We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Halie Alexander a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Halie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I think I always knew that I wanted to be a musician, or at least in a creative field but I never thought it was realistic. I thought I would grow up to be a cellist in a symphony, or maybe a graphic designer but that didn’t pan out for me. I worked as a makeup artist for a while and loved it but circumstances lead me to get a full-time desk job in the waste-management industry in 2019. Such a long way off from what I knew I wanted. It was a great job though! They treated me well and paid me well. It kept me afloat during the pandemic which I will forever be grateful for. A lot changed for me during the pandemic (along with basically the whole population), that gave me a new perspective. To put it into context, I grew up in a very strict, all-consuming religion. It wasn’t just a church-on-sunday type of religion; it influenced everything I did and everything I believed about the world and myself. I grew up in Mesa, AZ which is very heavily populated with this religion. When the pandemic hit, I was living in Baltimore, MD which is very far away from and very different from Mesa, AZ. Everything I was told about people who live differently than me was wrong. I was finally able to see that and fully understand that now that I was away from the environment I was raised in. It was like removing blinders from my vision. So with the horrible things going on in the world in 2020 (the pandemic, George Floyd’s murder, Breonna Taylor’s murder, etc) I was really realizing that the things I believed to be right, were not aligning with the church I held so dear. My partner and I moved to California in August 2020 and officially decided to end our membership in our religion in January 2021. During all of this, I was writing and releasing original music on the side while still working full-time at the trash company. My previous religion had always stressed that this life is temporary and the afterlife would be glorious so I never really stressed too much about how I spent my time in this life. In 2022, as dumb as this sounds, it just really hit me one day that this is all we have. Here and now. I was not happy working a desk job. It wasn’t how I wanted to spend the majority of my time. It took a lot of therapy and support from my amazing partner, but I decided to quit my full time job, so I could spend more of my time focusing on what truly fulfills me.

Halie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Halie but my stage name and brand is Sister Teeth! I am a singer-songwriter and yarn enthusiast. Singing is and has always been my love, songwriting is my passion, and crocheting is my addiction. My partner and I moved to Baltimore, MD in 2018 for his grad school program. It took me a long time to find a job out there so I had a lot of time on my hands. I decided to try my hand at some basic music production and for a while, I released one cover a week. This really helped me get familiar with song structure and working with different sounds. I moved on to writing my own music in 2019. I started to seriously independently release my original music in 2021. I have worked with some really talented producers all over the country to do so. Writing has always been my way of processing emotions and experiences. For me it’s like a puzzle – I love the challenge of taking these really complex feelings and ideas swirling around in my brain and condensing them into something that’s digestible and in a way, more concrete. It really is just a thing I do to help myself feel and understand myself but it’s always such a beautiful moment when someone reaches out to me to tell me how they’ve connected to one of my songs in their own way. Music is a human need and connection is such a human experience. The marriage of the two is stunning! I think I am most proud of my single “H8 Myself”. It is one of the most honest and vulnerable songs I’ve written. At the time, it felt urgent to get these feelings of self hatred and self doubt out of mind and into something I could reflect on. I think we all can relate to having difficult moments with self-love. It’s just important to remember who we are hating on when we think or speak negatively about ourselves. I am also very proud of my very first music video for my song called “Anxiety”, which can be found on YouTube. It was such a fun experience coming up with the concept and seeing it come to life in a very magical way. I even got to film with my little sister which is something I’ll always cherish.

Okay so I mentioned before that crochet is my addiction and I mean it! A friend taught me to crochet about a year and a half ago and I haven’t been able to stop since. I absolutely love the concept of making practical, and functional items! It all started with a fisherman cap – I made one and then another and another. Eventually, I had so many I tried selling them at a local market and found some success so I kept going. I was laid off from my part-time job in December so I found myself with a lot of time and took it as an opportunity to pour myself into writing more music, and creating new products! Now, in addition to the fisherman caps, I mainly make bucket hats, bags, doggie bandanas, scrunchies, and more! I also make custom clothing and blankets upon request. Being eco-friendly is really important to me so I try my best to source yarn from second-hand stores when possible. I feel like I’m just beginning my crochet journey but I can’t wait to see where it goes!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Oh, definitely! I think the most important thing I’ve had to unlearn is the definition of success. Success can look like SO many different things because it is relative! I wish I understood this a long time ago. The environment I was raised in (like many of us) conditioned me to think that there was one correct path and boxes to check along the way and then once you’ve checked those boxes, which included getting married, having children, buying a house, having a fancy career, etc, then you were successful. What a lie! Maybe for some this is their version of success but for me, nope. I didn’t allow myself to even try going after what I wanted for fear of not reaching the pinnacle of success. If I wanted to be a musician, I needed to be ultra famous, headlining stadium tours, winning Grammys, blah blah blah. Don’t get me wrong, all of that would be great, but I’ve come to realize that I am finding my own successes just by trying. They might be smaller than winning a Grammy but that’s okay with me. “Small” wins are still wins! I spent too much time being unhappy in the “successful” career I thought I was supposed to stay in. I am much happier now which I believe makes me more successful.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

It’s so hard to pick just one! This is probably a very cliche answer but I think the most rewarding aspect of being an artist and creative is seeing/hearing these physical pieces that came from myself out in the world. Like how cool is that?! We are all made of something so magical and we get to put a piece of that magic into something for other people to also experience. And then when people really connect with what you’ve made and it enhances their lives in one way or another – what more could you ask for as an artist?

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sisterteeth/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sisterteeth
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@sisterteeth3066?si=lakBo3zmtftgdHIg
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1Iyudje991qi49UFTMA0N1?si=AZ_8c8ZfRyOcBFXBc7RG1Q

Image Credits
Makayla Hopkins Sariel Elkaim Micah Herrera