An Interview With The Orlando-Based R&B Infused Reggae Songstress-Guitarist, LEILANI WOLFGRAMM!

Photo Credit- Anthony Kimata

Meet the Orlando-based, R&B-infused reggae songstress/guitarist, Leilani Wolfgramm! She recently released her new EP with the lead single, “Live Wire” in January. Already making waves in her genre, she has shared the stage with Ziggy Marley, Incubus, Dirty Heads, Tribal Seeds, Sublime ft. Rome and New King.

“‘Live Wire’ turns a critical eye on the perils of a culture where we continually chase the dragon of artifice and public approval, numb to the agony of it all, until we ultimately implode.” (LADYGUNN) 

Stream on SPOTIFY //LISTEN TO “LIVE WIRE”

Learn more about Leilani Wolfgramm in the following All Access interview:

Where does this interview find you?

At home after 6 weeks on the road

Overall, how do you think 2017 was for you and your music career? What are you most excited about for this year? Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions? Care to share them with us?

I finished my album Live Wire in 2017 and I am excited for the release. I’ve never made a New Years resolution and I don’t ever plan to.

Growing up, did you always want to be a musician? Can you recall your earliest musical memory? Was there a time where you thought of doing something completely different?

I knew I loved performing. I knew I loved the stage. In the beginning, it was luau dancing with my family. The earliest performance I remember was when I was about 2 or 3years old  dancing luau and my Tahitian skirt fell off and I ran crying to my mom. It was caught on film so I’ll never forget. I started writing songs when I was 7. Country songs mostly. In first grade I told my teacher I wanted to be a jingle maker when I grew up. I still do.

I always like to ask artists about where they came from and how that city or town has influenced them as an artist now. So how do you think your home has affected you and your music today?

The trail is about where I came from. It’s the street I was raised in. I’m from the hood. I grew up with a lot of kids whose dreams died young. Little kids needing to quit school or promising athletics to get jobs to help pay rent. Kids who are turned on to drugs by their own parents. When you walk to school on the same street the prostitutes walk it’s going to affect you.

What was the inspiration for your latest single “Live Wire”? How did you pick this song to be the first one out ahead of your EP? Was that a hard choice to make?

Live wire was inspired by the times. How I feel we women are not progressing we’re regressing. How we reward and celebrating the worst of our traits. How social media is turning everyone into insecure addicted of acceptance.

How will the rest of your EP compare to “Live Wire”? What can you tease listeners about this collection?

I wrote the album about my life. Every song is a moment in Time.

We are living in a crazy and at times rough world right now so I am curious how you think being a musician gives you the most joy in life today? How do you think that new music being created today is going to reflect these difficult times?

It’s crazy how music works. Even the saddest songs bring comfort in some way. For me music done right is honest music. In these times being honest and being vulnerable is so rare. It’s like a breath of fresh air when you hear something real. Musicians are the great connectors. The great motivators. The great healers. The voice of the times.

Who are some of your favorite artists or rather, what musicians have continued to inspire you and your music? What musicians would you absolutely still love to work with in the future?

Right now it’s Kendrick Lamar and Twenty One Pilots. I can always listen to Blink-182 or Dashboard Confessional and feel like a kid again. That’s inspiring to me.

What do you hope your fans take away from your music? Do you find that a lot of your music has a greater meaning behind it?

I kind of write music for myself first. It’s therapeutic. I don’t like to talk about my problems but I can write about them. I hope people connect to it.

Where can fans see you perform next? What are some of your first few tour dates in 2018?

I just got off tour and I am taking a much needed break before the Hawaii tour begins. ​