Western Massachusetts electronic music producer unveils new single about the financial pitfalls of pizza addiction on Wednesday, April 15
We may not all remember when we had our first slice of pizza, but Sam Mulligan certainly remembers when he wrote his first song about pizza. The Western Massachusetts-based chiptune artist, multi-instrumentalist, and Battlemode guitarist had signed up for a songwriting challenge a few years ago, and needed some lyrics to doll up an instrumental he was feeling. So he reflected on a recent tragedy – scoring a tasty slice of pizza after a concert, only to drop it face-down on the sidewalk before taking that sweet first bite.
His first pizza banger was fresh out of the oven. And from there, Mulligan’s appetite for pizza-themed songs only grew stronger, working their way into his live set, taking over his creative headspace, and even appearing as secret tracks in the prolific artist’s catalogue. On Wednesday, April 15, he releases “Broke,” the manic and upbeat first official single from his forthcoming, entirely pizza-themed album, Pizza Forever.
The flavorful record, a DIY affair featuring eight songs, one for each slice of the pie (plus appetizing intro), complete with handmade mini-pizza-box packaging, golden interior, and a six-panel accordion-fold lyric and art booklet, is delivered in full on Friday, May 15 – otherwise known as National Pizza Party Day.
On the day of the album release, Mulligan hosts a Pizza Forever block party around Turners Falls, with a listening party at Two Ghosts Vinyl Café; a pizza dinner nearby at The Upper Bend Cafe, and then a live show at DIY space/community resource center The Brick House with Hot Rod and The Rocking Puppies.
But before we can fully indulge in Mulligan’s years-in-the-making passion project, our sonic appetizer arrives in “Broke,” a dizzying torrent of chiptune, video game music, nerd-core, and pop-punk riffs, with a musical background fueled by his Nintendo Game Boy music sequencer, Little Sound DJ. It finds our dude flat-out skint from his pizza habit, and it sets an animated tone for this playful, wacky, and damn tasty album he serves up next month.
‘“Broke’ is about spending too much money on pizza, and then lamenting about being strapped for cash,” Mulligan says. “It ventures into fantastical and extreme consequences of this, but ultimately it all ends well because you’ve still got pizza after all! We’re tackling big themes here – financial responsibility, inflation, dreams of a better future, consequences, and living with regret. It’s only partially based on real-life events. I’m doing okay, I promise.”
Actually, Mulligan’s doing great. He debuted Pizza Forever in March live at the second-annual Boston Bitdown, bringing these saucy tunes to the Crystal Ballroom stage. He received a lively response from the crowd for “Broke,” who eagerly joined in during the chorus, with fans shouting “He’s broke” back at him as he performed in an oversized pizza slice costume as glitchy computer graphics flashed on the giant screen behind him.
It was a total vibe.
“‘Broke’ is fun, high energy, and it’s been a highlight of my show since I started playing it live,” Mulligan admits. “I love getting the crowd participating, and the call-and-response chorus is an easy way to get that started! But I also think ‘Broke’ really captures the essence of a ‘pizza song’. I’ve been telling people that a ‘pizza song’ isn’t necessarily a song about pizza, but it’s a song about life viewed through a pizza lens. However, pizza is notably NOT transparent, so make of that what you will.”
That plays out across Pizza Forever, as a kaleidoscopic spectrum of beats n’ treats provide the backdrop to wholly-relatable themes like having the freedom to eat pizza everyday (“Pizza Every Day”); the financial repercussions of making that decision to eat pizza every day (“Broke”); finding the patience to know when the time is right to order that pizza (“Waiting For The Delivery Guy”); experiencing life without pizza (“I Don’t Mean To Be Dramatic But…”); the highs of discovering a pizza box only to feel the lows of finding it empty (“MT BXZ”); and even a love song about saving the last slice for your special someone (“The Last Slice”).
“While I don’t see these pizza songs as being about pizza,” Mulligan reasons, “they all relate to pizza in some way. A recurring theme with a lot of my ‘pizza songs’ is trying to squeeze in a fair amount of pizza puns and wordplay, but also trying to not get too cheesy with it.”
Written, produced, recorded and mixed by Sam Mulligan at his home studio in Montague, Mass., with mastering by Stemage and additional vocals by Amy Chilton, Lisa McKeag, and Nik Perry, “Broke” is also a bridge from the artist’s older songs and sounds into the new album.
It takes the particular brand of lyrical, comedic, chiptune-rock music that he’s been performing live since 2012 – while also playing in bands like Electric Street Queens, the aforementioned Boston chiptune heroes Battlemode, and his collaboration with Dave Richardson called Compost Shark – and adds some extra stylistic toppings to the sound.
