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[0:02] Drew Gasparini: Hi, it's everyone's favorite platter of mystery meat, Drew Gasparini here with another episode of Now We're Talking, the podcast that leaves money on the nightstand for you.

[0:12] Drew Gasparini: For those frequent listeners and subscribers, I love you. Hello there. I'm grateful for you. Tell your friends. Guys, today our guest is a singer-songwriter who is on her way to being the next big thing. And just this last year, she's blown up thanks to the attention her songs are getting on TikTok and Instagram. She boasts a million monthly listeners on Spotify, and her work has garnered attention from the likes of Sara Bareilles, Dodie, Jacob Collier, and more. Her album is called Give Me a Minute, and I'm so happy she gave me a minute to chat. Ladies and gentlemen, now we're talking with Lizzy McAlpine.

[0:47] Drew Gasparini: That is why I have hemorrhoids. Now I'm recording.

[0:50] Drew Gasparini: Yay! Lizzy McAlpine!

[0:53] Drew Gasparini: First of all, I just want to say, I'm so thankful you're here to talk to me and be on this podcast. There's a total reason I asked you. And uh I you have a world that you're developing right now as a singer-songwriter, but boy do I see the theater behind your eyes. It's and you can't hide it, and you're kind of unabashed with it on all your social medias. And I really I appreciate that you let that flag fly. Uh what was first songwriting or theater?

[1:27] Lizzy McAlpine: Um, songwriting. I mean, they kind of came they kind of happened at the same time.

[1:31] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, that's the same as me as well. By the way, do you like this graveyard of musicals past?

[1:35] Lizzy McAlpine: I do.

[1:36] Drew Gasparini: I do. It's disgusting. Uh I'm in my parents' garage and Lizzy is in somebody's grandmother's house in Oregon right now. Because I have assessed that every house in Oregon is somebody's grandmother's house. Uh, talk to me a little bit about let's before we even get into like you and what it is you're working on and all the things that people are gonna be excited about. I want them to get to know, and frankly, so do I selfishly. I want to get to know just like all the weird little isms about you that got you to now. First of all, how old are you?

[2:07] Lizzy McAlpine: 21 years old?

[2:09] Drew Gasparini: So childhood was three weeks ago for you. And but I want to know like you you did theater, you did songwriting, it seems like most of your whole life. Is that accurate in saying that?

[2:20] Lizzy McAlpine: Yep.

[2:20] Drew Gasparini: Oh man, yeah. You you like to express yourself through performing and songs, and you we're cut from the same cloth, you and I.

[2:33] Lizzy McAlpine: Yes, yep.

[2:34] Drew Gasparini: Yes, yes. All right, we're gonna get one word answers from Lizzy only today. Uh would you mind diving in just a little bit and telling me about your childhood? Where are you from? Tell me about your your parents' siblings, what's your upbringing like? This is the kind of shit people want to hear about.

[2:50] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah. Um, well, I'm from suburb right outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[2:56] Drew Gasparini: Cool.

[2:57] Lizzy McAlpine: And um, yeah, I don't know. Um I have a sister. Her name's Emma. She she's a dancer. We're the only like creative people in our family, which is kind of wild. We don't really know like where we got it.

[3:09] Drew Gasparini: How? I don't know. Seriously, though, like you have gods of talent. You you have an anger-inducing amount of talent. How did you just out of the clear blue sky? And it's natural, like, was there lessons involved?

[3:23] Lizzy McAlpine: I mean, I took lessons for like a year in fourth grade.

[3:25] Drew Gasparini: And what lessons were those?

[3:27] Lizzy McAlpine: Um, I took piano and then I took voice, but I quit very soon after because I didn't like people telling me what to do.

[3:33] Drew Gasparini: The best ones are like that. The best ones are like that. You, me, that's it. Those two people I just referenced, those are the best. Uh amazing. And how old are you said, fourth grade? Is that what you said?

[3:44] Lizzy McAlpine: Yep.

[3:45] Drew Gasparini: Fourth grade, one year of lessons, and then you just put the kibosh on that, and you're like, you know what? I got it from here, coach. Thanks a lot. I'll take it from here and I'll become this immense badass. Uh okay, you and your sister, you get along.

[3:58] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah, yep.

