Life & Work with Hala Hooper of Denver, CO

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hala Hooper

Hi Hala, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I live in a house with my best friends in Denver. I got diagnosed with Bipolar last week. I’m releasing an EP for Halloween, titled “The Haunted Thing”, co-produced upstairs with my roommate, Levi Thomson. I’m a full time singer/songwriter student at CU Denver. I have no idea how any of this happened. I was a 7-year-old L.A. baby that got dragged to Colorado Springs and wrote her first song about it. I packed my car after a heartbreak in 2023 and a sickness for stagnancy and fast food employment. I signed up for college online, moved into a dorm I couldn’t afford, lived on couches once I got booted, saved up and returned the next year. Now I’m back and healthier than before. I swear any success or opportunity has come from my extreme extroverted nature and knack for improvisation. I like to be an advocate for living happy with mental illness. In addition to bipolar, I have OCD and BPD. And yet, I’m doing what I love to do with the people I love and it’s all okay in the end.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Hahaha. Oops. Sort of answered that last question. I’d say, somatic OCD crisis was and is the scariest thing I’ve ever been through. Unfortunately, it’s hard to think when you’re stuck in a mental hell. But I noticed that no matter how bad I got, the only thing that truly distracted my mind was creating. Whether that was writing songs or editing promo, I could just exist normally for a bit.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Like I mentioned before, I am a singer/songwriter, but as I meet about six ridiculously talented musicians every single day in this circle of the city, I have discovered my strengths seem to be personality, vocals, and lyricism.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
All my love and credit goes to my best friend, Levi Thompson. A composing major, he produces and writes and encourages me and makes my life so much better and easier. Our parents were in a friend group in the 90’s (imagine the sitcom Friends, if they happened to all be Christian missionaries) and they gave birth to us around the same time. We popped out of each individual womb with a direct purpose to create music, and the talent to do so, if I may be so bold. Thankfully, we arrived on Earth with the same sense of humor as well. He is like my twin but better because I don’t really get annoyed with him.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mahalahoo/
• Youtube: Hala Hooper

Image Credits
Natalie Maul
Scott (I need his last name I will get it tomorrow when he wakes up)
Miranda Pajot