AV Club Talks Dreading And Shredding Ahead Of Her Stellar Debut Single

By: Josh Kitchen / June 6, 2025

Photo by: Phebe Wickham

Aly Velasco is stepping into the spotlight as AV Club—her solo project blending queer angst, DIY spirit, and bedroom pop hooks. Her debut single "All I Dread" channels the chaos of unrequited love into something cathartic and catchy, inspired by old journal entries and steeped in the influence of icons she looks up to like Snail Mail and Mannequin Pussy. The track is a promising glimpse into what AV Club has coming, it's heavy and infectious, without sacrificing a refreshing sense of vulnerability. I caught up with Velasco ahead of the track’s release to talk about her sick shredding, songwriting, and the power of saying “Hi, you’re so pretty” to your musical heroes.

Happy Pride Month! Let’s start with the big news—you’ve got your very first single coming out. Tell me about it.

The song is called "All I Dread," and it’s about unrequited love on my part. I was hooking up with this guy, and I got really obsessed with him—even though he was pretty awful. Shoutout! But yeah, I just really loved the attention, even though it was bad attention.

The song is emotional and incredibly honest—almost confessional. When you sit down to write lyrics, do you always come into it with that kind of open, personal approach?

Yeah, definitely. When I write songs, I’m usually writing about something that happened to me years ago. I’m not really good at writing about recent stuff, because I haven’t fully processed those feelings yet. So lately, I’ve been going back into my old journals, reading through entries, and pulling from those.

Single Art by: @hyp.sp

It’s like you’re getting inspired by your past self.

Exactly! I mean, I know how I felt, but reading those old entries reminds me of how raw and real those emotions were—like the ugly stuff.

And now that you’ve gotten older, you can better contextualize those emotions and turn them into something expressive and catchy.

I’m much better now at taking those feelings and writing about them in a way that feels relatable and memorable.

Photo by: Danielle McDuffie

It's also just really heavy and catchy. I hear influences like Soccer Mommy or Momma in it—that kind of ‘90s grunge, riot grrrl angst, and it's unapologetically queer., which is so necessary right now. Tell me about the sound and the artists who inspire you.

I really take inspiration from artists like Snail Mail and Mannequin Pussy.

Mannequin Pussy are just insane live.

Mannequin Pussy at the Fonda in Los Angeles

Okay, so we kind of finessed our way into the afterparty for a Mannequin Pussy last year. We were just wandering around, being silly. Then the band came out, and we were like, “Oh my God, we have to say something.”

Were you cool and collected?

No, not really.

What did you say when you met her?

I think I just said, “Hi, you’re so pretty,” and she said, “Oh, thanks.”

Hey, that’s not bad! There are way worse celebrity meeting stories.

True. I guess I’m just not great at playing it cool.

But I think it’s cool when artists openly talk about the people, bands, and art that inspire them. That moment of connection can be really powerful. Let’s rewind a bit. For people just discovering you—who is AV Club? Say aliens came down and asked, “What is your music and why should I listen to you?” What would you say?

I’m just a little gay, local indie girl.

What does that mean in the context of your music?

It’s who I am. I think I’m relatable. I’m like the bedroom pop, small artist girl who’s also queer.

You shred on this track too.

I’ve actually been playing guitar for about eight years now and have written all my songs on guitar since I started. Just recently, I began taking professional lessons to really deepen my skills. A few months ago, I joined a band called Something and the Ronnies as their guitarist—and honestly, I’ve truly started to shred in the band. It’s been so fun.

This feels like the start of a really cool creative journey for AV Club. People are gonna love "All I Dread"—and I think they’ll be really excited about the music you’ve got coming in the near future.

Yes! I have more tracks in the vault. I plan on releasing another single sometime in the middle or end of summer. Then hopefully an EP in the near future. I’m also going to take every performance opportunity I can—doing a bunch of open mics and getting my name out in LA.

You're spreading the gospel of AV Club.

Exactly. It’s early days, but it’s so exciting.

Listen to "All I Dread" below & follow AV Club on Bandcamp and Instagram for new music and updates!