The year of the horse is all about change and forward momentum. To the sister duo of Aly & AJ Michalka, this is nothing new to them. Whether it was early Disney stardom, a blossoming music career, or a hiatus to get back to what inspired them, they have always moved forward with haste. Post-2017 hiatus, they have come back with a renewed passion. Taking the risk of a decade-long break worked out in their favor, as they now have a chance to sing about subject matter more fitting. Both they and the fans have grown into what we are witnessing now. They sat down with us at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in the hopes the weather would allow what it did not last year. Unfortunately, it did not, but when life gives you lemons, you make a music video out of it.
Hit Parader: How is your guys’ year going so far?
AJ: It’s been a great year.
Aly: It’s been good.
AJ: We just released a new song; it’s called “Year of the Horse.” We just feel really energized and inspired by what this year has to bring and to be back at Bonnaroo when last year got canceled. We’re just so happy that we got to do a redo with our band. It’s really going to be magical. (The redo did not happen due to rain again.)
HP: Out of the pop stars from the 2000s who took a long hiatus, you guys have had one of the most successful second lives. When was the moment you realized that your fans are willing to mature with you guys?
AJ: When A Touch of the Beat came out.
Aly: That first record in 2021.
AJ: When that record came out, I think the fans were like, “Oh, we know exactly what they want to do with their music career.” I mean, they’ve really been here for us since the beginning of us coming back. Which was really 2017 with the EPs. I think Touch of the Beat really solidified this new sound, and our fans have been really supportive.
Aly: Just getting back to touring again. Being out on the road, living on a bus. Doing that after having been away from it for so long. It felt like no time had passed. It felt very second nature to us, and I think the second go-around we appreciated even more. It feels even more sacred and special because we hold these memories together, like nobody goes as far back as AJ and I do in the band. That’s very special.
HP: I have talked to a couple of artists who take a break and then come back later in life. They seem to always have a great appreciation for it.
AJ: I think it’s really great we took the 10 years off that we did. We were able to really figure out what we wanted to do once we hit our 30s.
Aly: There were definitely some missed opportunities. Lots of festivals we didn’t get to play. Shows we didn’t get to play, but in the long run for the band, I think it was good. It helped us find our sound, and we didn’t burn out from the music.
AJ: We’re right where we’re supposed to be.
HP: Going to the most recent album, you guys talked about how you went away from the pop style of writing. What was that experience like for you, and will you continue with that style for later music?
Aly: I think for us there are no rules. We can do whatever we want. It at least feels like that to us.
AJ: There is no genre.
Aly: I feel like the music in general just makes people feel good. It makes people feel seen and understood. I think when it comes to the writing process, we felt like we always needed to write a song in a certain format. Under three minutes and all these kinds of arbitrary rules, and now we don’t feel like we’re tied to that now. If we don’t want to write a bridge and we want the bridge to be an instrumental guitar solo, then that’s what it is. That feels really freeing as writers to not feel like we have to follow a certain format. That’s been really fun, and also to write with the live show in mind. Knowing this is going to go off really well live, so let’s lean into that. Not writing for the radio or for it to be a hit. If those things happen, great, but it’s more like honoring the live show.
HP: I was going to ask about that in regard to the new song: did you guys prepare for the live show, or is that something you figure out as you go?
AJ: No, when we’re in the studio we are trying to lay the foundation early for what that song will feel and sound like live. Then that informs the production, once we’re ready to go. We’re locked in with our band in a rehearsal setting. We just try to honor the song as best we can with how it was recorded.
Aly: Sometimes we get the opportunity to play the song before it’s recorded, and we’re playing it live, and then we go and cut the song. That’s the best opportunity because we can work the kinks out. I really love how we do that live; let’s put that on the record. For “Year of the Horse,” we’ve only played this song one other time in a live set. We’re going to play it today.
HP: From your newer catalog, if you could take one song and put it in an old set list from the 2000s, which song would it be?
AJ: New material in an old set list? Probably “Pretty Places.” That feels like a song that could have been on our first album. A foreshadowing of all the places we’re going to travel.
Aly: Maybe even “Slow Dancing.”
HP: Speaking about your old catalog, you guys have talked about how going back to it later in life, some songs took on a new meaning. What song for each of you feels like a different song now compared to when you wrote it?
Aly: “Rush,” it’s carried that same meaning of wanting people to feel accepted. To feel brave enough to embrace their new selves, but I don’t think we knew that it would become this LGBTQ+ anthem that it’s become. Which is so beautiful and special. I don’t think we could have ever anticipated that when we wrote it at 15 and 13. Over the years, I think it’s grown into that, and that’s beautiful. It feels very gratifying to be able to play it live.
AJ: The other one I would say is “On the Ride.” Even though we knew at the time that we were writing a song about our sisterhood, now that our sisterhood has grown even more, I feel like that song has taken on a new life. Now she’s a mom, and I’m an aunt. We’ve been touring together for years; it’s beyond where that song first started for us.
HP: Is the song part of something new, or is it more connected thematically to the last album?
AJ: It feels like a stand-alone situation because of the meaning behind it and this year becoming the year of the horse and what that means for Aly and me. I would say it’s a stand-alone thing, but it very much represents where the music is heading and where it has come from.
Aly: We’re in a space of wanting to create new music for the next album. We’re in a creative zone, and it feels good to be able to release something new from now until when that next record is out.
HP: Any last message to the readers or listeners?
AJ: We just hope that this year of the horse is as fulfilling for you as it has been for us so far. The Year of the Horse is all about change and recognizing one’s true self, which really was where the Year of the Snake came through: shedding the past. Now just trudging forward with exactly who you are, even if it’s a hard year.
Aly: Keep supporting live music. Come and see shows. We need that in this political climate. I think it’s very important to go and see shows. To be able to participate in that as a community is really special.
