Talking To Rock Stars: The Sirens of Texas

Produced by Dean Miller, San Antonio, Texas duo The Sirens, Natalie Thunderbolt and Ashley Ward, drop their debut album Making Waves this coming New Release Friday, September 19, 2025.

In honour of this special event we reached out to the Texas duo in order to shed light on some of their milestone moments so far in the world of Rock N Roll. Here’s what they had to say.

Question 1: CDs, Vinyl or Download?

Ashley Ward: CDs! Yes, I still buy CDs. I love to listen to entire albums, and most of my listening is done in the car, so CDs are the most convenient way to do that.

Natalie Thunderbolt: If based purely upon sound, I’m going to choose vinyl! That said, I have amassed a large number of CDs over the years. No doubt, downloads are convenient, but I still feel like there was something really special about buying a new album and flipping through the photos and lyric pages.

Question 2: First album you ever bought (regardless of format)

AW: My dad was great about buying new albums for me when I was little… Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Disney soundtracks… but the very first album I bought myself with my own money (and I even rode my bike to the store to get it) was Tal Bachman’s debut album. I wore that album out. I bought it because I loved the song “She’s So High,” but I ended up loving every track on that album.

NT: My dad was a DJ and my mom had a pretty good collection that I “borrowed” a time or two. For sure, a I bought a number of Beatles mixes (can’t remember which one’s came first). However, I do recall deliberately going out and purchasing The Wallflowers – Bringing Down the Horse after “One Headlight” came out.

Question 3: Most recent album you bought?

AW: The last album I got for myself was “Take Back The Night” by Starbenders. We saw them open for The Struts in Austin and thought they were awesome. I have their album “Love Potions” too. The last album I bought as a gift was the Essential Cheap Trick for Natalie to listen to because I knew she’d love it.

NT: Yes-I love my Essential Cheap Trick CD! I also recently purchased Gary Clark Jr.’s, “Blak & Blu”. Really love his vibe and his sound.

Question 4: How did it come about that you first started playing music?

AW: Nat and I met in high school. She was a junior and I was a senior, and we hung around in the same crowd. We got to talking one day and realized that we shared the exact same taste in music. We started singing together on the steps outside of the cafeteria, and then performing for the science teachers during lunch, and at the Coffee House event the school had.

NT: Ditto! It wasn’t long after that before we started dabbling with songwriting and crafting songs together. It was fun for us to come up with different song structures and play with the harmonies.

Question 5: First song you ever played?

AW: The first song we performed together was “Oh Marie” by Sheryl Crow.

NT: I think we were also playing “Helplessly Hoping” (Crosby, Stills, and Nash) around the same time, but I can’t say for sure.

Question 6: Do you ever perform cover songs and if you do what is your favorite to play?

AW: Absolutely! When we were first starting out the majority of our set list were covers and we sprinkled in some originals. My favorites are “Straight On,” by Heart, “Baby’s In Black” by the Beatles, and “Keep The Customer Satisfied” by Simon & Garfunkel.

NT: Hard to pick, but I would agree with Ash. All three of those were always fun to do, especially “Straight On”! “Walk Like and Egyptian” was another favorite for me, but mainly because of the audience’s engagement. I can’t remember a time when people wouldn’t sing along to that one.

Question 7: Do you both play the majority of the instruments on your recordings? If you do not who have you collaborated with and what do they play?

AW: We played our own instruments on our demos, but for the professional recordings, our producer, Dean Miller, brought in studio musicians. We were lucky enough to work with some extremely talented musicians in Nashville. I did insist on playing my own tambourine though.

NT: Yes. For demos and live performances, we do play our own instruments. However, for these recordings, we took a step back and let the session players do their magic. What would have taken me several takes to do took them a fraction of the time to complete and it really gave us a chance to focus on vocals and the overall production. I also want to give a shout out to Jeff Jacoby. He used to gig with us back in the day and did some amazing lead fills for us!

Question 8: How do you view The Sirens in terms of what has come before. Do you consider The Sirens a revivalist group carrying on in the tradition of your predecessors?

AW: We are heavily influenced by classic rock bands, and I’ve always described our sound as a cross between Simon & Garfunkel + Heart. We have our singer/songwriter style, and tight harmonies, but can also rock. Another big influence and comparison would be Lennon/McCartney with our writing style and harmonies. We want to bring back the sound and vibe of these brilliant bands.

