The Concordia student pop-punk artist released her first EP on May 10, 2024.
Emo-grunge musician and Concordia student Roxanne Izzo opened for Mike Frazier at Le Café Big Trouble on Nov. 13.
Roxanne is a fourth-year communications major with a professional writing minor currently in her final semester at Concordia. She is also an alternative pop artist with a classic grunge style.
The crowd was small at Big Trouble, giving the music a much more personal feeling. This intimacy was bolstered by the vulnerability Izzo displays in her work.
“Through my music, I want to reach out to people who have similar experiences and also feel outcasted and disillusioned within the world around them,” she said.
She mentioned having written songs since she was as young as seven, some even appearing in her repertoire.
“I go back to write new lyrics but I do my best to keep the theme the same,” she said. “I think of what I would’ve wanted to say then but didn’t have the words, vocabulary or life experience to express.”
Her two older brothers, Alex and Max Izzo, similarly began their musical journeys at a young age. They frequently perform alongside Roxanne, with Alex on the drums and Max on the guitar.
She was accompanied only by Alex on Nov. 13. He played the cajòn, a percussion instrument that looks like a box and produces drum-like sounds. Alex used brush sticks to achieve the sound of a rolling drum.
The siblings’ father is a record producer and musician, and their mother is an artist. The three of them grew up surrounded by the world of music.
“I just really feel that it’s what I was brought on this earth to do,” said Alex about performing.
Around 2019, the brothers began helping Roxanne with her music after she’d made it known that she wanted to add more production elements.
“We always knew that she was a great songwriter because we would overhear her singing and playing her songs,” Alex said.
She released her first single, “Block Party,” in April 2020, in which she vents the frustrations of being surrounded by people who don’t understand her.
Her most recent release is her debut EP, Misery’s New Postergirl, released on May 10.
“I kind of had a moment where I was like, ‘I’ve never come across anything, ever, that I feel represented in as much as that EP,’” said Roxanne.
She said she draws major inspiration from bands like Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday, and Free Throw but listens to all kinds of music.
Since playing her first full-band show in 2023, she now plays a mix of solo sets and full-band shows with her brothers.
This time around, she was excited to open for an alternative artist, someone who worked outside of her usual genre.
“This show is very singer-songwriter Americana,” she said of Seattle-based artist Mike Frazier.
Roxanne played three new songs during her set: “Are You Satisfied?,” “Teresa,” and “Sludge Metal.”
“‘Teresa’ is a song I wrote recently after having a lot of debates with myself about making art as a pure spiritual practice versus the desire to be seen in order to reach people through it,” she said.
She wrote it over the summer while meditating on the commodification of art. She mentioned how isolating it can feel to share your core message for profit.
Moving forward, Roxanne and her brothers intend to continue pursuing their passion. Her plan has always been to release music, and she’s not stopping now.
