Photo: Mona Ayoub, aka Eye-yoob, will release her new single, “Be Beirut,” on July 23 | By Khaleel Hayes, Westword | Outside of laboring as a tax analyst, Mona Ayoub, aka Eye-yoob, serenades audiences with multilingual songs she writes on her guitar. The Denver artist’s latest, “Be Beirut” — a love letter to her native Lebanon — drops on July 23.
Ayoub, who grew up the youngest of five siblings and four half-siblings in the city of Zahlé, says her childhood closely resembled that of her American friends. They played the same video games and watched the same TV shows — but she also endured some life-changing experiences.
“My dad passed away in 1999; I was only seven years old then,” she says. “My mom took on the role of both parents after that, in addition to her work as a teacher and, later, a school principal. In 2004, we moved from Zahlé to Beirut for better educational opportunities.”
Even as a child, Ayoub dreamed of being a star musician.
“My favorite childhood [memories] involved music,” she remembers. “I used to pretend I was a famous singer, and my niece would record interviews with me on a cassette player. Music classes and performances at my primary school were always the best part of my school days. I owe a lot of gratitude to my music teacher, Christiane Ghantous, who taught me how to sing a note.”
Ayoub received her first guitar on her sixteenth birthday and studied the instrument at the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music from 2009 to 2011. She also plays keyboards and recently took up the oud, which resembles a lute.
“My mom always encouraged me and supported my talent,” she says. “Her only concern was that I got a proper education. After that, she was excited to see me chase my dream.”
Respecting her mother’s wishes, Ayoub studied banking and finance in Lebanon, earning a bachelor’s degree in 2014 and an MBA in 2017. A Boulder nonprofit that hired her as part of its team based in Lebanon offered to transfer her to Colorado; she packed her bags and moved in August 2017.
In 2019 she reached out to American-Moroccan musician Rachid Halihal through social media; he was teaching classes at Denver’s Hannah Kahn Dance Company, at 75 South Cherokee Street.
“[Rachid] invited me to join the classes. He introduced me to the members of the ensemble, and we started playing small shows together here and there,” she recalls. “I had the idea of asking a couple of the musicians to join me in playing a two-day gig at the Colorado Lebanese Festival in 2019, and that got everything started. Slowly, more musicians got interested and committed to play with me, so I formed what was called Eye-yoob and the Band.
“I always wanted to honor my last name and carry it wherever I go, as it goes back to the very old Lebanese people called the Phoenicians, thousands of years ago,” she explains. “I decided to go by my last name, Ayoub, [and rework it] into a catchy stage name that goes with my music logo — hence Eye-yoob.”
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Her music, she says, hits “straight to the soul.”
“I write my songs with a full heart and soul to share with everyone in hopes of touching them in [one] way or another,” Ayoub declares. “I want people to feel that blend between different music genres, as simple as it sounds, and say, ‘Oh, this is different, and I love the vibe.’ The music I create is a way to introduce my culture to the world with my own spices. If it touches you and gets stuck in your mind for days, weeks or months, then everyone wins.”
For more on Eye-yoob and her music, visit her website or Spotify page.
https://www.westword.com/music/eye-yoobs-new-single-is-a-love-letter-to-lebanon-12018918
[Thank you to Alex Teitz, http://www.femmusic.com, for contributing this article.]