Glenna Jane Was Born To Be A Singer, She Just Didn’t Realize It
Pleaser Magazine chatted with Glenna Jane about her debut EP, “Kid”, set for later this year, her recent release “Juno” and her choir-kid to pop star trajectory.
PHOTOS BY LEXI YOB
When you have a passion, nothing can stop you from chasing your dreams. Your relentlessness is driven by your desire to make it in an industry that sometimes seems to be against you. Your failures are nothing if not fuel, driving you to work harder, think bigger and do anything and everything to show them who you really are. In my life, that would be my pursuit of journalism. I’ve fallen down about 100 times, but I’ve stood up again 101. For Glenna Jane, music is her passion, and she continues to fight for her spot every day.
In an interview with Pleaser, Glenna Jane said music has been in her family for generations. Growing up Filipino, karaoke machines were a staple at Glenna Jane’s family gatherings, and she usually held the microphone. Mimicking her childhood icons like Celine Dion and Whitney Houston, Glenna Jane realized she had a knack for singing early.
Throughout her adolescence, Glenna Jane took every opportunity to perform on stage. She joined her local choir, did musical theatre, and was a frequenter of her school talent shows. “I’m a prime example of a choir kid turned indie pop star,” she joked.
For high school, Glenna Jane attended a specialized performing arts school and majored in vocal performance. She leaned into her choir child upbringing, and went to national, regional and state competitions. The dynamic was very competitive and classically focused, and it led Glenna Jane to question her passion for ensemble singing during her first two years of high school. During this time, Glenna Jane began to take solace in songwriting. She taught herself how to play piano, guitar and drums, and started to experiment with recording and producing through GarageBand.
The following year, her junior year, Glenna Jane released her first EP. The four-track EP has since been taken down because she said it isn’t representative of what she wants to produce.
“It’s cute to listen to, but it’s [the EP] been taken down. I was living through rom coms, taking feelings from films that I thought I was experiencing, but I wasn’t. It was juvenile.” she said.
When it came time to choose a college, Glenna Jane said she was stuck between a liberal arts school and a music conservatory. “As an immigrant and the oldest daughter, I’ve always been between passion and realism,” she said. She eventually chose Princeton, but spent her free time surrounding herself with the one thing that made her happy: music. Glenna Jane said she joined an a cappella group, the school choir, performed in musicals, and took songwriting classes to work on another EP.
After graduation, Glenna Jane got a job working in the music industry.
“I thought all my dreams were coming true,” she said. “After working there for a year, I realized that making music was the dream and always will be the dream.”
Glenna Jane once again picked up her pen and guitar with the intention of releasing music in 2023. She finally felt like her most authentic self, and that spawned the EP she’s releasing this year.
“I’ve had so many years of dedication to music and preparation to get to where I am today. At the same time, I’m sort of just getting started because I’ve been sort of weaving in and out of the dream,” she explained.
The EP, titled ‘Kid’, is set to come out later this year. The first song released off the album dropped April 15, titled “Juno.” Glenna Jane said this song was created out of a desire to write songs that manifested positive energy. In thinking about what true joy means to her, Glenna Jane continually thought of the first girl that made her realize she was queer. She reflected on the innocent moments that bubble up in queer platonic relationships: sharing earbuds and leaving no space between, innocently planned moments of physical touch, and laughing too hard at one another's jokes.
“The song to me is queer becoming and queer joy. Even though we never actually crossed the line, there’s something beautiful about it still. I still think of it as deep and meaningful despite its innocence,” she explained. The pre-chorus of “Juno” sings:
I'm a beginner
I′ll confuse a moment for forever
If you asked me to
I'd do anything for you
If you asked me to
I'd do anything for you
Glenna Jane said ‘Kid’ traces transformative experiences she had in her adolescence and early 20s. The title ‘Kid’ represents the playful storytelling throughout the EP, the growth that Glenna Jane experienced entering the real world after college, and honoring her younger self and the big feelings she had then. Sonically, Glenna Jane was not bound to one specific genre, but found freedom in exploring multiple techniques.
For live shows, Glenna Jane said she spent a lot of 2023 playing smaller venues, but took a break to focus on her new work.
“I knew I needed to practice and get acclimated to playing my own songs. 2023 was the year I learned to do that. Thinking about what I want to transfer to my next performances, I still want to play in an intimate setting, and I still want to do shows that are me and my guitar. I loved talking through my music.”
She hopes to come out of the gate swinging with her new EP in hand when she gets back on stage.
