Ugandan artist Izabel shares the importance of self-acceptance

Izabel is a communicator. What started as a love for reading would metamorphosize into a love for words, a precision that she carries into her songwriting like a yardstick for authenticity.  Subsequently, her eclectic sound inspired by an accumulation of years spent loving the music of influences such as Sara Barailles and Phoebe Bridges have nurtured her ear and united to give us Izabel, the artist, a layered and incredibly talented musician. Her music is a discovery, each layer more surprising than the last, refreshing in its individuality and challenging in how it commands the listener’s attention. Like some other alternative acts in the region, this very originality has worked against her in terms of numbers and airplay. But Izabel is relentless, hoping to find her tribe rather than change her identity. Her latest album, ‘Love and Light’ gives listeners an opportunity to meet Izabel at her core and join the journey to self-discovery and acceptance. We spoke to Izabel to document her thoughts about art and expression, being different and staying true to yourself. 

If the 10 year old version of you met you now, would she be surprised that you are doing music and would she be a fan?

She would not be surprised! I think she would be actually a bit disappointed because she had big dreams. We were supposed to be global superstars by now, with more than two albums out. I am sure she would be like ‘what is happening and what else have you been doing?’ She would be a fan because at that age I was still very lyrical and angsty for a tween and the music that I make still reflects that. 

Your lyrics are super poetic. What influences your writing style?

I love words, I love how succinctly and precisely they express and can help someone understand exactly what it is you are feeling or thinking. I loved seeing that especially with the writers that I was introduced  to in school at a very young age. At about 8-10 years old I was reading the likes of Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist, David Copperfield; Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights. The language in those kinds of books was very intense but very specific. The writers would describe completely without holding back. I liked that I could learn a new word everyday and look it up and learn its particular meaning. So I fell in love with just being right about the words that I use. I began writing poetry moving more into prose, until when I was about 13 or 14 when I began songwriting by adding melody to my writing. It’s the same thing I apply in journaling or even when speaking- I just always want to be succinct. I want people to feel exactly what I am feeling, and communicate as exactly as I can. 

How would you define your music in terms of genres?

I consider myself a non-genre composer because I love music of all sorts. If you look at the projects that I've done, they are very different in sound. I think what I use to define myself would be the themes that are always present despite the differences in the sound- and that's that singer-songwriter element. As I said, lyrics, words, and emotional description is important to me and most of what I write comes out in that sense. So I think by virtue of that, it automatically puts whatever I make in either an alternative or pop pool, because it's usually accompanied by live instruments, guitars and pianos. So I'd say that my  genres tend to be alternative and if it changes maybe pop, with a hint of some electronica.

Congratulations on your album release, ‘Love and Light’. How was the experience like getting to put it together?

Thank you! The experience was one that kind of caught me off guard. I think subconsciously my mind was saying it's time to express another life epoch; the past months, the past year, the past two years. It's time to tell people what it's been like and to find purpose in expressing that. I had some time on my hands for about three months. I got up every day, went to Talent Africa studios to meet Sam Lamara and I’d have my guitar and my song books. We’d begin with recording a guitar line or a piano line, then record the vocals or whatever and then build the track until we had something. We did that everyday for about two months, came up with about 22 songs and then struggled to organize them until we came up with these 14 that are on the album now because they came together in that theme of ‘Love and Light’.  I was really happy during that time and kind of got lowkey depressed after it ended because everything went  back to normal. I wish every day of my life was like that, having some form or avenue to creatively express myself. 

What’s the most important song to you that you’ve ever written and why?

So this was a really hard question to think about, but I think the most important song I've written is ‘Little Grown up Child’ because it is the most spot on or succinct that I've been in conceptualising a season of life for me. It  became an album, a season and a book that I'm still trying to write and finish,  encompassing the coming of age experience for someone like me. I think if you want to know who I am and have a summary of where I've come from and an idea of where I want to go, that is a good introduction. 

What’s a challenge you have encountered along your journey and what has it taught you?

A challenge I have encountered along my artistic journey is that struggle with being or feeling seen and accepted. My music has always been different because of how lyrical I choose to be at times because of the subject matter. So I've really struggled with putting out what I feel is ‘me’ because the point of sharing art is to have some sort of engagement. The more invested  you are in that process the more you feel let down when you find it hard to find your tribe- people that understand what you're saying and engage with you. But it has taught me the importance of staying true to who you are and who you believe you are, even when it's difficult. There have been times I've tried to become more palatable or do things that people would be more accepting of, but the duplicity, hypocrisy and out-of-placeness I have felt when I made those decisions, was much more difficult and painful than the ‘rejection’  that I felt by being myself. I don't think I've ever made a project that's been as received as Love and Light so it's something I'm thankful for. All these lessons have to remain in mind and interplay with the decisions I'm making next.

What’s one thing you love about being a musician in Uganda?

One thing I love about being a musician in Uganda is the opportunity. There are so many people who are the first of their kind in Uganda. And I consider myself one of those people. I don't think there are many people that are doing what I'm doing or how I'm doing it or that have the artistic vision that I do. So it's amazing to wake up every day and dream artistically because there's opportunity to influence so many other people and I really believe that that's my calling, to be a person that decides despite whatever odds I face to be true to who I am and my journey and my calling, a Ugandan artist, for the sake of someone else who's going to need  to look up to someone else who did that in their life. Especially because as an artist starting out, I didn't have people like me to look up to and it was difficult. So I think I’d love that opportunity to be an  influence for the future.

If you were to wake up 5 years from now, what would you hope to see in your career and the Ugandan music scene?

I’d hope to see consistency in making music that is true to myself, that is true to my experiences. I feel everything begins and starts from putting my art out genuinely. And what I hope at that time would be to look back and see that I had remained consistent with that. In regards to the Ugandan music scene I’d hope to see diversity, more people choosing to be genuinely who they are, and not conforming just for the sake of finding a place but choosing to create their own space despite the differences and what is seen in the Ugandan music scene

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