Meet Madeleine Pizzarelli

Imagine having pizza be your actual name. Imagine the perks! The extra cheese! The potential of free garlic knots!

Sounds like a gloriously cholesterol-ridden dream. 

Tangents aside, meet Maddie Pizzarelli, a singer-songwriter who may or may not receive such greasy perks, but does get to go by “pizza” for short. Born and raised in Manhattan, this Ivy League lady’s got music in her blood and creates tunes that will put a pep in your step. 

Fresh off the release pink haus (and just ahead of her debut album to be released next year), we called Maddie in for a chat. Below, she reveals her affection for Moleskines, suburbia, and Liz Phair, and convinces us that pink shoes make the best shoes.

So snuggle up with some thin-crust and get to reading, friends. 

Self-portrait by Madeleine Pizzarelli

Would You Rather

shrink five times your actual size, or grow one hundred times your actual size? And what would you do?

I honestly think I'd shrink five times my size because it's the closest I'd come to becoming a fly on the wall. 

Some Questions With Madeleine Pizzarelli

How does your creative process start?

I carry a journal with me everywhere (black, lined Moleskine, always the same kind) and fill up at least a page every day with some kind of content, whether that's words, drawings, scraps from life, or some combination of the three. I try not to control what I end up producing, but I've found that just putting a pen to paper eerie day and getting something down helps to keep me feeling creatively productive. Plus, I have a well of material to look back on later when I'm trying to piece together an idea for something.

What is a word that does not get used enough?

Egregious.

What does a pink house mean to you?

My song, Pink Haus, is a reference to this perfect cotton-candy colored home near the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, that I would walk by every week on my way to choir practice, HA! I was born and raised in Manhattan in a fairly nondescript apartment building in a sea of other nondescript apartment buildings and when I moved to this super New England neighborhood, I felt like I was experiencing this Disney Channel adolescence I didn't have in the city. To me, a pink house represents the epitome of suburban idyll where you fall in love with someone, live with them in this unicorn-like home, and everything's just fine and dandy.

Who is the one artist, in any period, you would want to collab with?

Liz Phair, because she's the coolest person of all time.

Do you view writing music as a cathartic experience?

Totally. The majority of my songs pertain to relationships and I think songwriting helps me clarify and articulate more complex feelings, while also allowing me to put others to rest. I've found something soothing about being able to make something meaningful out of more painful moments in my life. It's like once the song is written then the situation's really over and alright, and everything wasn't all a total bust, haha :) I'm kind of trying to stray away from such an emphasis on all of that now, since the jury's still out on whether or not it's appropriate to be an almost 22 year-old angsty teenager

What are some visual artists that you think don’t get enough recognition?

Penelope Gazin! She's a visual artist, as well as a fashion designer, drummer, dancer, and just a super hilarious and creative wonder woman. I think she really embodies what it means to be artistic in the 21st century; there are no limits to what we can create and no boundaries on how we can express ourselves.

What was your first performance like?

I played in my elementary school auditorium with my fifth-grade band called TIME-A, which was an acronym for the first initials in all of our names. We played Walk This Way and Under the Bridge, which, in retrospect, might be two of the most inappropriate songs for a ten year-old girl to sing in front of a room of teachers and parents. I was also wearing a Smurfs t-shirt AND a green plaid newsboy hat, it was a disaster.

If you could give one animal species (besides people) the ability to fly which would it be. Why?

Penguins, because imagine how much FOMO you'd have if all your friends could fly when you were just waddling. Also, then someone would have to make the Morgan Freeman-narrated tear-jerking documentary Flight of the Penguins, featuring a soundtrack by Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie.

What are the most comfortable shoes you own?

I own a pair of Nike Air Force Ones with a pink swoosh (I know sneaker terminology, mmkay?) and I'm convinced they're more comfortable because they're pink. I got another pair of blue ones over the summer and they simply aren't the same.

What are some guilty pleasure songs you’re listening to currently?

Every song on Countdown to Ecstasy by Steely Dan. Also, What You Won't Do for Love by Bobby Caldwell and Tubthumping by Chumbawamba.

If you owned a carnival what would the name be?

Pizzarelli-rama. There would be a lot of pizza and not a single spinning ride.

Pie or cake? Why?

Cake, because I'm anti-fruit.

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

Don't get caught with a wack calzone. Be good to people. New record in 2020, check out my Bandcamp.