Aislinn Ritchie

About Aislinn Ritchie

Aislinn Ritchie is an American musician from Arizona. She is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of Glixen, the Phoenix shoegaze band she founded in 2020. The group released the EPs ''She Only Said'' (2023) and ''Quiet Pleasures'' (2025), opened for acts including Interpol and DIIV, and made its Coachella debut in 2025.

Ritchie was born in Tucson, Arizona, and later lived in Gilbert, a suburb of Phoenix. She has said her parents did not play music at home, and that she wanted to be a performer from childhood, citing 2000s pop stars such as Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and t.A.T.u. She took an early interest in clothes and styling, and has described discovering Beach House in high school. She has also named Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, and My Bloody Valentine as later influences. She met future bandmate Sonia Garcia at 16 while both worked at American Apparel. Around the same age she saw the band Draa live and has said that show pushed her toward shoegaze. She moved to Phoenix at 18. In a February 2024 interview she said she was 25.

After high school Ritchie started the dream-pop group Dovi, one of two bands she had before Glixen. Guitarist Esteban Santana, who had played bass in her previous group, joined her in writing new material after that band ended during the COVID-19 pandemic. She founded Glixen in July 2020 and recruited Santana (guitar), drummer Keire Johnson, and Garcia (bass). Garcia, a close friend, had not played bass before joining. Ritchie has said she told the others the project was meant to be a full-time touring band.

The name comes from the experimental group lovesliescrushing, part of Arizona’s early-1990s “Beautiful Noise” scene. Glixen’s first show, in fall 2021, sold out a 275-capacity room. The debut single “Sugarcube” (2021) drew the attention of Doug Dulgarian of They Are Gutting a Body of Water and led to the EP ''She Only Said'', released on 11 August 2023 through his Julia’s War label. Tony Brant produced that record.

In 2024 the band released “foreversoon,” produced by Jack Endino, known for Nirvana’s ''Bleach'', and toured nationally behind ''She Only Said'', including a date at Launchpad in Albuquerque. That year they also played SXSW and Treefort and opened for Interpol, DIIV, Nothing, Glitterer, Softcult, and others. They shared a bill with lovesliescrushing at Nothing’s Slide Away festival in Philadelphia.

''Quiet Pleasures'', a five-song EP produced by Sonny DiPerri (My Bloody Valentine, DIIV) and mastered by Dave Cooley, came out on 21 February 2025 through AWAL, with vinyl on Wichita Recordings. It was recorded at Pale Moon Ranch in Juniper Hills, California. Tracks associated with the period include “lust,” “sick silent,” “lick the star,” and “all tied up.” Glixen played Coachella in April 2025. Later coverage includes an NME interview in February 2026 around the single “Unwind,” and a Riot Fest appearance in September 2026, when Ritchie said the band was writing an album between tours.

Ritchie is of Mexican and Scottish descent.

* Discography

With Glixen:
''She Only Said'' (EP, 2023, Julia’s War)
''Quiet Pleasures'' (EP, 2025, AWAL / Wichita)
Selected singles: “Sugarcube” (2021), “foreversoon” (2024), “lust” (2024), “lick the star” (2024), “Unwind” (2026)