Alexia Fisher had heard the story of how The Lumineers went from a New York duo to their three-piece lineup through a Craigslist ad. Fisher had played the drums since childhood, looking longingly at drum kits in Walmart as a kid knowing that that was the instrument she wanted to play. That desire kindled and took her through playing in two worship bands before knowing that she wanted to be seriously committed to the drums while going to the University of North Texas.

Through the ad, she found a place in Animal Bar with Alex Cameron, Sean Canon, and Andy Jett in June 2015. While the group disbanded a little more than a year after its forming, Cameron, Canon and Fisher are in the band’s current reincarnation as The American Heartthrob. The Animal Bar Facebook page credits the addition of Fisher and her “rowdy energy” to its ultimate formation, something that is still very present in The American Heartthrob. 

“Alexia is the metaphorical glue that holds our metaphorical little family together, and she always keeps us in metaphorical line,” Cameron says, cheekily but admiringly. 

The camaraderie and respect between the three comes through in their practices and creative process. 

“Usually Alex will come in with a riff or an idea, and either Sean will follow right behind him—he knows everything—or, I will come in first and Sean will follow,” Fisher says. “It usually starts with Alex and one of us will jump in, or we’ll say we don’t like, figure out what we don’t like, and try this or do that. We really try hard to make it a bouncing of ideas, and making sure we’re all communicating effectively. We’re still getting used to each other’s personalities, so we’re still trying to make sure we’re all working together.”

The effort translates into each set the alternative rock band plays. Though their songs tackle such subjects as breakups and personal failures, they have heard at many shows that people think of them as a “party band.” Cameron and Canon’s playing packs a punch without being inaccessible, and Fisher’s drumming is no exception. She says that she constantly works on her stamina, but her playing looks so fun and effortless that you wouldn’t believe it. 

Next for the American Heartthrob is an album, which fans can expect sometime in mid-spring. Fisher says it’s between an EP and full-length release in length, and they are doing the recording themselves.

“We want all these songs out so people can know who we are. We thought, let’s just do it, we have the time and we have the resources, let’s do the best we can, make it sound the best we can, and get it out there,” Fisher says. “We want it to be quality to the best of our ability.”

Fisher keeps busy—on top of the band and their Friday and Sunday practices, she is a senior in the Media Arts program at UNT, works at Fastenal, and practices on her own when she finds the time. She has been seriously playing the drums for four years, and displays an eagerness to continue improving not only her craft on the drum kit, but also the technical and production sides of the music business. Fisher wants the band to see as much success as it naturally will, and be in the music scene as a career. Cameron jokes at one point that Fisher is The American Heartthrob, but her dedication and eagerness to constantly perform and grow in this unit means that we can expect cohesive output from this tight-knit trio.

“I like being versatile also so I want to keep growing,” Fisher says. “I still haven’t been playing all that long so there’s so many things that I feel like I still need to take it. I want to do that, and I just want to do whatever positive things I can do with music and be happy with it. I want to use it as a tool as well as an expression. I want it to take me wherever it wants to go. I want us to just continue growing and go as far as possible.” 

You can catch The American Heartthrob March 5 at Killer's Tacos, and on March 18 at House of Screams in Austin. 

Header image design by Brittany Keeton