NT: It’s really strange because I’ve always felt that the foundation of The Sirens began much like Lennon and McCartney. It was so serendipitous for us to have found each other at such a young age, both having had similar influences, tastes in music, as well as writing and harmonizing so welltogether. That just doesn’t happen every day! We have certainly evolved as songwriters from when we first started and we also know that what we have is special. Unlike the early days, we now have the resources to reach to larger audiences, and while I do feel that we bring back similar styles to those artists/genres we have a great admiration for, we also insert our own hue into the fabric of our songs. Even on an individual level, the minor divergence of our musical interests adds depth and nuance to the type of songs we make. We challenge one other, but also inspire each other quite a bit.

Question 9: Tell us a bit about your experience being part of the Texas music scene.

AW: Texas is full of very talented musicians. We played in a few bands around San Antonio over the years, and we enjoyed each of them for different reasons. You go up to Austin and walk into any of the bars / clubs and you’ll see just how great some of these bands really are.

NT: We began routinely gigging on First Fridays at the B&D Ice House in the King Williams District in San Antonio. We performed there for several years and got a number of opportunities throughout that period of time, which we were very thankful for. Then, as the years went on, we formed other bands and played in various venues around the city. Going from intimate acoustic settings to a full band set up kept it interesting because we got to interact with different audiences and artistically, got to play/sing different types of music.

Question 10: What is your favorite era of music and why?

AW: Honestly, I love music from the 1940’s through today, but I generally stick to 60’s and 70’s rock. I love glam rock, arena rock, singer/songwriter, British Invasion, and I also enjoy 80’s pop-rock. There’s something about the writing style that stands out to me. The poetry and musical changes in songs by Pink Floyd, Donovan, and Billy Joel are just phenomenal. And vocally, these were some of the best voices of all time—you can’t top people like Freddie Mercury, Paul Rodgers, and Ann Wilson.

NT: If I had to pick one era, definitely the 60’s/70’s! There was an unprecedented explosion of creativity from this time that still inspires so many artists today. The melodic depth, storytelling and harmonies are a marvel all its own! That said, I am also an “old soul” and I enjoy a mixture of genres from the ’20s, 30s, and ’40s. Music was just simple back then and never seemed to be over complicated for the listener. There’s so much emotion out of songs like “(What did I do to be so) Black and Blue?” (Fats Waller/Ethel Waters version) or comedy out of songs like “Anything You Say” (Cliff Edwards).

Question 11: When you’re writing songs, is it the music or lyrics first?

AW: I usually write the music first. There are exceptions of course. Sometimes you think of phrases and lines and go with it, but I find it harder to fit music to lyrics than the other way around.

NT: Definitely the music, although like Ashley, I have had sporadic moments where phrases or concepts pop into my headfirst.

Question 12: How did you learn to write songs?

AW: I’ve been “writing” songs since I was 8 or 9. I remember my music teacher in elementary school submitted one of my songs to a contest. I didn’t win, but I got a trophy for it! I think at that age some of the inspiration for coming up with lyrics came from being a fan of Weird Al. Like him, I would take existing songs and change the words—it’s actually a good exercise for coming up with lyrics!

NT: Playing by ear on the keyboard got me started. There was a show and tell day in second grade and me, having been a big fan of horror movies, wanted to throw my own concert of scary music. I had already been experimenting on my keyboard, so I played with a few settings, tickled a few keys, and played my own horror movie music for my class. The guitar came afterwards and when I started learning chords, I wrote this cringy little song “Don’t Wanna Play Your Games” when I was in middle school.

Question 13: Lucinda Williams, Emmy Lou Harris, Dolly Parton, Wanda Jackson or Kacey Musgraves

AW: I love Emmylou Harris! She is so awesome. I also really like her, Dolly, and Linda Ronstadt in their group Trio.

NT: I’m going to have to go with Emmoulou on this one. When I heard “Juanita” for the first time, that was it. She had me entirely after that! I do really like Lucinda Williams’ vocals and style too.

Question 14: What are your thoughts regarding music streaming?

AW: I think it’s a convenient way to listen to music. Pandora and Spotify have been great avenues for me to hear similar artists to those I know I like. However, there are lots of hoops to jump through for artists because it’s not just selling an album. There are so many platforms, so many ways to get music now, you have to put it out there the right way. It can be very overwhelming.

NT: Streaming has provided a means for artists to share music on a larger scale without requiring the backing of a label. There are a lot of different tools artists can utilize and they have much more control over things like marketing and distribution. There are also more protections from someone being able to steal your songs. However, there are also some cons worth noting. Unless you have a huge fanbase, its going to be difficult to make a living wage off streams alone. Platforms are also heavily saturated and having to battle algorithms to be heard is extremely time consuming and draining!

