We recently connected with Hala Hooper and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Hala, thanks for joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I appreciate this question a lot. I’m going to be brutally honest. I envy my friends who are smart and aimless in their twenties. The ones who do not know exactly what they want to pursue—that don’t feel like they missed a train to destiny every morning. As I grow up, I find myself chipping away at a victim complex I developed somewhere along the way. Sometimes I feel terribly unlucky to have been born with such a uniquely clear desire of who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do with my life. This, of course, sounds like a gift—unless your dream is to be a successful songwriter and you were raised in a place like Colorado Springs without much of an industry hub, even more frustrating when you moved from L.A. to Colorado at ten. Everyone will tell you that social media is the magic key to the promised land of success. This is true for some, hard for many, and especially difficult with BPD, a personality disorder reliant on validation to be happy. I am 22 now. I have leaned into faith and other practices to help keep BPD at bay, and yet, I still feel terrified to promote, terrified to hustle. An endless cycle of discomfort, because on shift slinging coffee, all I can do is daydream about potential tours and campaigns. Amidst confusion and sadness, I cannot deny that I am most happy when I am writing or when I am on stage. And I have chosen to believe someone cosmic, God, is rooting for me.

Hala, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hey! I’m Hala Hooper, a Denver-based Singer/Songwriter who writes about the people I love (ground-breaking, right?). Fresh off the release of two 2024 EP’s, “it’s getting hard to romanticize this…” and “The Haunted Thing: A Halloween Special”, I am realizing that I might need more of a calculated approach to releasing and marketing my music, so thank you for this opportunity! Shoutout Levi
Morarie for recommending me and the Sprout’s sandwiches we bought with my food stamps.

When I am not doing a very mediocre job of pulling espresso, I am a Singer/Songwriter major at CU Denver. Or I am gigging around Colorado with my friends: the core band being Gabby Sophia, Will Harrel, and Michael Amodeo, fellow students at school. We usually close the sets with my most well-known song “sad sex song”, a single I released in 2023.

Along with a career in music, I am an advocate for living with Borderline Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. My dream is to reach a bigger platform to share my perspective in life. Why exactly? I haven’t figured out yet.

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

I am an extreme extrovert and I love performing what I write. And so, jamming and creating with people feels like sex. Is that too controversial? It’s the truth. It’s addictive, a drug, but more than that, a soul connection. I can only compare it to something as personal and life-giving as intercourse. The thought that with enough practice, drive, and devotion I could make money doing the very thing I would only ever want to do on earth to begin with… Well, it’s too beautiful to even fully imagine. But for now, I’ll put in the work and pray.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Let’s set the scene, it’s the summer of 2023. Two back-to-back heartbreaks. On top of that, I had just barely survived an authentic OCD crisis. I released “sad sex song” and was judged fiercely in my hometown. I decided I couldn’t do my life anymore, not the way it was, at least. I Googled; “college for singer/songwriters” and found The University of Colorado Denver on the first list I clicked. I sent in an audition and began packing before receiving a response. I was accepted as I was in the process of transferring Dutch Bros locations.

I arrive on campus, signing up for dorms that I couldn’t afford. I, in fact, had no way to pay for them but figured they wouldn’t kick me out until the first semester ended. I was right. I met friends, recorded my first EP with Jonas Gilbert, Levi Thompson, and my bandmates that I named previously. I was lucky enough to get connected with The Denver Art Society, who hosted my release event.

But as I studied for finals, I knew I would be homeless soon. I cannot live with my parents and work at the same time because of their Medicaid, and I couldn’t not work and pursue music, so I was at a standstill. An angel I met at a party, Paige, let me live with her and my other sweet friend, Veronica, drove me to and from where I needed to go.

Eventually, I needed a break. I took a pause from work and lived with my parents again, completely depressed. I was back at square one, just worse, having tasted the life I had always dreamed of. While back in the Springs, something bizarre happened. I got reconnected in church and found new-found hope I didn’t have before. I found a card with old student funds from 2020 and it was enough to get me back to school. At the same time, my best friends managed to find a house with four rooms for rent. I’m back now and happier than I’ve ever been. What I learned from all this? I learned to not give myself too much credit, I learned to stop thinking that I am the sole author of my story. I used to think that I, alone, was somehow capable of either completely destroying or making my life exactly what I wanted it to be. I now know that there are people and cooperations and divine forces at work and I need to make room for them.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @mahalahoo
• Other: My Tik Tok is @mahalahoop

Image Credits

Natalie Maul
Scott Connors
Jordan Andrews
Micaiah Harness