Izzy Spears Goes M*A*D
Izzy joined office over a video call from his Los Angeles home while he sparked a joint and talked tour lessons, creative inspirations, and why he still hasn’t earned a vacation.
Hi Izzy! How are you today?
I’m good, I’m good. It's 11:30 in LA. I went to the gym. Shaved. How are you?
I’m good, I'm in the office in New York. Have you been in LA for a while? You were traveling recently, right?
I moved here in… May of 2021. And yeah, I was traveling quite a bit, on and off since January, and then before that I was on tour again. So I've been here collectively, maybe, for like a year.
Well, congratulations on the tour! That's a really big deal. How was that for you? I know you've toured with Yves Tumor before.
It was great. I mean, it's always good, it's always fun. We always have adventures. You know, performing for a crowd, that’s what I like to do. I love creating music, I love to perform, so it was amazing. The shows just keep getting better and better.
Have you seen a difference in the way that you perform or approach performing, as you keep getting more and more experience?
Yeah, definitely. Breath control for sure. I run around a lot on stage, so I was burning myself out at the beginning of tour. I learned some to pace myself. If I'm still tired, I still, I still go hard. But I’ve noticed that I'm a little less tired.
Is there any particular part of your set that's your favorite to perform, at least over this last leg of the tour?
The intro. First song. I've been doing a song that's not on this EP — might be on the next — but it’s one of my favorite songs right now. For the crowd, it’s a really drawing song for the first song, so it’s been really fun. When I toured last year, I played stuff that wasn't out, I only had two songs out or something like that, so I was always playing new stuff. So I guess I just always like playing the new stuff, because a lot of the stuff that I have been sitting on for a while, it's, like, old to me. Playing new songs is the most exciting.
Do you ever hear a song in a different way, that you didn't before until you were onstage?
Every song. Like, for sure. I definitely go through steps. I start with a demo — might take, like, 30 minutes to an hour to get a really good idea out. The producers that I work with are really fast. I'll move on, and then I might have worked on it once and I'm performing it. By the time I get back to work on everything I saw and thought after that, it's significantly better.
Totally. I imagine that even just hearing people's reactions and what part of the song that they're reacting to is a very different type of feedback than just being alone with it.
Yeah, exactly.
So the title of your upcoming EP stands for “Miss American Dream.” Where did that come from?
Well, the EP was just called “MAD” at first. Man, I forget where I was at the time, like how I was feeling. I guess I was on tour, just getting off tour. We're at a time right now where people are angry — I wouldn't necessarily say that I was angry, at that time, but it was just like a reflection on my life. I've always been… an angry boy. In my family, I would be, you know, the yeller or whatever the fuck. It’s always been a thing in my life, doing a lot of work to control that. I guess I encapsulated that into this project. And that's what it was about originally — I mean, that's what it still is.
But I love Britney. And I was just listening to, “Gimme More,” right? And it just clicked: “I’m Miss American Dream, since I was 17.” I’ve always listened to it, but I remember I wasn’t listening very closely to the lyrics for some time because I was just understanding and studying the pop storyline. But I just listened to it, and heard “Miss American Dream,” and then it hit me immediately. And also, I really like doing abbreviations and things. My name is Izzy Spears, that's obviously a nod to her as well. But yeah, it just clicks perfectly, like it already had the sentiment to it, originally. The EP itself is like, American themed. And it was supposed to be about the chase, the American dream, you know what I'm saying?
Absolutely. The last time that office spoke with you, you said that you felt like you hadn't earned a full vacation yet. That was over a year ago, maybe like a year and a half now. Do you feel like you’ve earned one yet?
I haven't. Not even close.
What’s left between you and feeling like you've earned it?
My mom not having to worry about money. It's not only money, too. I just have a lot more growing to do. I have a lot more I can learn. Life is about reaching your full potential, whatever that may be. I don't have time to waste, or time to chill. I've chilled a lot in my life. I feel like it’s time to work.
Last question — what's the thing you're most excited for people to hear from this EP?
I really love the intro. I really love all the songs. Just excited to be working hard to get better. I don't really like to think about what other people think about shit. I put out the music that I like. And that’s enough.
