27 July 20th–July 26th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | cONTeNTs | feeDBacK | OPiNiON | NeWs | feaTuRe | NighT+Day | culTuRe | film | cafe | music | On the Rise Phoenix singer- songwriter Izzy Mahoubi on life as a young music veteran. BY CHRIS COPLAN I zzy Mahoubi has often felt stuck. At just 18 years old, the singer- songwriter is still very much at the beginning of her career. “I’m not in music school. I’m not in college,” she says. “I’m just writing songs and doing it every day and devel- oping with the craft as I’m getting older.” Yet at the same time, she’s also some- thing of an old pro. “When I was 11, I started playing guitar, and my voice teacher quickly encouraged me to start writing songs,” she says. “I’ve played at every coffee shop and restaurant in the state of Arizona.” It’s a situation that often had her feeling unsure about the future. “I was kind of going back and forth,” Mahoubi says of the last few years. “Do I want to go to Nashville and write songs, or do I want to be in the business side? What do I want to do?” She adds, “I still feel like I’m at the begin- ning. Like, they haven’t even pulled the gun and I’m still at the beginning of the race. But at the same time, I also feel like I’ve lived a lot of lives and made a lot of mistakes.” One thing that’s not a mistake: the release of “How to Run,” her debut EP, on July 21 on Rude Records. Mahoubi, like many artists, were presented with something of a transforma- tive opportunity amid COVID. “As people, we always live in the next 10 million steps ahead of where we’re at right now,” she says. “I was turning 15 or 16 when COVID happened. I was very much like, ‘I’m going to Berklee and I’m going to do this and release an album when I’m 16.’ Obviously, I’ve done none of that.” During the last few years, she’s had heaps of time for self-evaluation while also playing the “awkward live streams and [having] a lot of presence” online. “I needed that in my career,” she says. “To be like, ‘OK, so I’m actually a child and I don’t know what’s going on. I need to just sit down and figure things out.’” Fortunately, she had some help during this period. “I read this book by Patti Smith called ‘Just Kids.’ It literally changed my life,” Mahoubi says. “She’s one of those artists where she just loved her craft; it didn’t matter if she made it or had commercial success or fame or anything, and I think that is the most inspiring.” While Mahoubi isn’t a fan of Smith’s music per se — she grew up on Fiona Apple, Taylor Swift and Paul McCartney — the iconic singer and others provide ample lessons for young creators like herself. “I think that’s the reason why people like her and Stevie Nicks and just the ground- work of women and men who made deci- sions that were completely, unapologetically themselves,” Mahoubi says. “Like, I hate to say that, but it was just so unique for the time that people now just try to replicate.” Mahoubi, who also regularly writes poetry to supplement and extend her song- writing, also found guidance in a cele- brated author. “There’s this quote from John Steinbeck, ‘And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be At just 18, Izzy Mahoubi is a bright new talent in Arizona. Morgan Morgan ▼ Music >> p 28
