Fragglepop is singer/songwriter Zyra Coopers latest project. Unlike her music, Zyras life makes some dark story telling. Unfortunately, at the young age of 11, she found herself within the clutches of a man almost twice her age who exploited her for money. After faking a friendship by showering her with attention, something that had been distinctly lacking from her life so far, he got her to try heroin and within weeks she was hooked. Now, with her dependent on him, he could finally put into action the true reason for his interest in her - forcing her into child prostitution and hereby insuring himself a lucrative and lasting source of income.

It wasn't until almost 5 years later that she managed to escape this harrowing situation aged nearly 16 and ever since, she has been battling her addiction as well as the memories of these deeply traumatising years.

During all this time, Zyra had only one thing she managed to keep hidden away and safe. "No matter how bad it got, if I couldn't take any more I would start to sing in my head. Just make up tunes and words that felt soothing to me. When I got a chance I would sneak off and hide and write the soothing or angry or sad words into a little notebook." Not knowing how to write proper music, she simply jotted the tune down with higher or lower, longer or shorter lines... The beginning of her songwriting career.

And finally, after getting her own life back, she joined a band - punk no less!!! „Had I not joined that punk band and screamed my head off at every possible occasion, I don’t think I would have gotten through the next few years...“ Zyra grin widens as she recalls those crazy performances, „I gave it my all, threw myself around the stage, got high and usually ended up passing out; but it was only during those gigs that I felt remotely alive...!!“

Today, after discovering music as a means to overcome trauma and what she calls “my own musical therapy” as well as eventually even having a child whom she raised as a single parent, Sarah is a positive and, perhaps not so surprisingly, “wise beyond her years” woman.

She still suffers from some issues, due to her past, (she's very claustrophobic for instance, which she says stems from being locked in a wooden chest for hours on end as a form of punishment for not making enough money) but her triumphs far outweigh her failures in life and according to her, she owes this extraordinary success to the fact, that she's a musician. "Only life as an artist allows enough freedom to work through such trauma and - even more importantly - to overcome it and move on... in fact, it is on the really bad days that I write my best songs!" (Quote S.C. 1.12.2013)

Regarding her story, I am impressed at how authentic Zyra is, a true free spirit... „Music is brilliant on good days and a lifeline on the bad... it’s what keeps me sane“...

Aged 16, she escaped from her tormentor and got clean for the first time since she was 11....

Since then, she’s battled her addiction issues and traumatic memories of those horrible years, through her music.

how come her music is so upbeat? “ I used to be angry and distrustful of everybody all the time and I used to write really dark songs!” she laughs “but after a while I realized that more than being angry at my misfortune, I am glad to have survived! And thats what comes through in my songs nowadays!!” Good for her!!