If you don’t follow @allyalv_ , do you even rave bro?
Within the EDM community, we know we have the finest babes around. But if any of our babes has the potential to become Instagram’s next “It” girl, it’s Ally Alvarez. She has it all-- the style, the heart-melting smile, badass wit, and glutes that were sculpted by the goddesses (and hours in the gym, let’s be real).
As a model and top-earning Brand Ambassador for FRW (use code ALLY for 10% off your order!), she has quickly become an integral part of the fam. It’s a rare thing to find someone who is as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside, and Ally is a diamond in the rough. She’s sweet as pie with a steel backbone, and has become known and loved for showering her followers with PLUR and not being afraid to stand up to haters to creeps.
I caught up with Ally on the morning of Paradox tour (she punched a guy who slapped her ass that night, if that’s any indicator of how much she AIN’T messing around), to get to know the beauty behind the booty. We talk hot moms, donuts, and the dark side of being a social media star.
Brett: Wakey wakey!
Ally: I know right. I spent all night preparing--I’m going to Excision tonight--so I had to the full on like, shave every part of your body, and self-tan and things like that.
B: Well today’s the day! Are you excited?
A: I am! I’m actually taking my mom with me tonight.
B: That’s gonna be so much fun!
A: It’s gonna be me, my mom, my boyfriend, and we’re gonna meet some people there.
B: That sounds amazing. I really wanna bring my mom to an event but...she kinda hates people.
A: It’s because she’s been listening to Excision like, before I have. I was like, “You’re coming with me.”
B: Your mom sounds super cool! You should bring her here to hang out.
A: I know right? She’d totally be down.
B: Well I just wanted to ask you a few questions so people can get to know you better! Everyone’s dying to, you’re like, the rave community “It” girl of the moment
A: Oh god haha
B: I mean, so you had just a few thousand followers a couple months ago and now you’re like, up to 50k? What’s that like, has it just completely changed your life?
A: I don’t know, I feel like I don’t know exactly what that means. Like, me and Steph [xohaven] were in Santa Monica the other day, and I get a DM right as we were getting in the car to leave that’s like, “We saw you on the Promenade, but I was too scared to say hi.” And to me that’s just like, what the hell, I don’t know.
B: Celebrity status!
A: I know! I think it’s just weird to me because I’d never gotten on Instagram, posting rave pictures for the intention of that. I was never like, “I want to be known” or anything. It was literally just for fun. I started posting pictures for raves specifically on Instagram because my boyfriend would be like, “You look good! Let me take a picture and then you should post it.” And that was it. So I don’t know. It’s pretty cool, but at the same time I’m still trying to figure out exactly what it means.
B: I mean, don’t ask me. I don’t really know. You’ve gotta be having fun though. Do you just get millions of DMs every day?
A: Oh yeah. Well, I don’t know. I’m scared to look at my DM requests sometimes because--don’t get me wrong, 50% of the time it’s like “ Oh my god I love your page, I love your posts,” or whatever, and that other 50% it’s like, “Here’s a picture of my D.”
B: Oh wow. Yep unfortunately that’s part of the cyberspace. Well I’m curious--because I mean, I know you just starting posting rave pictures pretty recently--but when did you start going to festivals? When did you get involved in the culture?
A: I mean, I’ve been listening to EDM literally since high school. I think the very first EDM song I fell in love with was a Civilians song. And I was like this is dope, I need to find more. And ever since then, it’s always been in my life. But I didn’t start raving until Beyond 2016. So pretty recently.
B: So that was your first rave?
A: Yeah it was Beyond, back when it was a Glen Helen still. It was amazing. It was crazy, that was my first festival, and then this year I’m like, on the promotion team. It’s pretty cool.
B: That’s nuts. So like, you’ve been to a handful of raves since then though obviously.
A: Yeah. In 2016, my first year, I was like, “I need to go to everything.” Not even exaggerating, every single weekend, it was like a show, or a club, or something. I was like, “I cannot get enough of this.”
B: That’s crazy, that’s a lot of activity.
A: It is. I feel like that year I got really burnt out. Last year, I didn’t really do anything except the big festivals. I kind of chilled out on smaller shows. I did Countdown, Escape, and EDC.
B: Yeah, those are the big ones. What’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened to you at a festival?
