn: Yeah.
Dylan: It’s a niche, for sure. I feel like, even as big as LA can be, and how oversaturated it is with artists, there’s such a niche of alternative bands that always perform together and tour together and stuff. It’s just cute to see those little circles come together.
Aislinn: I just love music. And it doesn’t even have to be shoegaze; I just love alternative, like ‘90s-sounding, like, could be electronic— I mean, one of our first favorite shows was with Cowgirl Clue. It’s just so crazy, how different our music is, but it fits so well. Like, when we toured with her, it was so fun. It was us, Kumo 99, and Cowgirl Clue. And the people that like their music love our kind of music, too.
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Dylan: So is it just you two [Aislinn and Esteban] mainly as the writers?
Aislinn: Yeah, we do the chords and the whole feeling of the song, but Kiere writes a lot of the drums. Recently, [Esteban has] been giving me chords to write with, and I take them home, and I just fly with them. I can write whole songs with the chords that he writes. We switch; we play around with how we write.
Dylan: I feel like sometimes listening to your guys’ music — especially this new EP — it’s like, obviously the lyricism is great, but I think sometimes it does feel almost secondary to the music, because the music is just so overpowering and immersive. Do you find that you’re writing lyrics around the music once you’ve already written the music, or is it usually the other way around?
Aislinn: For the first EP, it was kind of like that. We were writing a lot of feeling and sound. That was when I really fell in love with my bloody valentine, and I was really into the band Medicine, and like Björk, and like, I just wanted to have that super MBV sound with kind of poppy vocals, and it was super bright. And then for the second EP, [Esteban] took a lot more control, because I wanted something darker and grungier, and he is just so good at writing things like that. And I just like accentuating it with pretty melodies on top of something really dark. And I just feel like that’s more Glixen — both of us, when we have one solid idea together. That’s what I really want, you know?
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Dylan: Just honing in a little bit on Quiet Pleasures, I was wondering if there were any specific references or bands that you could point to that kind of shaped that EP?
Aislinn: Tone-wise, a lot of Hum.
Esteban Santana: The most recent Hum album was, like, huge.
Aislinn: Yeah. What else were you listening to?
Esteban: There’s a band called 93MillionMilesFromTheSun, and they just do this really cool, kind of explosive sound that’s like very noisy, almost like Sonic Youth kind of, but like very loud.
Aislinn: They’re so noisy. They’re so, like, heavy, loud.
Esteban: Pretty big inspo. I was personally listening to a lot of Godflesh. They just have this insane sound.
Aislinn: Jesu. That’s one of the references.
Aislinn: Writing that [EP] was so fast. It felt really fast when we wrote that. We were locked in, for like, a month. I feel like whatever he was writing, I would just sing over what it would feel [like].
Dylan: I feel like that’s a good sign, that you both just know somewhere deep down where [you’re] headed. Like, it’s all coming together, subconsciously, I guess. The music’s just kind of coming out of you.
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Aislinn: These new songs that we just wrote, I’m not even listening to shoegaze for them. I’m not really listening to a lot of rock music right now.
Dylan: What are some of your current artists or albums on repeat?
Aislinn: They’re a lot of new artists. One of them’s called YULLOLA. I’ve been listening to Erika de Casier; [she’s an] R&B singer-songwriter. We’ve been going a lot lighter.
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Dylan: Was there anything else you guys wanted to add? Anything you want to shout out?
Esteban: Well, we did just record two new songs. No release date, but–
Aislinn: Something’s coming.
Dylan: We can tease it. We’ll break the news. A UCLA Radio exclusive.
Esteban: Yeah, we haven’t told anyone.
Dylan: Oh, wow! Well, this is exciting, then.
Aislinn: One of the songs has drum machine, synth; we’re doing a little bit more production. It’ll be different, but still Glixen.
Dylan: I’m excited to hear!
Aislinn: Me, too! We haven’t heard it; we just went [into the studio] last week. We’re just waiting.
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Aislinn: I’m excited for our world– because I feel like we’re still trying to build it.
Dylan: It’s ever-evolving, but it does seem like you guys have–
Aislinn: Something that we’re wanting to go for. We still have an album to write!
Dylan: Well, [I’m] excited to see where you guys go!
