Singer-songwriter, Izzy Mahoubi, is gearing up to spice up your 2023 with new music! Starting with her latest release, ‘Cool Guy,’ which is an authentic and relatable tune about “romanticizing someone or some lifestyle that promises the world even though the red flags are there from the start.” We can totally get behind that sentiment!
This track has taken over our playlists and been stuck in our heads for DAYS, and we know it’s about to become your newest obsession after you check it out below! You can also stream it here!
If that’s not enough for you, then hold on to your wigs because Izzy will be releasing a new EP, How To Run, later this Summer! AND if that doesn’t heat up your Summer enough, we got the chance to interview Izzy about not only her song ‘Cool Guy’ but also her new EP, and we are stoked for its release after finding out what she has in store for us! Check it out below!
In 2022, you signed with Rude Records, congratulations on that milestone! What has it been like working with them so far? Thank you so much, oftentimes I can’t believe it. It has been so growing for me as an artist. To have a team that supports and guides my music is everything!
Since signing with the label, have you learned any new tips or tricks that have helped you with your songwriting or musical aspirations? If so, what are they? If not, what are some things you hope to learn as your time with the label progresses? I have been pushed to write and write and write. I used to think the end goal was to have the Spotify streams, and the show opportunities, and the TikTok followers, but being on a label and growing as an artist, I’ve learned all I want to do is write the best music I can.
2023 has so much in store for you already including a new single called ‘Cool Guy’, and a new EP! What are you most excited for with these new releases and what can your fans expect from the new music? I’m really proud of these songs and I’m just excited to be putting out my first body of work! The EP includes a blend of genres like indie pop, jazz, and alt that I think creates a nice tracklist for listeners. My hope for anyone who listens to ‘How to Run’, is to feel like the track of songs meets them wherever they find themselves in life.
Your new single packs a punch. When you wrote this song, what did you hope your listeners would take away from the meaning behind it? Thank you! ‘Cool Guy’ is one of my favorites. I came to the realization that the music industry can appear really pretty and exciting and it’s easy to feel lame or 57 steps behind everyone. My hope is that anyone that listens, can laugh at all of the “cringe” things they might say or do and learn to love themself the way they love others.
On the topic of ‘Cool Guy,’ you’ve said that the song “can relate to the feeling of romanticizing someone or some lifestyle that promises the world even though the red flags are there from the start.” Coming from a place of personal experience, was it hard to capture that concept into a song? It wasn’t necessarily hard but I knew I wanted to capture this feeling as honest and raw as I could. I thought of the chorus first, “It’s lies covered up with love…” as I was driving. I began to excuse someone’s actions in the name of “love” which is the worst thing ever! Once I had that more big-picture idea, I was able to write the details of the verses like I was telling a story.
Let’s talk about the music video for ‘Cool Guy!’ What made you want to stick to a more simple aesthetic for this track? Is this how you initially envisioned the music video for this song? Music videos have always intimidated me lol. I’ve learned to listen to my gut when it comes to creative direction, and for this song, I knew I wanted it to be simple. I had the vision of the video being shot in an old green room with me and my guitar just singing the song. It kinda gives the vibe of: sad groupie writes break up song in green room while the band she follows around is performing upstairs.
We are vibing so much with ‘Cool Guy’ and we can’t help but wonder what kind of sound we can expect from your upcoming EP! Is it similar in sound to ‘Cool Guy,’ or did each song sort of take on its own sound and morph into this really eclectic tracklist of mixed genres? Ah, thank you! Each song really took its own direction when I went to record them that I didn’t expect. They are all connected by the thread of honest storytelling, is that cliche to say? But, yes, I really love that my first EP has a blend of genres that feels completely right.
We know this is going to be a hard decision, but which track from the EP are you most excited to share with your fans or which song are you most proud of? What is it about that song that earns such a special title? Ahhhh, ok. The title track ‘How to Run’ for sure. I am both nervous and excited to share it. I saw a billboard in downtown Phoenix that said, “Silence is the violence” and that is what ‘How To Run’ embodies. I’m learning how to share the messy and raw versions of myself and what I believe. I’m learning how to run, if you will. The song is experimental for me and kinda weird and completely right. The song was simple to write! I imagined myself being the strongest, most confident, version I could be. It honestly doesn’t sound like anything I’ve ever written, or heard in the current pop world before, and I’m really proud of that.
If you could describe the new EP with one word, what word would you choose and why? You said it before in a question, I would say: eclectic. It’s an eclectic, unique body of work that tells stories of heartache, failures, sweet memories, and my curiosity towards the world.
Aside from the EP and a new single, what else can we expect from you this year? Any other exciting things coming up that we need to keep on our radar? All I do is write songs, write poems, and play shows. So I will be sharing lots of unfinished and imperfect songs and poems on my socials this summer if you’d like to follow @izzymahoubi. (I haven’t announced this anywhere yet, but I’m releasing a folk/alt cover of ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ in June that features my friend Sydney Sprague (I love our cover so much!!!!) And of course, I will continue to slay!
We cannot wait for the EP to drop, which you can pre-save here, but we can’t to know what you think of Izzy and here newest track! Do you love ‘Cool Guy’ as much as we do? Are you stoked for the EP? Let us know in the comments below or by tweeting us @TheHoneyPOP! You can also hit us up on Facebook and Instagram!
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