A: Okay. At Nocturnal--my mom actually took me to Nocturnal for my birthday because it’s in September and my birthday is in September--so I was with my mom and I was waiting for her at the Port-A-Potty, and some random guy comes up to me and was like, “Hey what’s up?” and acting like he knows me. I thought it was just through Instagram and I was like, going along with it and being like, “Hey how are you?” And he was like, “So, why didn’t you tell me you were gonna be here?” And I was like, “What do you mean, like what are you talking about?” And he was like, “You’re not from the Bay, like from San Francisco?” And I was like, “No…” And he literally pulls up his Tinder, and I find out that some girl has been catfishing him with my pictures from Instagram. And I was like, “Dude, no. You’re being catfished. That’s not me.”
B: OH MY GOD. THAT’S INSANE.
A: It was the craziest thing. He was such a good sport about it too. Like, his friend was with him and was kind of making fun of him, but he was just laughing it off. He was like, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to creep you out.”
B: Wow. He was probably so embarrassed. But like, tried to play it cool.
A: I know. I was like, “I’m so sorry but if you want to be friends in real life that’s okay too.”
B: That’s so crazy. It makes you wonder, like, literally anyone out there could be--you could have like ten plus people catfishing with your pictures and you’d never know about it.
A: Exactly, yeah. And that goes through my brain too when I’m posting pictures, especially when you can see all the impressions it’s getting and how many people are saving your pictures. Sometimes the numbers are kind of weird to me. But I don’t know. It’s all fun at the end of the day. It’s nothing too serious. If people want to take my pictures and use them that way, there’s like, nothing I can really do about it. So I try not to focus on it too much.
B: Do you know if you have any fan accounts yet?
A: No, I don’t think so, but I know people are starting to post me as like, woman crush Wednesday, which is really sweet.
B: Well, as long as most people are being cool. Obviously, here, we get kind of protective of our fam. Like, if anyone was creepy to you we would totally go Mama Bear.
A: Yeah definitely. Even me with myself, if I get any weird comments or hate comments, I’m honestly not afraid to call people out on them. I’ll call them out and then block and delete. I’m not gonna tolerate anything like that.
B: Yeah, like, we were just talking about that the other day, how awesome it is that you take no shit on your Instagram. Like, if people aren’t being PLUR you’ll call them out on it. And I know that’s scary for a lot of girls on Instagram because they are putting themselves out there. But it’s really awesome that you stand up for yourself.
A: Yeah. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about treating others how you want to be treated, treat others with respect, but the moment you cross that line with me, and you’re commenting on my appearance or making some derogatory comment, that’s like, where the PLUR ends. But I try not take it too far. I’ll just like, banter with them a little until it comes the point where I’m like, I’m not gonna let you take up that much of my energy.
B: We like that. It’s cool. We like that little bit of fierceness.
A: Thank you! Yeah I can be sassy a little bit too.
B: Is that like--I’m sure a lot of people want to know what you’re like in your everyday life, like what you do, how you dress, how you behave, and want to get to know you better outside of being the girl at the festival. So is that kind of what you’re like in your everyday life? Like sweet and sassy? What are you like in your normal life?
A: I feel like I’m more reserved than I am at a festival. Like, when you’re at a festival, there’s almost, like, a guarantee that people are gonna be nice to you, so I feel like at festivals I’m more prone to be outgoing, and bubbly, and energetic, just because I know the people I’m interacting with are going to be that way too. But on a day-to-day basis, I feel like I’m way more reserved. I don’t know, there’s not that guarantee that if you give a girl a compliment she’ll be super nice and give you one back, know what I mean? I feel like I’m more hesitant to be alone with people. And that’s a big part of the reason why I fell in love with festivals in the first place. Because you don’t get that vibe and energy anywhere else.
B: So true.
A: Yeah, so I feel like I’m as friendly and bubbly and everything, just on a smaller scale.
B: For sure, that makes sense. I mean you can’t just go up to random people like you do at festivals and be like “AHMAHGAH”
A: Exactly, or like, “I love your outfit you’re so pretty! Oh my gosh!”
B: Maybe we should though. Maybe we should be doing that more. Just spreading the PLUR to the everyday world.
A: Yeah, I think we definitely should. But I think people definitely will not understand it as much outside of what we do.
B: What’s a unique talent that you have?
