Xolie Morra lives with Asperger’s Syndrome, a fact she both celebrates and wants to share to further educate the public about the nuanced condition. Xolie, whose band, The Strange Kind, played on Jimmy Kimmel Live, has a sweet voice and the songs she writes are crafted pop gems. This Friday, she will be performing on stage at the Vera Project supporting autism awareness and her new project, In The Spectrum. We had a chance to chat with Xolie about her condition, the show and much more.

When you approached us about this show there was a particular energy to your voice – why does this night mean so much to you? 

Autism is close to my heart because I have a high functioning form of Autism called Asperger’s Syndrome. Starting inthespectrum.org has been a really challenging yet fulfilling experience and putting on this concert to benefit Autism Speaks is one of the dreams I’ve flirted with for quite some time. Finally pulling it off makes me excited, like watching your kid go to school for the first time. Let’s just hope it has a good first day.

What is it like for you living with autism? What aspects of the challenge can you share?

There are great parts and not so great parts to having Autism. Autism is what gave me music. I probably could have learned to play music without it, but I believe it just helped me look at music in a way I wouldn’t have looked at it without Autism. At the same time, I’ve always had a hard time communicating with people in a way that they expect me to and music became a form of communication.

The challenge is in the negative symptoms of Autism. So where there is beauty and things that make me unique and perfectly me, there are also things that make it hard to fit in to the world around me in a way that feels comfortable. I have super high sensory issues with my hearing and touch. I wear ear plugs daily to keep the noise down in my head so anxiety doesn’t set off my vocal and motor tics. I also run into people who like to hug a lot, which is fine if I have known someone for a while (such as my wife or family), but I am not really one to give out “Free Hugs”. Hugs and unexpected touch make it hard to function. Music is where I function. I’m also obsessed with dogs and could talk someone’s ear off about rescuing dogs.

Getting people to understand the obsessions and differences in communication I think are probably the biggest challenges Autistic people face. We try really hard to fit into the world, while still maintaining who we are, but a lot of times the world doesn’t do enough to understand us and meet us half way.

Can you talk a little more how Autism translates to your music? And how that might come out on stage at the show? 

I hear about 10 bajillion songs playing at the same time in my head daily. When I hone in on one and focus on writing a song I hear it 100% done, produced and exactly where I want it to be before the lyrics are even done. Sometimes I sit on it for years, such as with my song “The River” that took 8 years to finish, because I just couldn’t come up with lyrics, but the song was completely arranged and finished otherwise. Sometimes it flows out like something has a hold of me and I’m just letting it out like “Over My Head”. Whatever the case, if I don’t have a way to record it I lose it and if it comes back down the line then it was meant to be.

My band mates help a lot too in breaking me out of my head. Sometimes we are on the exact same page and sometimes they hear something different than me. It’s taken a lot to learn how to work with people in a way that lets them be them and me be me. I’ve learned to enjoy opening my mind up to other musical viewpoints even though it’s hard for someone like me to break out of my own head. But it’s been easier with these guys, because they have kinda learned how to talk to me in a way that nurtures that openness. They also don’t take it personally if I am adamant about something I really really want to hear. All this stuff gets hashed out of the way in rehearsal and then the connection translates when we play shows live.

On stage is where I do best to be honest. I stop stuttering (for the most part) and find that I have an easier time telling jokes that people actually laugh at. I tell people I have what’s called “Off Stage Fright” because the second I get finished performing, my tics come out heavily and I get uncomfortable talking to people.

Tell me more about inthespectrum.org – what’s the goal of it, what’s your role?

Inthespectrum.org is a soon to be non-profit organization based in Seattle, WA. Currently, we are waiting on our 501c3 status. I am a founding member and see myself in a creative leadership role. In The Spectrum is the name of a documentary film I am working on about my life with Autism breaking into the music industry. It started simply and has morphed into this conceptual movement to raise awareness about the many faces of Autism and the beauty we bring to the world.

I partnered with my friends at Aligned Education to take the vision further. Our goal is to put on events and workshops at schools and corporations encouraging people to understand Autism from the inside out. We use games and exercises to help neuro-typical people experience a little of what it is like to live with the challenges associated with many forms of Autism. Our main concern is promoting Neuro-diversity in the work place and in school. We encourage corporations to hire outside the box of conformity, because not just Autism, but many mental and neurological disabilities in general are being phased out of the work force through computerized hiring processes.

At the same time, this openness to understanding Autism starts in school-aged children. We try to reach out and get kids talking and connecting, opening up and looking past the immediate to see the bigger picture socially when it comes to embracing those who have a harder time socially or have a different set of interests. I also would like to use Inthespecturm.org to help bridge a gap between some in the Autism community and organizations that speak for us to congress.

Many organizations focus on the negative sides to autism, but lump them into one word and even though we have the same goal, which is to cure the negative symptoms associated with Autism that lock people inside their heads, the wording separates us. I take the time to personally look past the wording and encourage a series of re-wording options so that it isn’t taken so literally as “eradicating Autism” or “curing Autism” as if it is a disease or a negative thing. This year we are working really closely with Autism Speaks and I am very happy with the changes they are making in the world. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s getting there.

I think what I really want people to know about when it comes to “In The Sepctrum”, The Seattle Concert For Autism, is that it is a collaboration of like minds to celebrate the beauty of Autism through music. It will be hosted by local comedian Missy Lacy of “Sessions of She” and showcases some of my really good friends who will be performing this year such as Sammy Witness who is debuting a song she wrote with a girl named Kayla Takeuchi who can only speak through an Ipad, and Jason Kertson who’s mother works with Autistic kids. Jason volunteers to play music and connects with the kids regularly. Also we will be featuring DJ Gibbs, a 16 year old DJ who is on the spectrum and has his own company. On the down low, we have a very special guest who we can’t share their name due to some conflicting timelines, but who really wanted to be involved in the concert. We call them our “Super Top Secret Special Guest” and have been posting hints on the event page to have some fun with the fact that we can’t say who they are.

The show will be all-ages at the Vera Project and thanks to the Skylark Cafe, we will have the ability to serve Beer & Wine to those over the age of 21 who wish to have a little adult refreshment. All of the performers are volunteering and 100% of the proceeds will go to Autism Speaks.