A Love Letter to Leaving Home: Inside Iggy San Pablo’s New Solo Project and His Debut Single, “Training Wheels”
The Rusty Machines frontman is trading indie-rock anthems for vulnerable bedroom pop, and his debut single is the ultimate “growing pains” soundtrack.
If you’ve ever cried-danced to “Forget You” or “Can’t Hardly Wait,” you already know Iggy San Pablo. As the voice of Manila’s indie darlings Rusty Machines, Iggy helped soundtrack our collective heartbreaks for years. But fast forward to 2026, and he’s swapping the 1.5M+ stream clout for something a little more… domestic.
Enter simple socks: Iggy’s new solo project born out of a Toronto basement and a whole lot of “adulting” realizations.
Since moving to Canada with his wife in 2022, Iggy hasn’t just been battling the brutal Toronto cold; he’s been facing the steep, often unglamorous learning curve of becoming a “real adult” in a completely new environment. This vibe shift has transformed his creative process from fronting a major indie band to navigating the daily grind of immigrant life—think less backstage passes and more chores, taxes, and the awkward struggle of forging new friendships in your thirties.
This raw reality is mirrored in his DIY setup. There were no high-end studios this time; instead, he recorded vocals in a makeshift closet booth and rented gear just to capture the right take while living in a basement unit. The result is a sound heavily inspired by the melancholic nostalgia of Death Cab for Cutie, blended with the genuine, heavy anxiety of being thousands of miles away from everything familiar.
“Training Wheels” – Out Now (04.27.2026)
Dropping today, “Training Wheels” is the first taste of his upcoming EP, Joanna Drive (releasing July 2026). It’s a love letter to the family he left behind and a gritty, honest look at taking the stabilizers off his life. It’s for anyone who feels like they’re faking it through adulthood—which, let’s be real, is all of us.
“It’s an invitation to ride along with me and get to know more about where my headspace was during my first year of starting a new life,” Iggy shares via Billboard PH interview.
Whether you’re a long-time Rusty Machines stan or just a 20-something trying to survive on your own, simple socks is the cozy, vulnerable hug your playlist needs right now.
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