The WLDFLWRS Spring into Action with Hofstra Concerts

The WLDFLWRS perform their original song, “14th Street” during Hofstra Concerts. // Photo courtesy of Giovanni Salsa.

Hofstra Concerts hosted the Music Business 105 band showcase in the Pride Den on Sunday, Dec. 3. The concert began at 9 p.m. Five bands participated and demonstrated their talents with their vocals, instruments and songwriting.

One band that performed at the showcase was The WLDFLWRS, a group from Long Island, New York, that specializes in acoustic music. The goal of The Wldflwrs is to return to the truth of music and reconnect with nature through their performances.

The band's five members include Ariana Rebello, vocalist, pianist and songwriter; Brianna Bujak, vocalist; Lauren Becker, bassist; Novelly Whitt, vocalist and guitarist; and Jackson Gundlach, producer.

During the showcase, The WLDFLWRS performed “14th Street,” an original song written by Rebello. According to Rebello, “14th Street” tells the story of the feeling of heartbreak when the narrator sees that their ex has moved on.

The band was formed under the Music Business 105 course and is entirely put together by Hofstra students, aside from some guidance from the professor of the course, Ed Gold.

Gold was instrumental in helping students create musical groups for his course.

“I send out to everyone a list of questions about what their skill sets are, and then I spend about a week going through and trying to match up all the students so that every band has an even set of skills,” Gold said.

According to Gold, this allowed there to be “one student who knows how to do recording, one student who’s a vocalist, and ideally, try to find some musicians. And with the growth of the program and more people that are doing the Bachelor of Arts that don't have a performance requirement, it has become more interesting trying to find people and the roles they can all have.”

Becker, a junior music business major, said that the formation of the group was dependent on collaboration.

“So, part of it, along with making the song, we had to figure out who was going to do what because we all have different musical backgrounds,” Becker said. “It was interesting because Arianna [Rebello] and Nova [Novelly Whitt] both play piano, so we were deciding who was going to fill that role in the band. It was a very interesting process.”

“In terms of putting the band together, we kind of just collaborated to see what worked best for each one of our talents and skill sets, and I think we came out with something great and I’m happy with the product,” said Bujak, a junior music business major.

“14th Street” by the WLDFLWRS is available for streaming on all platforms, including Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Music.