Independent musician Glori Wilder talks songwriting inspiration, booking gigs, and her new album

22-year-old Glori Wilder has music in her blood. She wrote her first song when she was seven, and at age 19, she was officially signed to a record label. Now an independent artist, Glori is reshaping her identity and gearing up to release her first project since leaving her label. 

“Glori is obviously a stage name,” she laughed. “When I signed with the label, I had to create an identity for the music. A lot of what we worked on was artist development and trying to discover who Glori Wilder was and how she presented. We were doing kind of a dark-feminine thing, and now, I want to be more colorful and light. It’s the same name, just a bit of a lighter approach to things.”

Glori is taken from the name Gloria, which is a name from her mother’s side of the family. Her great aunt, a musician, and great grandmother, a fashionista, were both named Gloria and served as a source of inspiration for Glori. 

Wilder was also taken from her mother, who was a huge fan of Little House on the Prairie as a child and was “in love” with the character Alfonso Wilder. “So, when we were figuring out a stage name, she gave me that last name,” Glori explained. 

Growing up on stage

Glori took a handful of vocal lessons and very nearly attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, but when the pandemic hit, she ended up getting signed to a label and decided against attending school.

Her family, luckily, is chock-full of musicians and has provided her with endless insight and informal training. 

“My dad’s side of the family is a bunch of musicians out in Boston, and they would host yearly block parties on the outskirts of the city. Those would be a day of curated music, and I would be like six years old, getting up on the stage to perform. That was really my start and I’ve been performing ever since.”

Her uncle, Jimmy Trapella, is also a musician and lived with Glori and her family when she was a child, so she was constantly around working musicians while she was growing up. “Now, he’s the person connecting me to the music scene in Boston. That’s been really inspiring, especially since becoming an independent artist. I really value his perspective as someone who has worked in music for so many years.” She also credits her mom and stepdad for providing her endless support to draw from. 

As a teenager, Glori performed a lot of solo shows in the area, and then while she was signed with the label, she performed throughout New England with her band. Now that she’s an independent artist, she’s back to performing on her own. 

“I’m focusing on trying to have a consistent performance schedule. I’m not doing any really heavy traveling yet – I’ve been staying in the New England area and expanding out to Boston and New York City – but I’m hoping to travel more in the next few years.”

Ideally, she’s looking for a similar artist to open for. “I’m ready to go on tour!” 

Going indie and releasing a new album

One of the most challenging things Glori encountered after leaving her label was a feeling of imposter syndrome while writing songs. 

“Every song I wrote while under the label was changed, even if it was just slightly, so that left me thinking that I wasn’t a strong or capable enough songwriter,” she said. 

The first three songs that she felt comfortable enough to share with others will actually be released as the first three singles off her acoustic, solo album, A Culmination of Years, which will be released on December 20. 

The first three singles – “Dead Flowers,” to be released on November 8, “gone, gone, gone,” to be released on November 22, and “What a Waste,” to be released on December 6 – are particularly important to Glori, as they are the three songs of which she is the sole owner. The remaining six tracks on the album are songs that she worked on whilst she was under the label. 

The album was recorded at Graham Stone’s Stone Studio in Austerlitz, NY. Glori went into the studio initially only intending to record one to three songs that were going to be the three singles off of the album, but she ended up recording all nine songs in under two and a half hours. 

“We got eight of the nine songs on the first take. ‘Dead Flowers’ was the only one that took two takes to record,” Glori explained. “I wanted to play each song once and listen to them at the end, and we ended up using almost every take. I didn’t want to overthink it.”

Glori is particularly excited to start playing her new singles live. When she first started playing with the band as a teenager, she felt slightly overwhelmed and would have to decompress a lot after shows. Now that she’s been performing more solo shows and refining her abilities, Glori has found that she is able to enjoy the moments on stage more. 

“It’s so fun to share what I do with people. When I can see them listening, hearing, truly appreciating, and sharing that energy back to me, it’s unmatched.” 

Songwriting inspiration

Managing a work-life balance isn’t always easy, considering that Glori can never be sure when songwriting inspiration is going to strike. 

“I can feel something on the verge of becoming a piece but when I get to the piano or guitar, nothing works. It’s super frustrating.” 

She takes a lot of songwriting inspiration from those around her. When she has a busy week where she’s around a lot of different people, she has a lot of inspiration to draw from. “I’m reclusive naturally, so I have to step out into the world and hear other people’s stories to get inspired. There’s only so much I can write about myself and my life before it becomes redundant, so I enjoy writing about other people’s stories.” 

Those moments of inspiration that Glori is able to catch are certainly special. “I lose myself in the writing process and the words just seem to flow right out of me. It’s almost like I’m channeling it from somewhere else; I try not to think about it too much and pressure myself.” 

When asked if there was anything Glori wishes she had known before pursuing music full-time, she laughed: “Probably tons of things if I can think of them.” Patience is a common theme that continues to resurface. “Everything takes time. Sometimes you don’t realize how much growth is actually happening at the moment,” she said. 

Sometimes, she shared that she forgets the chords or the lyrics, or simply freezes up out of nerves. “It doesn’t matter. Don’t let the fear take away the power of your artistry,” she said. “Be open to collaboration, but know that you don’t have to say yes to everything. Go with the flow and don’t take anything too seriously.” •

Glori Wilder’s album, A Culmination of Years, comes out on December 20. To learn more about Glori and view her upcoming shows, visit her website at gloriwilder.com and listen to her music on Spotify.