Play The Ace are a Dallas-based pop-punk band with a fast growing fanbase and a passion for writing. We had the chance to chat with Iris, Molly and Dena about their EP ‘All My Friends Are Ghosts’ and their love of Star Wars jokes.
Heya! So first could I get you to introduce yourselves and what your role in the band is?
Iris: Hey! I’m Iris and I sing and play guitar.
Molly: I’m Molly and I play bass for Play The Ace!
Dena: Hello! I’m Dena Asaad, I play the drums and occasionally, I do backup vocals.
So, your debut EP ‘All My Friends Are Ghosts’ came out in May. How does it feel to have your own EP and music out?
Iris: It’s been a long time coming, so it was so relieving to finally have something of our own out in the world, so we could show people what we’re all about. We’ve been doing covers for years before then, so it was super cool to have something that is purely Play The Ace.
Molly: I’m super happy to just have created something like this. The thought of having our own music is incredibly encouraging and it’s empowering to know that through this, we have a voice.
You have 6 tracks on this EP, can you tell us the story behind some of the tracks?
Dena: The songs on the EP were mostly written by Iris and me. I find writing therapeutic so I typically write about what’s going on in my life.
Iris: There’s a sort of common theme throughout the EP of how friendships and relationships change as you grow up, whether that means making new friends or losing people who were once really important to you, which is kind of where the EP name came from. One of the songs that really stands out the most to me story-wise is All Is Well. The other songs have deep stories behind them too but All Is Well was definitely the most emotional in the writing. I went through a lot that year with a lot of friendship drama, personal insecurities, and even a death in the family, so I took all those negative feelings that I was bottling up and threw it into one giant catharsis. Looking back, it is definitely a lot more Angsty Teen™ than I meant for it to be and I definitely get way over-dramatic when we play it live (like falling to the ground and everything haha), but it still stands as one of my favorites in the EP.
Dena: The song “Can’t Find Moral Support In The Back Seat Of A Car” was written completely by me. It was heavily inspired by my relationship with my older brother. It’s basically about how we, as people, are always looking up to one person and we think that they could do no wrong, but we end up finding out that a lot of what we thought we believed was all lies. People say one thing, but they really mean another. We know that what we crave isn’t gonna be given to us, yet we still wait for it. It is apart of human nature to be optimistic and give people more chances, but we all come to a point where we don’t have any more to give.
In your opinion, what was the hardest part of writing and recording ‘All My Friends Are Ghosts?
Molly: We had great songs in theory, but trying to transcribe our thoughts into a physical CD was incredibly difficult because we’d never done anything like this before and were just kind of figuring out what to do as we went along.
Iris: Yea, put a bunch of confused teenagers with top level recording equipment and you get a giant mess. Huge shouts to Michael Briggs who stood by us and dealt with our screw ups throughout the recording process.
You also like to do a lot of covers on your band Instagram of various bands such as Fall Out Boy and Waterparks. Which songs do you enjoy covering the most?
Iris: It kind of depends for me. My music ranges from some really mainstream bands like Twenty One Pilots to bands that not everybody has heard of like Knuckle Puck, so it depends on what mood I’m in that day. Sometimes I go towards the more popular songs because I like seeing the fan reactions and getting to bond with them over songs we all love, but some days I just say screw it and play songs that maybe nobody has heard of, but it doesn’t matter as long as I love what I’m playing.
Dena: Although we rarely do it, Jude law And A Semester abroad hands down is my favorite song to cover. Brand New is one of my all time favorite bands, so covering this song makes me really happy.
Molly: I personally love covering anything with a punchy bassline because it’s just a lot more fun to play cool basslines or solos than just basic chord structures. But any cover is honestly so great because we’re putting our own spin on music we’ve loved for years and by people we regard as heroes.
Will you ever put out any of your covers as singles?
Molly: I think that’d be really cool, but all the legal work that goes into it would be a pain haha.
I hear you guys love making Star Wars jokes, can you tell us your best joke?
Molly: You’ll have to go to Dena for that one.
Dena: I’m a huge Star Wars fanatic, so when ever I get the chance during practice to pop a Star Wars pun, I do. My favorite Joke to make is: Why did Anakin Skywalker cross the road? To get to the Dark Side. Lame I know.
On to a very serious question, who would be the most annoying person to be stuck in an elevator with?
Molly: Iris. Easily. She’s the worst lmao (I’ll probably be kicked out of the band for the day because of this though)
Iris: Tbh it probably is me, but still lowkey salty you said that. (Pack up your stuff Molly, I want you out of here in the next 5 minutes)
What’s next up on the bucket list for Play The Ace?
Molly: Oh man we just played our first headlining show which was absolutely incredible! I think we just want to work towards building up our fanbase enough to play a larger venue, just so we can meet some more people.
Iris: This is definitely nowhere near next up on the list (I wish haha) but touring with All Time Low is definitely a bucket list goal for us. All Time Low is one of the main reasons why we decided to start a band so being able to play a show with them would be a total full circle moment for us.
Finally, if you could say anything to the readers right now, what would you say?
Molly: If you’ve listened to the music, thank you so much; all of the support is honestly so appreciated! And if you’ve never heard of us, well I hope you think we’re worth a listen or two!
Iris: Be sure to check out our new EP, All My Friends Are Ghosts, and find us on social media!
Molly: Thanks y’all! (We’re from Texas; The y’all is a default)
EUPHORIA OF BREAKDOWN 