Otago fourth year university student, Mads Harrop. Photo: Supplied
"Music is my medicine" reads Dunedin musician Mads Harrop's Instagram profile.
The Otago University music student, who lives with Asperger's, ADHD and Tourette syndrome, says having a neurodivergent brain adds a "quite cool and interesting" element to her songwriting.
Mads' latest single 'Harmonise' is about the importance of connections – something she's learnt well in the four years since a "life-changing" diagnosis of Tourette syndrome at 19.
Her 2022 single 'Hiding in Colour' was written in the weeks after the 2019 incident which led to her diagnosis.
"I was sitting on the couch one minute and the next minute I started screaming and convulsing. It was quite stressful and quite worrying for us all.
"It was a pretty challenging time for me… I felt a bit of grief. 'Hiding in Colour' is about my Tourette's and hoping for positivity when times get tough."
Although Mads' own Tourette symptoms include coprolalia – compulsive swearing – she's keen to point out that this isn't the only way Tourette syndrome can manifest. Contrary to what's shown in the media, muscular, rather than vocal, tics are also common.
After her own swearing tics began, Mads says she felt nervous about how strangers would react.
"It can be a little bit confusing for some people… so I have to try and explain myself. As soon as I say 'I'm sorry, I can't help it, I have Tourettes' people are understanding … I only ever have the odd reaction."
Being autistic can also make conversation tricky, she says.
In order to have a "proper conversation", she follows a 2-to-1 rule - asking two questions to the other person for every one thing she shares.
One conversation Mads always looks forward to having, though, is talking music with her father Steve - a musician who wrote and recorded the bassline for the hit single 'Sweet Disorder' by NZ band Strawpeople.
She says Steve, who played guitar a lot when she and her sister were kids, has been really supportive and encouraging of her songwriting all the way.
"If he didn't introduce me to [English rock band] T. Rex, I probably wouldn't be the songwriter that I am today… That was when I really decided I wanted to get into songwriting. [The 1972 single] 'Children of the Revolution' is still today one of my favourite songs of all time."
Mads Harrop on RNZ:
Mads Harrop performs her song 'Contagious World'
Mads Harrop's music videos
Related:
'I just couldn't stop it. I felt horrible all the time'
Renee Harvey is a 23-year-old mum who has Tourette syndrome.
'If anybody was making jokes at my expense I wouldn't be happy'
Tanya Humphreys has lived her whole life with Tourette syndrome and very little support in dealing with it.
