Biculturalism and Womanhood in Music
Growing up in Boyle Heights with parents from Zacatecas, Mexico, Gloria Estrada was influenced by a mexicano background as well as an American background. Gloria credits her biculturism and musical syncretism to her mixed upbringing and surruounding cultural/musical influences. This cultural influence converged with her musical upbringing, in which she listened to singers like Juan Gabriel and Vincente Fernandez early on in her life, as well as watched music videos on MTV. She sums up biculturalism as "whatever you're family is from and what you're exposed to". In this sense, she does not label herself any specific identity except for a Boyle Heightsian, which encompasses the many cultural influences that surrounded her in her community.
In addition, Gloria's biculturalism affected all aspects of her life including her formal music education at USC in which she was both criticized and praised by different professors for her syncretic mix of jazz and mariachi for music projects. Yet, she did not allow this to discourage her projects and thus, has found success in her musical syncretism in her many musical projects. Ranging from La Santa Cecilia, Viento Callejero, El Mariachi Manchester, and Finger Dancers, one can see the vast array of cultural influences.
As far as being a woman in a male-dominated music industry, Gloria faces small challenges everyday in which she is viewed differently as a musician because of her sex. Gloria recalls people mistakingly thinking she was not a member of her respective bands, not receiving immediate attention in music stores, sound system workers not believing her when she said she needed a microphone for her instrument, people believing she cannot play/learn difficult musical pieces, and other inadvertently sexist comments. Despite common comments like "You play so amazing for a girl", Gloria does not let these comments "take the air out of [her] sails" but instead just continues with her music, is grateful for a compliment, and continues to rock out despite any comments. After her awesome musical talent, Gloria Estrada's resilience as a bicultural, female multi-instrumentalist shines through her presence and performance.