On March 26th, Radio DePaul hosted a free event for DePaul students featuring live performances from the pop duo Aly & AJ! Students had the chance to interact with Aly & AJ while learning more about COVID-19 and mental health.
Aly & AJ partnered with CORE to present a 60 minute program meant to provide college students an open forum to learn more about COVID-19 and have their questions answered DIRECTLY by experts.
As a part of the event, three of our hosts got the chance to interview the duo on their acting and music careers.
Interviewing Aly and AJ was something six-year-old me could only dream about. Now at 20 years old, I was able to talk with them over zoom where we discussed growing up with their fanbase, breaking out of their Disney mold, and their long awaited single Pretty Places.
Many, like myself, have grown up alongside Aly and AJ, watching their careers constantly grow. Aly mentioned how grateful they are for such a loyal and loving fanbase saying, “They’ve been here the whole way. They’ve been super patient with us with releasing music…and also just encouraging us to continue to put music out as independent artists, and that means the world to AJ and I.”
Yet, Aly and AJ have not always had the easiest career and often found themselves having to stand up for their music when wanting to brand out creatively. Aly and AJ both encouraged other young artists, especially young women. AJ said, “Sometimes you just have to find and unlock that feeling of trusting yourself.” The girls mentioned that now, they don’t second guess themselves and are very proud of where they’re at in their career.
Aly and AJ are now making and releasing music completely authentic to them, including their new single Pretty Places. The dreamy summer song has been five years in the making, and finally felt it was the right time to release it. They refer to Pretty Places as “their baby” and couldn’t be happier that fans are loving it too.
BY ALYSSA GOMEZ
Being a former child in the early 2000s, I was constantly provided with licensed products from my favorite Disney Channel and Nickelodeon stars. The early 2000s were the wild west in terms of marketing. Whereas the 90s and 80s had cartoon tv shows that were created to sell toys, 2005 Disney Channel was a whole other beast. Not only were there dolls and your standard toys, but there were singing toothbrushes, flash-animated DS games, Tupperware, and I am not kidding, ceiling fans. I fondly remember brushing my teeth with the Aly & AJ walking on sunshine toothbrushes as well as asking for their dolls to go with my Hilary Duff and Cheetah Girls ones. When I was little I always imagined what it would be like to have my own dolls and odd products, and even today I still hold the belief that you truly make it when you have your own doll line.
When talking with Aly & AJ again I wanted to entertain my inner 6 year-old and ask the important questions. “What did it feel like to have your own doll line, and did you get to design your own dolls?” Both seemed rather excited to get such an odd ball question, and started going into the details about getting their faces molded, Barbie replications of their real clothes and picking out the different accessories that went with the doll. This answer made me ecstatic, as I grew older I figured that products such as the dolls I treasured so much were just made by corporations and the artists had no input. Hearing that the artists were in fact such a huge part of the creation of these dolls was like finding out that Santa is in fact real, and that little kid in me is now surfing eBay to try and replace my Aly & AJ dolls from times past.
BY ALLY DUERST
As detailed in one of my other interviews, I have been really intrigued by the art of voice acting for the past few years and love getting the chance to talk with voice actors about their craft. AJ previously held roles in animated series such as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and Steven Universe, as Catra and Stevonnie respectively. Both of those roles contained many fighting scenes, and listeners were informed of how these scenes are usually conducted. AJ also talked about both roles in general and what first steps someone should take in becoming a voice actor.
I’ve also started asking musicians how they think the music industry will change as a result of the pandemic. Aly talked about how certain practices changed for them, such as writing sessions being conducted over Zoom and wearing masks whenever they travel. The duo also talked about their upcoming album and what tracks they are excited for listeners to check out.
BY NATALIE WALSHER
Thank you to Aly & AJ for stopping at Radio DePaul and DePaul University! You can check out Aly & AJ’s discography on music platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
Stay tuned for the release of the album “A Touch of The Beat”, out May 7th!