What does Ishy have to say about Lam?

Sound House student Ismail “Ishy” Omarjee-Chavez released his newest album Lam on Tuesday, September 9, 2025. Of the songs, Ishy says,“Lam [intentional spelling] is a raw, messy collection of songs about sacrifice, growth, and trying to hold onto the pieces of yourself that others try to take away. This project was written during a dark period where I was full of anger, sadness, and grief, trying to make sense of all the chaos I was facing at the time. I made this album because I had something I needed to say, and I feel this project perfectly communicates everything I wanted it to. It has left its impact on me and I hope it can do the same to whoever is going through something similar.” 

Support Ishy by exploring his content:

Music video for “wonder5”

Music video for “s.o.s. (sense of self)”:

Music video for “when it’s all done”:

Why should you care about Ishy’s new release?

Songwriters are influenced by their surroundings. You have almost zero influence over non-local artists and bands. Meanwhile, local songmakers crave your attention, your love, your celebration, your commiseration, your feedback, your influence. We make or break the spirits and careers of our music-making neighbors.

I know what it feels like to fly high on even the tiniest rush of encouragement from people around me. I also know what it feels like to be crushed under the weight of their silence, to cry over lifework that no one seems to really understand or appreciate.

But I want better for the artists in our community. If Ishy’s music blows up even just a little bit, it’ll be because of 1) the deserving quality and content of his work and 2) our enthusiastic engagement with his work.

When one of us rises, our whole local network of artists and bands rises too. Imagine our local scene growing as more people pay attention to individual acts. Imagine those individual acts building each other up, connecting the dots for uninitiated newcomers, drawing attention to our community bonds. Imagine our songs traveling farther and our shows drawing bigger crowds. Imagine us influencing our local community, using our music to teach people how to care about themselves and each other.

Imagine our influence growing until a kid a few counties over stumbles upon Ishy’s work, becomes a fan, and looks into his background. Imagine that kid discovering Sound House and, through our studio, discovering all of the artists and bands we’ve been supporting in this community. Imagine that kid getting inspired to start working on building up his local scene too, with ours as an inspiration and model.

We really can do big things as a team. Local artists like Ishy are giving us songs to rally around. Let’s share his work together, expanding it with our attention and making room for even more community growth in the future.

Promo for Lam on Instagram:

Maddi’s notes from first listen through the full album:

wonder5

• setting tone with noise intro
• lyrics feel like welcoming listener into your world

the slaughter

• abrupt, deconstructed, “man of oil” by animal collective

dffrnt

• good transition into this one
• more accessible, relief

lamb chops

• another good transition
• staying negative, but upbeat, angry, sense of humor

l.a.m. (let all melt)

• back to the dffrnt vibe, good to keep those two separate
• lighter

s.o.s. (sense of self)

• even lighter
• fluttery, more positive, turning point?

deconstruction

• same arpeggio acoustic guitar vibe as s.o.s.
• then beat comes in and starts building again
• def needed the full beat to drop back in, relief
• positivity, fun

hazel green

• cozy ocean, clear, light, bright
• fits nicely after the build up of deconstruction
• love song is a nice addition to the collection

when it’s all done

• transformation, meditation
• epic, feels like an ending

a nomadic tune

• strange P.S. at first, into cozy “lesson”
• joyful, peaceful, resilient, weird in a good way
• cool cycle back to top of album too