Q&A: Ian Cobiella Captures Acts of Kindness and Intimate Moments in Debut EP ‘All I Have I Give’
WRITTEN BY FAITH LUEVANOS
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LA-based artist Ian Cobiella is no stranger to soft piano ballads and introspective lyricism, but with his debut EP, All I Have I Give, listeners are introduced to a side of Cobiella they’ve never experienced before. With a natural affinity towards the piano and classical music, Cobiella’s adoration for the instrument intertwines with his admiration for his favorite genres. Drawing inspiration from some of his favorite sounds, including those that exist worlds apart from classical music, Cobiella finds a way to bring seemingly opposing influences together and make them feel at home.
All I Have I Give isn’t designed to capture one singular feeling; it shows the broad range of emotions and moments that Cobiella has experienced over the past few years. Love is at the forefront, but each song acts as a mirror for each individual listener, allowing them to reflect and take what they need from each song and apply it to their lives.
The five-track EP is not only a testament to Cobiella’s impressive command of the piano, but also to his songwriting and seamless ability to somehow bring different corners of music together to create something unique, something beautiful. The opening track, “Control, Out,” is a powerhouse that combines soft piano with house music, a combination that will change the way you view music. Nothing will ever be as satisfying, nothing will feel like it fits together as well as this EP.
Life on Jupiter had the pleasure of sitting down with Cobiella to discuss the making of the EP, how real recorded moments crept their way into the recording process, and more. Read the full interview below.
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This isn't our first chat, but it's our first for Life on Jupiter! For our readers, can you introduce yourself and share what type of music you make?
IAN COBIELLA: Hi, my name is Ian Cobiella. I'm a musician from Los Angeles, California, and I make alternative pop music. I have a beagle named Petunia and I'm flat-footed.
The EP opens with a conversation. What was that snippet and how does it serve as the introduction for you?
COBIELLA: I was in New York talking to this incredible woman in 2022, who remains unnamed, who was giving me wisdom about a relationship in my life. She was encouraging me to feel, wishing me the best, and telling me about her marriage, all through a 40-minute drive from Manhattan to LaGuardia. I asked her if I could record it to remember her beautiful insight and perspective. I told her I was working on an EP, and she just shared her love of music with me: her views on music, how she loves to cry and dance, sometimes both at the same time, since she was a little girl. She told me she picked up Uber driving to save up, free herself from a difficult marriage, and one day live on her own with her two kids. I remember thinking to myself, “How can I worry about my relationship with anyone when she is doing something so incredibly brave?” and I shared that question with her. She told me her problems feel small next to the elders in her life, that it's simply a chain in the world that's never broken. Problems feel big for you now, but ask anyone older, and the problem feels small. She explained the Ouroboros, a snake eating its own tail, and how I should never do that to myself. Then she dropped me off at the United terminal. I sat with that recording to honor her. I never spoke to her again. We never exchanged contact info, but that song broke a big cycle in my life once I got to it in 2024. I wish her the absolute best, and I hope she's with her two kids back in New York. She changed my life.
Still here with the opening track, “Control, Out,” I feel like it took such a pleasantly unexpected turn. It went from "hey we're crying" to "hey we're dancing!" Can you share your process with the song?
COBIELLA: It really was a song I sat down and explored deep down inside, lyrically revolving around one chord for a verse. How honest could I be, how self-referential should I get, how important is making music? It was an honest left turn. I might make songs like that through time, but I really wanted to show that I'm tired of eating my own tail in the past, holding anything against anyone, falling out of control and then controlling myself, and then falling back into that pattern again. Why not do it under a house beat, if anything.
What inspired the title of the EP?
COBIELLA: All I Have I Give is just something I want anyone who listens to my music or watches me perform to feel or see. They don't have to like it, but I want them to feel it. The phrase is a mantra of sorts my mom taught me that has gotten me through life.
Hearing your piano in every song is such a cool intersection of your original sound and your new one. Did it automatically feel natural to combine the two?
COBIELLA: Well, first, thank you! And yes, it felt pretty easy to blend this old sound with the new one. I think pianos are so versatile. You can make them feel like a cigarette or a chess piece depending on how you voice it. I don't know if that makes sense, but I think in any song a piano can really be such a layer, or a lead. It just has so much character.
Because of the wide range the EP holds, who or what were some inspirations?
COBIELLA: Rachmaninov, Coldplay, Archangel, Julio Iglesias, Prince, my beagle Petunia, Joni Mitchell, Sade, Billie Holiday, Dionne Warwick, and the artist Enrique Martinez Celaya's paintings, which I was looking at while shooting the live session.
"It's Not Me" was very "Be My Mistake" by The 1975. Beautiful despair. When you think of the song, what do you feel and hope people take away from it?
COBIELLA: Well, thank you for the comparison. I think The 1975 is an absolutely incredible group, so that really means a lot to me. I hope people understand that sometimes you cannot be the person you want to be in a relationship, that the best you can give and the best they can give is not the best for each other. You cannot move a mountain for a ring and beg, nor should you. It feels like what I imagine quicksand feels like, or an anvil falling on your foot, or a piano falling from the sky. These are all real things to me. "It's Not Me" is meant to be a wake-up call for myself, a reflection that I'm doing things I otherwise would never do in order to please or feed the idea that someone has created for me in their mind romantically. My true, honest self wouldn't do these things, and they can be a memory but nothing more. Mourning that feeling exists in life and in this song. No one is a saint or savior, no matter how much you want to create an idea around them. Everyone is flawed, and that is beautiful to me.
The people want to know: will you be playing shows soon?
COBIELLA: Yes, and yes. I'm playing a show on August 26 at Hotel Ziggy. The tickets are free, and I might play an Apple-generated slideshow of my beagle Petunia between songs.
Any final messages for your fans and our readers?
COBIELLA: Eat a great meal with a YouTube essay, or when you're really overstimulated, watch Ancient Aliens.