Podcast Summary

Podcast: takin' a walk (Replay: "Music Saved Me" with Alexandra Savior)

Host: Lynn Hoffman (for this special episode, originally from "Music Saved Me")
Guest: Alexandra Savior
Release Date: October 8, 2025

Main Theme

This deeply personal episode centers on how music serves as both a refuge and a tool for self-discovery for Alexandra Savior, a Portland-born singer-songwriter known for her cinematic and evocative sound. The discussion explores Alexandra’s journey through early success, industry pressures, mental health struggles, creative evolution, and the transformative, healing power of music—both as an artist and for her listeners.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. How Music "Saved" Alexandra Savior

• Direct Experience: Alexandra shares a pivotal moment when music became essential in her life—after being hospitalized for mental illness and psychosis.
  • “Writing songs really helped me learn more about how my own brain chemistry works… it was like a literal way of music saving me, you know?” [05:08]
• Songwriting as Self-Discovery: Often, Alexandra realizes the meaning of her songs only in hindsight, finding that her unconscious self surfaces through her writing.
  • “Sometimes it'll be like years later after I write a song, and I'll be like, oh, that's what that was about.” [06:14]

2. Emotional Outlet & Evolution

• Consistency in Emotion: Despite evolving as a songwriter, Alexandra feels the emotional source of her work has stayed the same since her teens.
  • “It’s always been for me very much about… connecting to my feelings. I think, because I have, like, too many feelings. And I always have my whole life.” [07:23]
• Influences: She draws comfort from artists such as Sybil Baer (“I Lost Something in the Hills”), Nina Simone, and Billie Holiday. [08:26]

3. Honesty, Authenticity, and Vulnerability

• Songwriting Approach: Alexandra challenges herself to weave subject matter subtly, often hiding meanings and leaving “Easter eggs” for listeners to interpret.
  • “I make a challenge for myself… for the topic of the song… to be, like, hidden… I was intentionally secretive, hopefully.” [09:47 | 11:34]
• Audience Interpretation: She prefers to leave her songs open for individual connection: “I want people to connect with it within their own experiences and feel like it’s for them.” [11:34]
• Vulnerability in New Work: Her latest album represents her most vulnerable songwriting—she waited five years to release it, ensuring she felt ready.
  • “I waited five years to release it until I really was, like, ready... Not forcing anything is really important and hard as well.” [13:13]

4. Navigating Industry Pressure & Individuality

• Initial Industry Experiences: Alexandra initially struggled with trying to fit molds imposed by the industry, which led to self-doubt.
  • “I made the mistake of thinking that people could see… all of these things that I wanted to create or hear them without them existing… It made me feel like whatever I was wasn’t enough.” [16:08]
• Empowerment Through Creation: She recognizes the importance of persistence and self-discovery: “Having the courage to create as much as you can until you finally get it right is really what I needed.” [17:03]
• Advice for Young Artists: Your individuality will always slip into what you create, no matter your attempts to imitate.
  • “No matter how much you try to make it like someone else, it's just—it's always going to be you. So don’t push too much against your instinct.” [24:04]

5. Artistic Evolution & "Beneath the Lily Pad"

• New Sound in "The Mothership": The song marks a blending of old and new influences; it came together quickly and naturally.
  • “The Mothership… was one of the last songs added… it kind of combined my old world and my new world… I wrote it really quickly… it felt really natural.” [26:20]
• Impact of the Pandemic: The isolation of recording during the pandemic brought a more introspective, subdued energy to the latest work, focused less on the live stage and more on personal space.
  • “I think… the energy levels are kind of similar to where we were all at, which was just like, being alone in our houses…” [28:22]

6. On Healing & The Power of Music

• Music as an Indescribable Force: Alexandra describes music as “a vapor… of emotion… the most indescribable experience that we have as humans.” [30:01]
• Songwriting Process: Writing a song feels like completing a puzzle—exhilarating when it all comes together.
  • “It feels like when you get that last piece, things click, everything makes sense, and you’re like, I won the game. I finished… feels exhilarating.” [31:00]
• Listener Impact: Despite her openness, Alexandra says she is unaware of her broader impact on others’ mental health, acknowledging she only sees it in her personal circles. [22:45]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Self-Awareness Through Songwriting:
  “Sometimes it'll be like years later after I write a song, and I'll be like, oh, that's what that was about.”
  — Alexandra Savior [06:14]

• On Emotional Consistency:
  “Even when I was like, starting out when I was 16, that was still very much there. I don’t think it’s really changed much, to be honest.”
  — Alexandra Savior [07:23]

• On Hiding the Real Meaning in Songs:
  “I was intentionally secretive, hopefully.”
  — Alexandra Savior [11:34]

• Advice for Artists:
  “No matter how much you try to make it like someone else, it's just—it's always going to be you. …Don't push too much against your instinct.”
  — Alexandra Savior [24:04]

• On Songwriting as a Puzzle:
  “Writing songs is like putting a puzzle together. It feels like when you get that last piece, things click, everything makes sense, and you’re like, I won the game… It feels exhilarating.”
  — Alexandra Savior [31:00]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [05:08] Alexandra on how music saved her after hospitalization
• [07:23] Discussing emotional continuity in her music
• [08:26] Musical comfort: her go-to artists and albums
• [09:47 - 11:34] Talking authenticity, honesty, and hidden meanings in songwriting
• [13:13] Navigating vulnerability and timing new releases
• [16:08 - 17:03] Adapting to industry pressures and defining herself
• [24:04] Alexandra’s advice to young artists about instincts and individuality
• [26:20] Creating "The Mothership" and changing artistic direction
• [28:22] How the pandemic influenced the new album
• [30:01 - 31:00] On the healing force of music and the songwriting process
• [32:19] Happy songs: “Kathy’s Song” by Simon & Garfunkel
• [32:51] Dream collaboration: Leonard Cohen

Closing Notes

Alexandra Savior’s openness about her mental health, creative process, and journey through the music industry offers powerful insight into music’s healing and unifying nature. Her advice for embracing individuality and inner instinct stands out as a guiding light for aspiring artists. The episode is both heartfelt and inspiring—an intimate look into an artist’s mind and the songs that save us all.