All Our Exes Live In Texasformed just two years ago, and to rise through the ranks at the rate they have requires a phenomenal amount of drive and hard work, as well as that indefinable quality that only comes when the right people start making music together.
“As soon as we started playing together, with our four personalities I think we found it really special and kind of magical,” says vocalist and ukulele player Hanna Crofts. “It’s been easy to get on a good path because people want to come our shows, they enjoy it when they do and they want to come back. At the same time, I just feel like I should show someone my phone – if I put it down for half an hour, I look back and I’ve got 42 text messages from the girls and my manager. Anyone in a band has to realise that it’s a 24 hour job, and that’s the only way to do it.”
It’s this combination of chemistry and work ethic that led to a watershed moment in the group’s career. Earlier this year, All Our Exes Live In Texas were chosen to support ‘90s pop royalty the Backstreet Boys on an arena tour around the country. As Crofts enthuses, landing a tour with Nick Carter and co. was a childhood dream come true.
“All of us had Backstreet Boys posters around our bedrooms, and have been completely obsessed our entire lives,” she says. Perhaps you’re thinking that a four-piece folk band are a strange pick to accompany the group that produced such ubiquitous hits as I Want It That Way and Everybody (Backstreet’s Back), and Crofts felt the same. “It’s one of those things that you never believe would happen,” she says. “They only let us know the day the tour started. We had some gigs booked in as well, so we just sat there thinking, ‘Can we actually do this?’ After an hour or two we thought, ‘I’d give up my job to be able to do this’.”
It’s hard to find to many similarities between the two groups, but both have undeniably strong harmonies. All Our Exes Live In Texas’ finely crafted harmonies are one of their most identifiable assets, which add an added layer of complexity to their songs.
“Harmonies are something we really want to push ourselves with,” says Crofts. “When you’re arranging and writing a song, it’s so easy to fall into a pattern of what you always do. It’s about spending time with a song and thinking, ‘What’s something really cool or really difficult that we can use to push ourselves to become better musicians through the song?’”
In Crofts’ opinion, developing the group’s harmony arrangements was just another step that led them to fall in love with folk music. While still heeding to tradition in a musical sense, All Our Exes introduce a perspective all of their own.
“Being four women in Australia, I think there’s something special about that,” she says. “For me, the most important thing is that women have role models. Ultimately, young girls growing up in Australia need to see more girls doing what we’re doing. Whether that’s being a tour manager or a sound engineer, producing or onstage, I think it’s really important that Australia highlights these people, for the specific purpose of role models.”
BY JAMES DI FABRIZIO
