Biography

Gloria Estrada is a multi-instrumentalist artist born and raised in the city of Boyle Heights, California. 

Growing up in Boyle Heights, Gloria was surrounded by music, whether it was from live musical performances at parties or neighbors blasting music across the street. Her musical journey began at Roosevelt High School when she learned to play the guitar. Due to her family’s socioeconomic status, Gloria never enrolled in music lessons and had to learn to play instruments on her own—motivating her to be creative in her music. After high school, Gloria attended Pasadena City College (PCC) without having a career in mind but always recognizing her passion for music. While at PCC she was motivated to pursue a degree in music at the University of Southern California (USC), where she matriculated and obtained a Bachelor’s of Arts in Studio Jazz Performance. During her time at USC, Gloria played in a mariachi and became interested in fusing mariachi and jazz music.

Following her graduation from USC, Gloria decided to focus on a mariachi and latin folk music. In 2007, she founded a band called “Santa Cecilia” where she played the guitar. The band was influenced by Latin indie roots and became successful in their craft, playing throughout Latin American with important artists like Susana Baca. Over the years and after a Latin Grammy nomination for best song, the band had the opportunity to sign to a major recording label but the musical direction the band was taking was not something Gloria aspired. She took time off from music to care for her parents and then started Viento Callejero, a cumbia-based project.Viento Callejero has been a success in the last years and has allowed Gloria to continue to enjoy and find her creativity through music. For Gloria music is a form of expression, in which enjoys being creative, always looking for change and avoiding being static with her music. Gloria points that Viento Callejero has enabled her to explore three different instruments in an individual performance, bass, accordion, and MPC machine, “I’m like an octopus and it’s like a total mind adrenaline rush, can I actually make this happen”. In the same manner, Gloria was a founder of Mariachi Manchester, where she continues to play the guitarron. Mariachi Manchester’s music focuses on covering the Smith Morrisey; she mentions how the struggles of Irish individuals in England is comparative to the struggles of Mexicans not accepted in the U.S. Other musical projects of Gloria include Finger Dancers and Las Cafeteras, where she makes guests appearances.