[3:59] Drew Gasparini: Yeah. We we I mean we go through phases like every siblings do. I mean, we're your sister or the younger sister.

[4:07] Lizzy McAlpine: I'm the older sister, but she's not that much younger than me. We're all we're like almost two years apart in age, but we're one year apart in school, so she's like a sophomore in college.

[4:17] Drew Gasparini: I think my brother and I were a year apart in school, and we're only 11 months apart in age. Uh my brother says that my mom really catholiced out some kids. That's how he's sorry. Sorry, look, I'm here. I might have been a huge accident, but I'm doing all right. It's okay. My very first question that I have written down is when did you know that this was your superpower? Not just a skill set. When did you know that this was like the special thing? Not everybody, especially you come from a uh uh a talentless family is probably the worst way to say it. But when did you know you're like, oh, I got this thing?

[5:00] Lizzy McAlpine: Honestly, it took me a while because I mean I never really had like a backup plan. I was always like, I'm gonna do music, like that's just a given. It wasn't something that I really like thought about too much, which maybe was bad, but whatever. I'm here now, so yeah.

[5:15] Drew Gasparini: You're here now, and then some. I mean, Jesus Christ, the way that you're catapulting right now is outstanding, and I'm not jealous, I'm not at all, but I will destroy that. Uh I want to know for real though, like your family. You say there wasn't a plan B. I feel the very I feel exactly the same way. Uh I didn't have a choice in the matter, basically. It was gonna be this, or it was gonna be zero other things. So was your family like, yeah, do it. Go ahead. We don't understand it because

[5:41] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah, they're totally supportive. Um, but all but when I when I thought about going to college, I auditioned for like all acting schools, and Berkeley was like my last choice. Like I visited and I hated it. I was like, I don't want to go here, but maybe I'll just like give it a shot and have a backup plan in case I don't get into acting schools. But I was really, I was like going like I had an acting coach and everything senior year. I did pre-screens, I did like all this stuff, and then and then I got into Berkeley before I even auditioned to any of the acting schools, and I was like, okay, and then I just decided to go there.

[6:20] Drew Gasparini: Yo, fuck that though. Like, watch what's gonna happen. You're gonna you're gonna be this is all gonna spin into like such a multi-prong career for you, and you're definitely going to be an actress. You're definitely gonna be acting.

[6:34] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah, that's I'm gonna make sure of it.

[6:37] Drew Gasparini: I'm calling people right now.

[6:41] Lizzy McAlpine: Oh my god.

[6:43] Drew Gasparini: But yeah, that no, I that's I have a bucket list of like things that I want to accomplish my career, and that's like on the top. So like I wanna in this little subcategory of that portion of the bucket list, there's a little bullet point that says be in a Drew Gasparini musical, is what I'm hoping. Because I'm not kidding, and I want I'm gonna say it loud on the podcast. There's a lot of theater listeners listening to this podcast. The minute someone was like, yo, have you heard of Lizzy McAlpine? And I went and checked you out, I flipped out. I messaged you just on a whim, and I was like, what up, like your stuff. I would love to write with you. I'd love to collaborate with you because this is exactly where I like to live musically.

And then beyond that, when I started seeing that you were like also kind of from the from the looks of what whatever you put on social media, you dip your toe a little bit in some musical theater nonsense. I went straight to my producers at Universal, and I was like, okay, be with me on this. She needs to play Noelle, and it's kind of a funny story, which is the adaptation of the Ned Vizzini novel I'm writing with uh Alex Brightman. By the way, we're done talking about you. We're just gonna make it about me and my projects. I just wanna talk about how I want you to start. This was all a ruse. This is all a big ruse. Now I have you here. I'm gonna use it. No, but uh this is a big shout out to all you theater listeners out there. Please, God, get a petition signed, get a hashtag started. Lizzy McAlpine should originate the role of Noel when this shit goes.

[8:18] Lizzy McAlpine: No, I literally will.

[8:19] Drew Gasparini: Yes, you literally will. I even sent you the song. I was like, you need to you need to sing this song. I'm obsessed with it. Anyway, uh, okay, okay, okay. Back to you. Sorry. I'll do that. I'll do that from time to time, by the way. I'll just like leap in and make it all about myself.

