We caught up with the brilliant and insightful The Wanderer Edit a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, The Wanderer Edit thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I am currently working on an EP that will be a collection of my past singles and a new single. My first project (which is my first album) was all about my past, going through a journey, and finding myself again. I became disabled when I was around 24 years old. I had developed chronic joint pain and later also started to struggle with chronic migraines. This EP is where I am today and how I view the world now. I consider this the most meaningful project because it’s a reflection of who I am.

I struggled for a very long time learning how to deal with how the world perceives me and how I am treated. My disabilities are dynamic and invisible. I use mobility aids like a seat cane and a powerchair as needed. These kinds of things can confuse people because of their misconceptions of disabilities.

Mainstream media often portrays disability inaccurately and inauthentic. So, I use my music as a way to empower and how I want to be portrayed. The EP has a lot of songs that deal with ableism. People have said some pretty awful things to me and I like that I can take their power away through music. It’s very empowering and healing.

The new song that will be included that I am finishing up deals with forgiveness and the pressure of forgiving someone who never changes and constantly hurts you but you are guilt-tripped into letting them stay in your life. I want people to question how we go about forgiveness. I like to make people think about their views and maybe consider things they haven’t before.

I want people to question their views as they listen to the EP.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am The Wanderer Edit. I am from Tucson, Arizona and currently live in Chicago. I am a singer-songwriter and artist who produces alt pop music at home. I am a disabled Latina. I am not signed to a label right now and don’t have a team. I do everything myself. From producing a song, writing a song to taking promos.

I had always dreamed of pursuing a music career but was not confident as a child. I was really insecure and even hated myself. I took piano lessons since I was very young and I loved to sing too. Because of the lack of confidence, I went to college and got a degree in Linguistics with a Japanese minor.

After that, I became disabled. That’s when I was forced to pause and learn how to finally love myself. I started to make YouTube videos to cope with my chronic pain issues. This led me to start doing beauty and fashion videos and I learned how to do makeup. Before I would just stick to eyeliner and mascara but now can do creative looks. I learned to love myself and gained many new perspectives.

Eventually, I decided I wanted to take singing lessons. I had this silly idea of me of starting to write music. I had taken singing lessons for a few months when I was a teenager and I wanted to do it again. Unfortunately, the couple of teachers that I tried didn’t work out for me. I was struggling with a new pain issue too and was seeing a voice therapist. I ended up having to learn how to sing in a way that didn’t hurt by using tutorials on YouTube and TikTok in combination with what I learned in voice therapy.

I also learned how to produce music by using online tutorials. I started doing song covers until I was comfortable enough to record my first original song. I used Garageband (on my iPhone and iPad) and Adobe Audition mainly and a little bit of Ableton. I now just use Logic Pro because I find the interface the easiest to use for me from the DAW’s that I have tried so far.

When I worked on my first album, my chronic migraines were so bad. I was not even officially diagnosed with them. I still don’t know how I ended up completing the album. I look back at it now and find all the things that could be improved but I tried my best with what I could do back then. Now, I take medication to help manage my migraines but I still find myself get frustrated that I have about a couple of hours a day to work on producing a song.

I write about my experiences and the world around me. I believe the world needs to change when it comes to a lot of things. I want to help with that.

A lot of my songs are about ableism. A lot of people don’t even now what that is. So, I’m hoping my music gives people the path to learning about it and how it impacts people.

I put a lot of different meanings behind my songs. Maybe one day, I will talk about them all.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Most artists these days are advertising themselves on social media like on TikTok and Instagram. I learned pretty early that you have to have pretty tough skin so you’re not in tears all the time. It can be so hurtful when those first hate comments come in. I dealt with some hate comments and was fine.

But one day, I got a hate comment that sent me to have a mental breakdown. I was constantly questioning myself already and always struggled with not feeling good enough. I remember going for a walk with tears going down my face in the Seattle neighborhood that I lived in. I almost decided to quit music that day.

But instead, I wrote a song called, “I Should Have Never Tried,” that ended up being my most popular one so far. It’s actually going to be in my EP.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

As a disabled artist, I find so many things inaccessible. It can be frustrating. Even nondisabled artists struggle. Managing chronic pain can be like a job. It takes a lot of energy and time. I don’t know if I could have pursued music without being able to do it at home.

What happens if I tried hiring someone to help me? Would I have to deal with them being ableist to me? Would I have to educate them on these things?

I always wonder about getting an opportunity to get signed to a label. Would they accommodate me? I am not the kind of artist who can spend many hours in a studio to record an album. But it would be so helpful to have someone help with managing things or even just filming me for a music video.

Labels don’t seem to want to give many artists a chance unless they have a lot of followers on social media already and high streaming numbers. Even listeners know this and want to see artists grow. But a lot of artists aren’t given that chance.

I don’t know what the best answer is to these things. But if you like an artist, do what you can to support them. Share their music. Share their videos. Interact with their content. Every little thing helps. The support I have found online has helped me so much.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thewandereredit.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewandereredit/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewanderereditmusic
• Twitter: https://x.com/thewandereredit
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsgKIXKncnhuWy0zKowZJOA
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/thewandereredit
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/63HEk0HMnWhdXz2cCFHnzA?si=Cj2Lq3YwQqWo4ClQx0zvWQ

  Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-wanderer-edit/1515728177