Hyperactive Ghost

I'm seeing Royal and the Serpent live (again) at The Basement East in Nashville tonight and YOU SHOULD, TOO! Tickets are $28 AFTER FEES and I'll even link you to where you can buy them below. So, do you remember when I said I'd seen That Guy's face a second time following Absolution Fest 2023? It was at the Royal and the Serpent show in October of 2-23. Please note: Just as with any other band, it...

Following the powerful series of surfacing traumas from Violet Silhouette's set, Beep deals with the split second she still rethinks decades later--and how her trauma has impacted her sexuality. It's another piece of the puzzle from the night she ate dirt. In the midst of Beep's confusing rollercoaster of emotions, KANGA takes the stage. KANGA brought a sexy vibe and, as a testament to how fcked-u...

As Beep feels the panic mounting, she resorts to her newly formed methodology for keeping a panic attack at bay--a method she calls "Panic Math." Violet Silhouette performs a feral set in Crowbar as she struggles to stay in the present as the memory of what That Guy did in August of 1994--the night she ate dirt. Just as she's getting ready for KANGA to take the stage, a realization hits her. Subsc...

Beep is triggered as a band is setting up into a memory involving a man--That Guy--and.... something that he did. Shaken by a memory, she trips into a panic attack. Combining personal anecdotes with broader themes of nostalgia, trauma, and identity, this episode invites listeners to explore how live music can serve as a portal for self-awareness and catharsis. Subscribe to the Hyperactive Ghost Su...

In the intro episode for Hyperactive Ghost's season 3, Doctor BeepBoop prepares you for a trip inside her mind during Absolution Fest 2023, a 3-day (mostly) goth music festival that takes place every October in Tampa, Florida. In 2023, Beep was triggered into an awful memory of an event that took place in 1994 while she was on the cusp of just 19 years old. Beep says to be prepared for it to actua...

In this episode, Doctor BeepBoop shares an intimate reflection on attending live music shows, vulnerability, community, and the personal growth experienced through the lens of concerts and self-assessment. It explores how connection, vulnerability, and self-awareness shape our experiences, especially in moments of change and challenge. Thumbnail image is Beep's car selfie wearing her show outfit....

Due to a number of conflicting scenarios, we have to take a break this week. Next week, I'll be back with part 4 of the HEALTH miniseries. Still want Hyperactive Ghost content? Meet me on doctorbeepboop.substack.com!

Numb Metal, Part 3: How to Soothe the Burn Summary In the 3rd installment of her 4-part mini-series on the band HEALTH, Doctor BeepBoop reflects on the year she spent obsessively listening to HEALTH and working inward on her personal through mental health, metal music, and self-discovery, illustrating how art and metacognition can aid in understanding and healing emotional wounds. She is now in Na...

"Numb Metal, Part 2: Never Will You Trust Another Story" Dr. BeepBoop shares personal stories of grief, loss, and transformation intertwined with vivid live music experiences. Her reflections reveal how art, especially music, becomes a powerful tool for navigating life's inevitable sorrow and change. Resources & Links: Hyperactive Ghost on Substack Listen to Feel Nothing by Health on Bandcamp...

Title: Numb Metal: My Year of HEALTH, Part 1. "How I Became Undone" In this episode of the Hyperactive Ghost podcast, Doctor BeeBoop explores the emotional landscape of grief, loss, and resilience through the lens of music, specifically the song "Feel Nothing" by Health. She shares personal reflections on mental health, identity, and the healing power of music, all while inviting listeners into he...

Season 2 of Hyperactive Ghost isn't the same as Season 1. It's scripted and dramatic; it might be your guide to survival if you need it. For those who are curious, check out the “Absolution Fest 2023” tab on the website. I’ll have more trailers and clips for you in the coming weeks until we land.  Background soundscape is: "Crypto" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: B...

Season 2 of Hyperactive Ghost isn't the same as Season 1. It's scripted and dramatic; it might be your guide to survival if you need it. For those who are curious, check out the “Absolution Fest 2023” tab on the website. I’ll have more trailers and clips for you in the coming weeks until we land.  Background soundscape is: "Crypto" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: B...

For the final episode of season 1, Beep discusses the Dadi Freyr show at Eastside Bowl on March 4, 2024. Showing up feeling weird and vulnerable, she knew she would have to make very different choices going forward if she was going to change her life--but why? Was it really just the loss of a relationship....or was that relationship part of decades of a crappy pattern that needed to end? It's the...

