Posted on April 9, 2024
Yes, I’m very aware that February is long gone but I really needed to write that last post and I just didn’t feel like I could post anything else until I’d gotten that out of my system. But now I have and hopefully I can post a bit more regularly; I’ve missed writing and posting here. As I said in my previous post, I’d planned to take a break at the beginning of the year, to complete some of my unfinished posts and to clear the cobwebs from my brain but then that obviously didn’t happen. But now that I’m writing again, hopefully I can get those finished up and get back to writing about some of the things going on in the present.
Anyway, back to FAWM…
I wrote eleven songs during the twenty-nine days of February, not quite meeting the February Album Writing Month goal of fourteen songs but I’m not worried about that. As you’ll know if you read my last post, there was a lot of stuff – a lot of very emotional, upsetting stuff – going on and so I’m pretty proud of myself for writing anything at all. But not only that, I wrote some songs that I’m really, really proud of. Over the month, I shared snippets of the songs on TikTok and, while I always enjoy sharing songs, there are some that I’d rather not talk about in detail, for various reasons. So I’ll write about a few of them and leave the others open to interpretation…
Writing one song on guitar (left) and trying to write another song on guitar while Izzy watched closely (right).
Given everything that’s been going on, it was unexpectedly useful to have the external pressure to write because it forced me to work through my feelings straight away: all of the anger and hurt and grief was taking up so much space in my brain so it was… therapeutic, to a certain extent, to write about them while I was still in them. It wasn’t like there was much space for any other feelings so they were the obvious ones to draw from and write about. For most of my songwriting career, I’ve written about experiences and emotions after the fact – after they’re over and I’ve reflected on them pretty extensively – but the timing of this challenge meant that I was writing about these feelings as I was experiencing them, as they were ebbing and flowing, as they were evolving. It was a very strange experience but not one I regret (the writing process that is; I’m definitely not so sanguine about everything that happened during the month that inspired those songs).
In previous years, I would’ve been frustrated that I didn’t meet the official goal and probably would’ve beaten myself up over ‘not trying hard enough’ but I really have no interest in doing that this year; I don’t feel the need to either. I did say this last year but the circumstances were very different. My mindset around creating feels really different as of quite recently and I think there’s been a lot of growth. Creating feels exciting and limitless in a way that I don’t think I’ve ever felt; if I have felt it before, it’s been a very, very long time.
Category: about me, autism, emotions, identity, mental health, music, response, special interests, therapy, video, writing Tagged: fawm, FAWM 2024, february album writing month, independent artist, lauren alex hooper, singer, singersongwriter, songwriter, songwriting, songwriting challenge, songwriting process, therapeutic songwriting, therapeutic writing, unsigned artist, writing challenge, writing process
Posted on November 30, 2023
‘Heal To Feel’ by Roseanna is out now!
I worked on this song with her a while ago and now it’s finally out in the world!
She is an amazing singer and writer and I love working with her, both on her music and on mine. Funnily enough, we had never actually met in person when we worked on this song, only hanging out and writing together over Teams during COVID; it’s very cool but kind of strange to see it finally out in the world! You can listen to it HERE!
Category: music, special interests, writing Tagged: alt pop, autistic songwriter, cowriting, heal to feel, independent artist, indie artist, new music, new single, new song, pop, pop music, roseanna, singer, singersongwriter, single, songwriter, songwriting, unsigned, unsigned artist
Posted on May 19, 2023
And the lyric video for ‘House on Fire‘ is out and available to watch on YouTube!
My best friend and frequent creative partner, Richard Marc when he’s making music and Richard Sanderson Photography when he’s working visually – photography, videography, and so on – made this video and it’s cooler than I could’ve ever imagined. I love the simplicity of it, the movement of the flame, and the way the lyrics burn like the dying embers of a fire. I love it and I think he’s done a fantastic job.
I’m gonna put together a behind-the-scenes of filming all of the visuals for this song because it’s been a weird, fun process, with some strange shenanigans that I never would’ve experienced had I not been making stuff for this song. But then I really should’ve known what I was in for when I decided to release a song called ‘House on Fire.’
Category: covid-19 pandemic, music, special interests, video, writing Tagged: actuallyautistic, alt pop, alternative pop, asd, autism spectrum disorder, autistic, autistic artist, autistic creative, autistic creator, conservatives, covid-19, house on fire, independent artist, indie artist, indie pop, indie release, lauren alex hooper, music, my music, new music, new music release, new music uk, new single, pandemic, pop music, richard marc, richard marc music, richard sanderson, richard sanderson photography, singer, singersongwriter, single, society, songwriter, the conservative party, tories, unsigned, unsigned artist
Hi! I’m Lauren Alex Hooper. Welcome to my little blog! I write about living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), ADHD (Inattentive Type), and Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), as well as several mental health issues.
I’m a singer-songwriter (it’s my biggest special interest and I have both a BA and MA in songwriting) so I’ll probably write a bit about that too.
My first single, ‘Invisible,’ is on all platforms, with all proceeds going to Young Minds.
My debut EP, Honest, is available on all platforms, with a limited physical run at Resident Music in Brighton.
I’m currently working on an album about my experiences as an autistic woman.