Formula Indie Sessions – Interview with Cornelia Worm

What is your earliest memory connected to music?  

My earliest memory related to music is a performance of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” that  my dad recorded me doing when I was about five. I think I saw in her the same things I’m  interested now in my work: the theatricality, the pastiche of pop, the beauty and violence that  can spring out of life. I always was and will always be interested in music as a vessel. 

How did your passion for creating music begin?  

It definitely began with electronic music. I discovered Arca in middle school and was  immediately infatuated, it felt like world building with texture, sound. The first “songs” I made  were born out of me sampling everyday sounds like pencils breaking, rocks clashing into  each other. I sometimes miss that period of child-like experimentation. Still, some of it carries  even into the Cornelia Worm project: the kick in “Final Girls” is a sample of a door slam! I  always thought of myself as a songwriter/producer first. 

What’s the story behind your current music project?  

The beginning of this year, amidst of the most stressful periods of my life, I began writing the  songs that would become the backbone of my EP called “Spanish Moss”. They felt  completely isolated from what came before them. They were moodier, slower, rawer. The  whole thing felt like an allegory for my life living in my small home town, and the speaker  was an alter-ego rather than myself. I called her Cornelia Worm.  

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music  before?  

I would describe it as swampy, rock-adjacent, theatrical and somewhat folky. I think a lot of  what constitutes my sound is my use of non-diatonic chords and sevenths. 

What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?  Learning the piano! All of my songs begin and end there. I don’t think I would’ve continued  making music without this north star. My demos are usually just me playing the piano and  singing, and I secretly always prefer them over the finished songs. 

What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?  

Besides my piano and electric guitar, Logic Pro! I am so grateful for that software. My  journal, in which I write my verbose lyrics for each song. My voice note app. Labs digital  instruments.  

Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?  

Like everyone else in the indie music scene right now, I’ve been loving Cameron Winter! His  lyrics break me. Also, Ruby Roberts makes amazing pop songs. She’s gonna be the next big  thing. I recommend “Two Step” by her. 

How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?  

My upcoming 2026 EP, “Spanish Moss”, is heavily inspired by my experience as a queer  person living in a rural town. It’s about who gets left behind, who gets to escape, about the  myths we tell ourselves, about broken feminine archetypes. All those things are reflections of  my experience. It’s like a surreal diary entry. 

What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?  

I hope they find some sort of catharsis in it, however pretentious that may sound. Ultimately,  it’s what I try and seek in my own pursuit of music. 

 What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?  

That ultimately if you try hard enough you will create something you like. I came to music  with a background in writing, and it took so long to make something musically that I was  equally as proud of. This EP is the first time it happened. The first song written was “Final  Girls”, that’s why I released it despite it being pretty uncommercial. 

What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?  

What a great question! I would love to perform in an intimate theater, an old one. Just me, a  grand piano, maybe a drummer. Try and transmute something in that liminal space. 

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?  Patti Smith. She’s my living legend. I think she could teach me to be more free in my  approach to music and art in general.  

Where can our listeners follow and support your music? My linktree is https://linktr.ee/ corneliaworm . You can find the link to stream Final Girls on all platforms there. My Tik Tok is  @cornelia_worm. 

Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical  journey? For 2026 I hope I’ll finally find the time and space for my releasing my EP. I hope I  can construct my vision well enough so they can partake in it and make it theirs. I was  always an online kid, so I really hope it infiltrates niche subspaces. I think that’s when music  really transcends, when it becomes somewhat collaborative. When people make edits, cover  it, slow it down, remix it. That’s what I pray for. 

What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?  That I don’t actually live in the swamp.