Length: ~46 minutes This adaptation of my "When I Hear Music: Latin Freestyle Heavy Hitters at Amway Arena," alternatively titled "We Wanted Immediacy," I start with a little more information about how my EMDR sessions lead to reviving my love of Latin Freestyle. It reminded me that I can't just throw my difficult life away because there is good music to be had, and I have to remember what deserve...

Length: ~46 minutes I saw Two-Door Cinema Club in The Social in Orlando in 2011 and at Brooklyn Bowl Nashville in 2024, inspiring a conversation about the upgrade in quality with the problematic element of playing a venue too small for your success and a chaotic audience. The result is an entry into a conversation about the very real issues around parking and safety when an audience arrives chaoti...

Length 1:07. It's chatty, so you can throw it on and work or drive! I saw Front Line Assembly, Gary Numan, and Ministry at Hard Rock Live Orlando in March of 2024, during a point where my exhaustion was beginning to feel too heavy. As a lecturer at a public university in Florida, I knew there would be some tones about my state's politics at the time, but was surprised when Jourgensen took a minute...

I Was His Cosmic Girl: My Grief Was Hiding Behind the 30th Anniversary of Jamiroquai's First Album. Length: 56 minutes I published this in 2024, not long after the 30th anniversary of Jamiroquai’s first album,“Emergency on Planet Earth,” arrived in the middle of my labor to heal from my past….and it was the loss of what we had that re-emerged as heartbreak and not how terrible it became. Sometimes...

Length: 11:03 This is a short one for you guys, but that’s because of a very specific challenge I had with this piece when I was writing it in July of 2025. A lot has changed since then, but the reason the post was shorter has not: I saw Mari Kattman twice in 2023, but would need to write about her twice in 2025 due to one set being hers and the second being Helix’s set at Absolution Fest 2023. Ab...

After a joke intro, we have "So Much Better Than Florida: I Saw Depeche Mode in Orlando and Nashville....Two Very Different Shows." This simple comparison of two shows in different cities was the moment when I began to form my thoughts about the differences in music cultures between cities, but it also sparked me to consider what makes specifically Nashville different from other cities with regard...

I saw Blond in Car and Ella Vos at Analog at Hutton in December of 2023, the day before I saw Michael MdDonald do a talk about his book. It turned out that the Ella Vos show spoke to me in a way I wasn't expecting, and I hope to catch a show there again because I really liked that venue. Join me as I ponder about the versions of me: 2023 me, August 2025-me who wrote this and Now-me who is yapping...

In October of 2023, after I saw Suzanne Vega, Nick Cave, and Depeche Mode, I saw Royal & the Serpent with Baby Fisher, Dasha, and Jutes. I didn’t recognize their names at the time, but they’ve all since become very popular acts. I just happened to catch them at a small, historic venue. But I also had some things to say about the way artists are treated as a whole, which was more of a reflectio...

Beep's first night out in Nashville is a Suzanne Vega show and a peep at Fascination Street, but being an outsider means I made it weird a LOT. This is a more casual chit-chat episode that includes some reflections after returning. Length: 37 Minutes Get full access to Hyperactive Ghost at doctorbeepboop.substack.com/subscribe

In September of 2023, Beep went to see Lana Del Rey in Tampa, FL, where a string of realizations hits a stunning revelation: the line hurts, now....and it seems half of the young women there seem to know this, too. Is the line supposed to be full of hope or full of irony? Likely both.....but Beep makes the realization that she has to leave home. This piece was written in November 2023, before the...

What the last 3 years of my life entailed and how I need to shut the door on them and move on. If this is too sentimental for you, hang tight. We'll be back to trauma, sex, and death in no time. Promise. It’ll just be a little more honest in its fragility. Click and listen to the relaunch of my Substack, which includes this podcast. There was a glitch, but it’s still alive despite some issues! Wri...

I went to see Nick Cave at Ryman Auditorium in October 2023 where we walked the path of Nick Cave's grief and belief, and sobbed in a pew and sobbed all the way home. I sobbed in a pew. There is no other artist who articulates my experience of grief in the way Nick Cave does. This show felt like the people around me at the show all understood why we were there--to process grief and quietly connect...