Andi Abboudi: Harnessing the internal struggle to make divine music

Two weeks ago, we at In Jerusalem brought your attention to singer-songwriter Shifra Jacobs of Sad City.

This week, we present the other side of the collaborative “project” and turn our focus to her partner in music, Andi Abboudi.

He has had his own distinctive musical journey. Sad City’s second side came from the suburbs of Philadelphia, and he eventually found his love and drive for music and performing. It is that unique path, with its own personal struggles with mental health, that helps make Abboudi shine into the fantastic musical artist he is today.

In Jerusalem sat down with him to hear his story.

What brought you to Israel?

I was born in Philadelphia. I did a lot of Bnei Akiva growing up, so I just grew up around a lot of Zionism. As I grew into my 20s, it just seemed like the obvious choice was to move to Israel.

How did you get into music?

I always knew I loved music as soon as I got a Walkman in fifth grade. Every second I had to myself, I’d have my headphones on.

In eighth grade, I picked up a guitar, and I’ve been playing it ever since. I’m turning 30 in a few days, and I can say that for the majority of my life, I’ve been playing guitar every day.

What pushed you toward a career in music?

I have bipolar disorder, and life itself was very confusing. My whole life, I knew there was no chance to go to college, so what else was there?

The music thing really took off around COVID. I was working at a hotel at the time. I was sitting and watching Tick Tick Boom starring Andrew Garfield, which is such a moving movie about how so much of what we get out of life is the work we put into it.

I’m watching the story of this guy – he’s in his apartment, he’s got no money, he has nothing, but he’s happy. And as I’m sitting in this hotel, I realized I had to do something else, so I pivoted to two things I was really good at: music and dog training.

The dog training was something I could do during the day. I love dogs, there’s a simplicity to them, keeps me active. Music was something I’d do at night. I was staying up late, I had a lot on my mind, and I needed something to do.

I met a guy named Yoav Greenblatt in Jerusalem – he’s a music teacher and producer. He’s a master of Mozart, production, Reggaeton beats – the whole nine yards. He’s been teaching me music theory for about four years now. It’s been so healing for me for my bipolar disorder. 

I think the thing about bipolar is that the brain is just looking for something to chew on. I could do that with music. While I’m walking a dog during the day, I could write parts of a song in my head, then by the end of the walk, I had a song. I’m able to stack my career with the different things I’m doing during the day to help my music.

The other big changing moment for me was the Kanye West documentary. As someone who has bipolar disorder, everything I was doing wasn’t adding up to happiness. But then Kanye comes out and he’s like rocking and rolling. And I thought, ‘Damn, I envy this guy so much: He has harnessed the struggle within him.’

But then, of course, his whole life fell apart, and I had to investigate what was going on.

In short, I’ve gotten to a place where I fill my entire life with just work. I get up and I’m either training a dog or working on a piece of music. I give myself what I need to work on, and it’s been so freeing. More than being a successful musician or dog walker, the fact that I am literally living like the 0.00001% of successful bipolar disorder person with a happy life and career, where I can do what I love – that is what makes it a huge success story.

When I write a piece of music, I have a lot of intentions. I wrote this one piece with Shifra for Sad City called ‘This Moment.’ We wanted to write a song for when you open the album you’d know what we’re all about.

From the first chord, I wanted to make sure what was happening, but I wanted the listener to feel unsettled. So I played the fifth and the fourth, two chords that are both dominant. Then we get to the chorus, and by that point, the music gets really moving and powerful.

How did you meet Shifra and start Sad City?

Shifra was running Jerusalem’s Sofar Sounds, these grassroots concerts that happen in cities all over the world, and another musician from Jerusalem, Emily Zimmer, was doing a performance there at the time. I was playing with her there.

I met Shifra at the concert, and I could tell there was a similar energy in the commitment to the craft for when you go on stage.

Musicians get forced into positions where they’re asked if they’re going to stick to the tools in their toolbox or to go beyond that and make the magic that people are looking for, and I think Shifra and I share that. We’re committed to making really good music.

What challenges have you faced in your career?

I think the challenges I face tend to be finding the right connections. I know that a lot of musicians have a really hard time getting their careers started. I happen to step inside the room really prepared every time I show up, so my problems aren’t really with any sort of ability, but I run into situations where the people I want to collaborate with don’t always take me seriously.

It’s hard to convince someone that if they put me in the room, there will be divine music.

Who would you say are your musical inspirations and influences?

My two musical influences are John Meyer, and I want to say Kanye West, when he’s taking responsibility for himself at the very least.

What advice do you have for aspiring musicians today?

My advice is that the opportunities will come. Someone is gonna see you with a guitar or a piano and ask if you want to play here. Your job is to be ready for when that moment comes and to blow it out of the water. That comes in the 20 minutes minimum you spend every day practicing. There’s no other way around it. There’s no inspiration that will carry the day; you just have to be really good.■