Question 15: iTunes, Apple Music, Bandcamp, Amazon or Spotify and why?

AW: Spotify. I think because it’s so widely used, and user friendly.

NT: I’m going with Spotify as well. Its so widely used at this point and its often referenced by industry professionals as a metric that they look at when reviewing artists.

Question 16: Do you feel a presence on Social Media is vital for your music to be heard?

AW: Nowadays, it’s imperative. Do I wish it to be? No. I think it’s very difficult to make it in the music industry when you have to market yourself and worry about likes and followers. Some of us have full-time jobs and families to juggle along with writing music AND marketing yourself. So if you’re not good at the marketing part, no matter how good the music is, you won’t make it.

NT: It is, but I am not a fan of having to keep up with views and followers. Repeatedly having to put yourself among a deluge of screens is nauseating, but if you don’t post enough, your music will never be heard and no one will know you exist. That’s just the simple (sad) truth of it.

Question 17: Social Media platform of choice and why?

AW: Facebook. I know how to navigate it seamlessly and most of my friends and family are on fb, so it’s the best way to stay connected.

NT: Instagram. I’ve gotten more comfortable with it lately and my feed isn’t always blocked up with irrelevant nonsense like some other platforms. I do use Facebook as well for friends and family, of course.

Question 18: Does YouTube play a key role in getting your music heard?

AW: Yes, YouTube is an essential platform for sure. Right nowwe don’t have any music videos for the professional recordings, but as soon as we do, it will be even more beneficial.

NT: Yes! I saw an article a while back stating that some generations are more likely to use YouTube above other social media platforms. We have noted that a portion of our audience may be there so I’m hoping that we will be able to connect with those groups more so on YouTube verses other platforms.

Question 19: What is the most beneficial platform for you to sell and distribute your music: Bandcamp, Official Website, iTunes or other?

AW: I think Spotify and iTunes have been the main platforms just because they’re so widely used.

NT: Spotify

Question 20: What is your biggest aspiration in music? What is it that you hope to achieve?

AW: Biggest aspiration would be to be a rock star. Realistically, I’d be happy writing songs for sync licensing or for other artists to perform and record. Ultimately, the goal is to be able to make a living off of making music, whether it’s performing it ourselves, or for others.

NT: Like most artists, I’d love to support my family and do this full time, in whatever form that comes in. Cheesy as it sounds, I also want to be a part of something that provides healing and connection to the world and use my songs to share the truths that no one wants to talk about, especially for those that don’t have a voice at all. I always admired artists that did that and I want to be a part of that. I feel even more compelled to do it now before AI music blurs out anything made by real human beings.

Question 21: What are your thoughts on the relevancy of Billboards Top 200 Albums chart?

AW: I could act cool and say I don’t really care about it. It’s more about the fans and being true to ourselves. But I would be jumping for joy figuratively and literally if we made it on the top 200.

NT: If we made it, and it opened some doors, great. If not, that’s okay too. The rankings don’t make me feel any different about our music and I’m never to conform my style to what someone thinks it should be, or what’s popular.

Question 22: Favorite latest music discovery?

AW: I mentioned Starbenders earlier, but I also really like I Don’t Know How But They Found Me. I saw them live in Austin and they were fantastic!

NT: Jesse Welles. I am in awe of his songwriting ability and I love how he uses his music to shine a light on the underbelly of politics, documenting what’s going on in the world today.

Question 23: Tell us about your future plans and any upcoming releases

AW: We are already talking about the next grouping of songs we’re going to record. We have musician friends we can lean on for the instruments we don’t play, and options for recording studios. We’ve also written 5 new songs in the last few months so the creative juices are still flowing!

NT: Looking at my running list, we have roughly 40-50 songs right now. We are working to get another round of recordings done soon, but just have to put on a few finishing touches and plan out the logistics first.

Question 24: What is your dream concert to attend? Regardless if the band is still together or if the artist is still living, who would you like to see most and in what period of their career?

AW: #1 would be to see The Beatles back when they were performing in the early 60’s. #2 would be Queen in the mid-80’s.

NT: Absolutely, early Beatles for me too!

Question 25: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

AW: I love rock and roll. Writing and performing these songs makes my heart happy and comforts the soul. If we could have even the slightest impact on reaching people and keeping rock music alive, it’ll all be worth it.

NT: Agreed! We also hope you’ll give our songs a chance — and if you like what you hear, following us on Spotify is the best way to stay in the loop!

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