A: A unique talent that I have? I don’t know, it’s not as obvious as like, singing or dancing or anything like that, but I feel like I have the unique talent of making people feel comfortable and at ease, which is hard to explain. But if I see someone, for example at a festival, by themselves not dancing or having a good time, I feel like I am that person who will go up to them and be like, “Hey, how are you? How are you doing?” And just make them feel at home or whatever. Which is why I post a lot on my Instagram, like, “If you ever need someone to talk to, or feel down or whatever, hit me up in my DMs. I’m here.” I feel like I kind of have like, a “way” with people. That’s something I’m really grateful for.
B: That’s so sweet. I got the warm fuzzies and kind of started tearing up a little bit. That really is a genuine talent, like, not everyone can do that.
A: Yeah, I feel like it is something special. As much as I am aware that like, my followers come for the booty pics, but I like to think they come because they get that vibe too.
B: Of course. Um, speaking of dat booty, you probably have girls DMing you all the time being, like “What do you do?!”
A: For sure. And I feel bad because as much as I want to be like, “Girl, here is the secret, I’m gonna show you the way,” unfortunately it’s just a mix of genetics and working hard. I don’t know if you saw that post I posted a while back. It’s a picture of me from a few years ago. Literally no butt at all. Not poppin’. But when I got out of high school, I was really unhappy, and I was like, I’m gonna stop restricting what I eat. My goal was always just to be to be skinny, like stick thin. And it got to the point where it wasn’t making me happy anymore, I wanted to get strong. So my mom got a gym membership and was like, “let’s go to the gym!” She had already been working out, so once I started going to the gym, and I got more comfortable with eating and not restricting myself, that’s honestly when it happened. And my mom has a bangin’ body she’s like, 42 years old and we have the same body.
B: That’s amazing. Yeah she should definitely come hang with us.
A: I know, she’s honestly like the coolest mom ever. Yeah so, I never really know what to tell girls. The best advice I can give them is lift heavy, work hard, and don’t be afraid to feed your body. Because the moment you start restricting, that’s the moment it becomes literally impossible to put on any sort of muscle.
B: Yeah I’ve heard that before. I was literally just sitting here stuffing donuts in my face
A: As long as you’re like, in the gym later, they’re gonna turn into booty gains, let’s be real.
B: I hope so. That’s the goal. I’ve been working hard too. Everyone else in the office is doing the Whole 30 right now.
A: Yeah I tried that for like a week, and I was just like, I can’t. I’m just not good with diet rules. I break them so fast.
B: I mean, the idea of it is not that you do it forever, it’s just that you break your addiction to sugar, which I definitely could use, but it looks so hard.
A: Yeah and the thing with sugar is that I always follow the 80-20 rule. When I’m making breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I always make the conscious decision to eat healthy, that way if I do want to go out for ice cream or grab a boba, it’s not as big of an impact.
B: I love it. You’re speaking my language. So we’re on the same page on that, that gives me hope that maybe one day, I can be seeing the booty gains. Like they’re gonna turn up.
A: Yeah girl, donuts and booty are definitely in your future. I definitely see it.
B: YESSS. I just hope it all goes to my butt. Like donuts are one of those things that like, the more you eat, the more you kind of look like one.
A: Yeah like, you turn into the shape of a donut!
B: Yeah I dunno, I’ll probably hit the gym later, we’ll see. So you’re obviously going to Paradox later, super stoked, what other events can we catch you at this year?
A: I’m definitely doing Crush, Beyond, and EDC. Those are the things I have planned in my year so far.
B: Perfect! You’re hittin’ all the big ones so far.
A: I really want to travel to festivals too, but I don’t know if that’s in the cards this year. Maybe next year.
B: Yeah, the good thing about festivals is that they’re not going anywhere, and hopefully you’re not going anywhere either because people are just LOVING you.
A: Thank you!
B: Well, I will let you go about the rest of your day and get ready for Paradox. It’s gonna be epic. What time are you heading out there?
A: I’m actually gonna meet up with some friends because I have a hotel. We’ll leave my house at like, five. Gotta get there pretty early.
B: Well I will not be there, but Mike and Alyssa will be there, so be sure to find them and give them tons of love.
A: Yeah talked to them last night actually so we’re all planning on meeting up and meeting the rave mom!
B: Yes! Take tons of pics. I wanna see.
A: Okay I will!
B: Well that’s so much for taking the time to talk to me!
A: Of course! Thank you, I really appreciate it.
use code "ALLY" for 10% off your order at FRW!
A special thanks to @girlsgonerave for these amazing pics from Countdown 2017!