“The foundation is similar – the engine of the Game Boy driving the song, grungy guitars for texture, and fun lyrics are still the focus, but I hope the listener can hear that I’ve been working on honing that combination and getting it to mesh well in a bit more polished way,” he says.
That shines through on “Broke,” where he broke up the monotony of the original, early composition by expanding its scope of sound, and dropping new layers of electronic sounds to give it sonic depth while still maintaining its minimalist vibe.
“I consciously tried to have a new element come in for every verse,” he notes. “I added the pop-punk bridge to break it up, and did my best to let the words lead the vibe of this musical journey. I really dove into the minutiae of the Game Boy percussion to get it to sound like a real person in the groove playing live drums (but on a Game Boy) to get the people moving.”
That’s what happened at Boston Bitdown, and that’s what Mulligan hopes to happen when he takes Pizza Forever out to the masses across the spring and summer. And while he’s woefully aware that anyone is susceptible to spending all their money on pizza, he hopes listeners save some coin to purchase the specially-made CD, giving a more intimate and personal connection over a shared love of pizza.
And also, real talk, the Pizza Forever packaging is just cool as hell.
“The packaging for the album is what it was meant to be – a little pizza box that fits a compact disc full of pizza songs perfectly,” he says. “It just makes sense! The album cover art is handstamped red archival ink on a white miniature pizza box. I made the stamp myself after designing the little pizza-shaped rocketship and title and carving it into a piece of ez-carve rubber. Then I secured it to a piece of plywood with some double-sided foam tape, and added a cabinet handle for ease of use. I designed it to kind of look like a classic pizza box, but it’s totally DIY so it’s rough around the edges for sure.”
Of course, the best part of getting a pizza (next to eating it, duh), is the rush of excitement that comes with opening the box to see the tasty pie that awaits, and Pizza Forever packs that same feeling of joy.
“When you open it up and before you uncover the compact disc that looks like a delicious pizza (and it was delicious, I know because I ate it), you see the golden interior, which is almost glowing, and then the booklet,” he adds. “The art I made for each song, along with accompanying lyrics, is presented in a six-panel accordion fold booklet. I wanted to make art for each song because they all felt different and special to me.”
In an age of streaming, having a physical product that captured the joy of pizza was just as essential as the songs themselves. And for Mulligan, Pizza Forever is a throwback record where listeners can hold it in their hands – after all, eating pizza is a physical act.
“Being able to hold the album in your hands, listening to it loud while flipping through the booklet and reading the lyrics, looking at the pictures of the band, and reading through the ‘thank yous’ and album credits helps connect with the album in a really special way,” he says. “I put a lot of thought and effort into making sure that someone could have a similar experience with Pizza Forever because that’s how I connected with some of my favorite albums and bands!”
Mulligan knows the world is crazy right now. And he understands that lots of folks are “Broke,” and not just from eating pizza. But as this new single acts as an edible gateway to the album that will follow, the chiptune artist just wants Pizza Forever to be something that folks enjoy, either by themselves or with those they love.
“My hope is that when someone listens to this album it’s got them grinning and laughing, dancing and singing along, and that the songs get stuck in their head,” he concludes. “I’d love for Pizza Forever to be an album that people want to share with their friends who appreciate unique, weird music, and maybe write some weird songs of their own. You can write songs about anything!”
Especially pizza. Financial health be damned.
Connect with Sam Mulligan:
HOMEPAGE . MULTI . PATREON . APPLE . BANDCAMP . YOUTUBE . TWITCH . INSTAGRAM . TIKTOK
‘Broke’ production credits:
Written, produced, recorded and mixed, by Sam Mulligan at his home studio in Montague, MA, using Little Sound DJ on a Nintendo Game Boy as the primary musical background
Mastered by Stemage
Additional vocals by Amy Chilton, Lisa McKeag, and Nik Perry
PIzza Forever artwork, both digital and physical, designed and created by Sam Mulligan
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Sam Mulligan short bio:
Silly lyrics, grungy guitars, and high energy Game Boy beats are what Sam Mulligan is all about. With an emphasis on equal parts positivity and absurdity, Sam’s goal is to make you smile, but hey, it’s your face and you should do what you want with it.
Based in Western Massachusetts, Sam is putting the finishing touches on his album of pizza songs (Pizza Forever, out May 15 for National Pizza Party Day), booking shows, and creating new video content in 2026. He has been playing his particular brand of lyrical, comedic, chiptune-rock music live since May 2012 and has been writing and performing weird music since 1998.
Sam has played over 100 shows since 2012, in cities from Atlanta, Georgia to Madison, Wisconsin, and performs regularly all over New England. He also has played in the bands My Kids Are Jerks, The Oh! My Gods, sleazy punk band Electric Street Queens, and currently in electro-pop trio Battlemode, and in Compost Shark, with longtime collaborator Dave Richardson.
