Aly & AJ can still hear the shots fired outside of their Sacramento concert in 2022. The sister duo had just finished the kickoff show of their A Touch of the Beat tour and were giddy for their next stop, packing their things before a show in San Francisco when suddenly they heard gunshots outside of their tour bus.
“We immediately jumped out of our bunks and hit the floor. AJ and I knew that it was gunfire because we grew up around guns,” Aly Michaelka tells Rolling Stone. “It was terrifying. My husband wasn’t on the bus so I worried if he was caught in the crossfire. It was just pure panic for all of us.”
The group’s crew and family were safe, and their trailer was the only thing damaged by the bullets and shrapnel. But six people died that night and 12 more were injured. The incident continues to haunt the sisters to this day.
On Thursday, the pair will visit the White House alongside non-profit March Fourth to advocate for reinstating the Federal Assault Weapons Ban on the 20th anniversary of its expiration. The duo will also release “Sirens,” a poignant song they wrote about their experience surviving the shooting.
“We’ve always been very disturbed by the state of where we’re at with gun violence in America and this personally made us even more impassioned to get involved and to do something about it,” says Aly. “I think writing the song was really cathartic for the two of us.”
As they release the somber video for “Sirens,” filmed at the site of the shooting, Aly & AJ will visit with the offices of Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA), and Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to advocate for the assault weapons ban. They’ll also stop by the White House for a briefing with the Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
“I know it’s a hot topic politically, but it shouldn’t be,” says Aly. “It should be something that we can all speak about openly and rationally because it is something that affects everyone.”
“Assault weapons are not supposed to be in the hands of civilians. These are weapons of war,” adds AJ. “They always have been. That’s what they were intended for. I think most Americans agree on this. So how have we not come to an agreement to reinstate the ban? I don’t know why.”
The sisters took more than a year to put pen to paper to write the poignant song about the deep emotions they felt following the shooting: “Another day in America/We wait around for the change that never comes/Another day in America/A mother lies on a sidewalk by her son.”
Aly & AJ’s visit to the White House arrives just over a week after four people were killed and seven students were injured by a school shooter with an AR-15 type gun in Georgia. The prevalence of school shootings makes Aly worry about her own son’s future.
“We can’t continue to live this way,” says Aly. “I feel like the terror of sending my son to school and getting a phone call that something’s happened is just unimaginable. My heart just breaks.”
With Vice President Kamala Harris running for President, the duo are optimistic about the change that may come were she to win. They’re also excited to see so many young voters riled up about casting their ballots this fall.
“We feel incredibly fired up about this election. I think that we’re going to see this wave of action that we haven’t seen maybe since Obama, and that is really exciting,” says Aly. “I think that Kamala’s advocacy with trying to prevent this gun violence across America has been inspiring. And she’s been very vocal about it for a long time now.”
“Guns are not ever going to be taken away,” adds AJ. “The Second Amendment is completely protected. The problem here is that civilians are legally able to obtain an AR-15.”
Aly & AJ say “Sirens” will lead their next era of music, and that their new chapter will include more personal storytelling in that vein. The sisters finished writing the album with producer Jonathan Wilson, while Aly was pregnant.
“It really feels like our next baby and it will be out,” says AJ of the project, expected next year. “It’s so beautiful when you start a new album cycle because it’s seeing fans again and interacting with people we love. This song is definitely starting that new wave for our music.”
