Sarah Louise is a Different Kind of Girl Making a Difference Through Music

Sarah Louise is a UK-based songwriter specializing in contemporary pop. Through her music, she has found a way to support charities such as Cancer Research UK and Sands, as well as organizations like St Helena Hospice, The Royal British Legion, and Chain, while performing at numerous fundraising and community events and forging a path of humanitarian aid through song.

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Where are you from?
Originally, I am from Colchester Essex and moved to Suffolk in the UK in 2022, I’ve lived around this area for most of my life, and there’s something about Suffolk that really feeds into who I am creatively. It’s beautiful and peaceful, but I also love the contrast of being able to travel, perform and write in completely different places. I’m definitely someone who needs both, a sense of home and a sense of adventure.

What was your first connection with music?
Music has genuinely always been part of my life. My Dad played music every day when I was growing up, and my Grandad and I shared a really special connection through songs. My mum even tells the story of me bouncing in time to Radio Ga Ga by Queen when I was a baby!

I think music became more than something I listened to quite early on. It became a way of expressing things I couldn’t always put into words. That’s probably why songwriting feels so natural to me now.

What is your creative process?
It varies. Sometimes I’ll have a lyric or a phrase that arrives first, and other times it’s a melody or a feeling that I can’t quite explain. I tend to write from a very instinctive place rather than sitting down with a formula.

I love taking something very ordinary;  a conversation, a moment, an emotion,  a road sign, something that’s happened in my life and finding the bigger feeling within it. I’m always hearing a melody or a lyric in my head.

Your melodies usually capture feelings and themes such as vulnerability, personal growth and finding confidence. Do these ideas come from a personal or external place?
Mostly personal, although I’m also very inspired by the people and stories around me. I think songwriting allows you to take something that happened specifically to you and turn it into something other people can recognise themselves in.

I’ve experienced different chapters of life, and I’m not interested in pretending everything has always been perfect. Some of my favorite songs have come from the moments when I’ve had to work things out, rebuild my confidence or see myself differently.

For me, songwriting is less about having all the answers and more about being honest about the journey.

Your new single Sunshine just came out and it is so lovely! What inspired this song?
Thank you! Sunshine is really about finding your own light rather than waiting for somebody else to bring it into your life.

It came from the idea that life doesn’t always go according to plan. Sometimes things happen that you can’t control, and you have a choice about how you respond to them. You can’t always change the situation, but you can sometimes change the way you look at it.

I wanted the song to feel uplifting without pretending that life is perfect. It’s about making the best of where you are, finding the little moments of happiness and remembering that you can be your own sunshine.

Your single “Different Kind of Girl” also recently came out, can you tell us the story behind this song?
Different Kind of Girl is about becoming more comfortable with who you are rather than trying to become somebody else.

The song came from that feeling of meeting someone or experiencing something that makes you see yourself in a different light. It isn’t really about changing for another person. It’s about realising that perhaps you’re finally becoming the person you were always meant to be.

There’s a line in the song about “edges into curves”, which I love because it represents growing into yourself,  physically, emotionally and mentally. It’s about confidence, self-worth and embracing the woman you’ve become.

What impact do you think music has on society?
Music can reach people in a way that conversation sometimes can’t. It can bring people together, help someone through a difficult time, make people dance, remember somebody they’ve lost or simply feel less alone.

I think that’s one of the most powerful things about music. You can write a song about your own experience, put it out into the world, and suddenly somebody thousands of miles away is telling you that it helped them through something.

That connection is why I keep doing it.

We are sorry to hear that you have lost some people close to you from cancer, but admire that you have turned that into a reason to give back. Can you tell us a little bit about raising money for Cancer Research UK and Sands? Why did you decide to focus on these charities in particular?
Thank you. Losing people you love changes you, and I think sometimes you need to find a way of turning that pain into something positive.

Cancer Research UK is very close to my heart because of the people I’ve lost to cancer. It’s a disease that has affected so many families, and raising money for research feels like a way of helping to make a difference for future generations.

Sands is very personal for a different reason. They support families who have experienced the devastating loss of a baby, providing support at a time when people can feel completely lost. I think charities like Sands are incredibly important because they help people through experiences that can be almost impossible to put into words.

I’ve always felt that if I have a platform through music, I should also use it to try and help people too. 

You have also supported St Helena Hospice, The Royal British Legion, and Chain. Can you tell us a little bit about these organizations and what drew you to them?
I’ve always been drawn to charities where you can see the very real difference they make to people and their families.

St Helena Hospice does incredibly important work supporting people and their families through end-of-life care, and that same charity too care of my Nan and my good friend Reg Webb, while The Royal British Legion supports serving and ex-serving members of the Armed Forces, veterans and their families. Both organisations represent compassion, dignity and community, which are things I really value.

I’ve also supported Chain, because supporting people who are struggling and helping create positive change in the community is something I care about and my friends and their family run this charity and I adore the love they pour back into the community. 

If I’m going to put my name and music behind something, I want there to be a genuine reason for me to care about it.

Socially and Politically, the past few years have been crazy, what do you do to stay positive?
I try to focus on the things I can actually influence. There is so much happening in the world that it can be overwhelming if you absorb all of it every day.

Music helps me enormously. So does being around people I love, getting outside, performing, writing and remembering to appreciate the ordinary things that are actually very extraordinary when you stop and notice them.

I also think kindness is underrated. You don’t have to solve every problem in the world to make somebody’s day a little better,  but a smile can really help someone as Dolly taught us. 

What is your motto in life?
I think my motto would be: “Be the best version of yourself.”

Life shapes us through everything we experience  the good, the difficult and everything in between. I believe our storms don’t break us; they shape us, which is where my new Heart-Shaped Pebbles metaphor comes from.

My music is about resilience, reinvention and finding the confidence to embrace who you are and every season of your story.

To learn more about Sarah Louise, please check out the links below:
Instagram: sarahlouisemusicofficial

"Sunshine” out now here!

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Photo Credit: Michelle Fredericks