Getting Izzy With It: The Izzy Bizu interview

All eyes are drawn to Izzy Bizu as the up-and-coming Brit-soul singer pads into Dublin’s Sugar Club for a pre-soundcheck natter. With just a handful of releases to her credit, the 21-year-old is a long way from famous yet projects unmistakable glamour. Even wearing a workaday hoodie and backpack, she has the aura of a pop star in waiting.

“I’m actually really nervous when it comes to cameras,” she laughs, eying the HP photographer with a degree of trepidation. “If I don’t know it’s there I’m fine. Otherwise…” She mimes pulling a face.

Later in the evening a crowd of several hundred will witness the first ever Irish performance by Bizu. I tell her that I am reminded of an early 2012 gig at the same venue by Emeli Sande, then an unknown shooting for the stratosphere. While there are no sure things in music, it is easy to imagine Bizu taking a similar trajectory – she is charismatic, with knockout vocals and a grab-bag of slinky soul belters.

“This is my first tour and it’s been amazing,” she says, speaking in a standard-issue British Estuary accent. “At the first show I was soooo nervous. It was literally a case of ‘oh my god, we’ve added so much to these songs in rehearsals, how is it going to all work?’ But it was also really exciting. The second and third times were way more comfortable. Now I’m enjoying it.”

Bizu, who was shortlisted for the Brits Critics Choice and BBC Sound Of 2016 Awards, has a fantastic back-story. Growing up in suburban London, her ambition was to be a songwriter, rather than a pop star. The turning point was an open mic evening some mates cajoled her into appearing at. This wasn’t just any get-up-and-sing affair: I Luv Live is a storied proving ground for new talent, which had previously provided a shop window to Ed Sheeran and Emeli Sande.

“There were only about 150 people or so,” says Bizu. “Of course, it felt like a big deal to me. This was the first time I had done something like that. I was up against this other singer who was really jazzy. I was convinced she was going to win. Probably because I had more friends in the crowd, who yelled very loudly, I finished first. Through that I met my manager.”

As a woman making her way in the music industry, Bizu has, alas, had to think about her image. She has been offered the usual fashion shoots in glossy magazines and while happy to reach out to potential fans by whatever means present themselves, being a clothes horse is clearly not on her bucket list.

“As long as it’s natural, I’m 70 per cent comfortable,” she says. “I’m lucky that the people I work with are really nice. They make you laugh. If they are aware you’re a musician, they tend to go easy on you. They know [posing for the camera] is not your job. As I go along through this I’m gradually finding out who I am as a person. It’s a learning process.”

Bizu, whose real name is Isobel Beardshaw, spent her childhood in Barnes, a leafy south London suburb adjacent to Richmond. Her Ethiopian mother is an artist, her English father a retired civil engineer. Music was ever present in the house growing up and at an early age she fell in love with Ella Fitzgerald. As a teenager, she discovered Amy Winehouse and Adele – and decided songwriting was something she wished to pursue for real. Were her parents cool with her skipping university in order to chase her dream?
“Well, it was like… ’oh, you’re not going to uni… okay…’ They were fine about it in the end. Honestly, I’m quite stubborn. This is something I really wanted. I was determined to prove myself.”

Following her I Luv Live triumph, Bizu’s next big break was a 2014 support slot with an up-and-coming artist named Sam Smith. “It was his first major tour and the venues were like this,” she says, gesturing to the modest, albeit perfectly formed, dimensions of the Sugar Club. “It was amazing to see it all happening for him up close. And he’s such a sweet guy. I’m really happy to see Sam doing so well. He’s an inspiration to us all.”

Izzy Bizu’s new single is ‘White Tiger’. A debut album, A Moment Of Madness, is released this summer.