[8:33] Lizzy McAlpine: Um worry.

[8:34] Drew Gasparini: So you are gonna be an actress. You tried to do school for acting, clearly that wasn't meant to be. You got the Berkeley thing going on. What was your experience like at Berkeley?

[8:43] Lizzy McAlpine: Um, it was interesting. I mean, it was definitely I'm glad that I went because I met so many people. Like, I definitely wouldn't be here if I didn't go to Berkeley because I met my producer at Berkeley.

[8:57] Lizzy McAlpine: And oh they're going to be heater just turned on. Um and um yeah, the people that I met there were really the the like the main reason why I think I got a lot out of it. The classes, I don't know. I I mean we had to take a bunch of like I'm not like dissing Berkeley, but like well I think that's like a an overall college statement. Anybody you talk to is like, I don't know about the teachers, but boy, I met some good people along the way. You know what I mean? It's like the people from college, it's why it makes it worth it all the time. And I mean we had to take a lot of like music theory classes and harmony classes, and I just don't understand that stuff at all. It just goes straight over my head. I because when I write, I kind of just like write what I think sounds good, and I don't really know what I'm playing ever.

[9:41] Drew Gasparini: That's fucking Paul McCartney, yo.

[9:43] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah.

[9:44] Drew Gasparini: He did all right.

[9:45] Lizzy McAlpine: That's true. Um but yeah, I don't know. That that part of it was like kind of sucked. And then and then I was still there when the semester went online.

[9:56] Lizzy McAlpine: Um in like last spring. And that was just horrible. I just hated online classes because I wasn't motivated enough to go to in-person classes when we had them in person.

[10:08] Drew Gasparini: Yeah.

[10:08] Lizzy McAlpine: Like I just could not be bothered to get out of bed and g sit at my desk.

[10:12] Drew Gasparini: Well, how could you possibly not just like what the hell was going on in the world all of last year, but how could you have the motivation to get up when like if you just picked up your phone and looked at your own TikTok, you'd probably be thinking to yourself, I don't need to show up to this class. I don't need to be there for I got my degree from TikTok.

[10:31] Lizzy McAlpine: You might be the first to say that.

[10:33] Drew Gasparini: Maybe they'll give you an honorary thing. And then uh and then adults will laugh at you. But how cool would that be?

[10:38] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah.

[10:40] Drew Gasparini: Uh that is so what are you still in school? Are you still enrolled at Purple?

[10:45] Lizzy McAlpine: No.

[10:46] Drew Gasparini: You dropped out, or did you um yeah, I dropped out.

[10:49] Lizzy McAlpine: No, I dropped dropped out. I dropped out like over the summer, I decided that I wasn't gonna go back.

[10:56] Drew Gasparini: And then I moved to London.

[10:58] Lizzy McAlpine: How'd that go? Do you live in London now? Is that what you call home?

[11:02] Lizzy McAlpine: No. I mean, I guess it's where I want to, you know, I wanted to make it my home base for like a little bit.

[11:09] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah. But yeah, it was it was it was an interesting experience because when I got there it was August and COVID cases there were like really low and things were like open everywhere, and it kind of felt like there wasn't a pandemic, and I was like, what's going on? This is really strange. Because I was so used to like wearing a mask every single time I left the house and stuff like that. Um so it was interesting, and also like I don't know, just a it was just a weird time because I was supposed to be recording my EP and then we recorded it, but then like after I got back from London, I was kind of like, I don't know if I want to release those songs anymore, so we just recorded the EP for nothing.

[11:51] Drew Gasparini: So what you recorded in London didn't get released at all.

[11:56] Lizzy McAlpine: Wow.

[11:57] Drew Gasparini: And it's not going to be a good one.

[11:58] Lizzy McAlpine: Wait, but like, yeah, it's really not going to ever.

[12:00] Drew Gasparini: There's just never a chance of that.

[12:01] Lizzy McAlpine: Not like 30 years from now, you're like, all right, you little twerps, here it is.

[12:05] Drew Gasparini: Well, you've all been clamoring for the London sessions.

[12:10] Lizzy McAlpine: I mean, maybe that's a possibility, but I mean, as for like the foreseeable future, I just cause I don't know, because I'm weird, because like when I write songs, I'm in like that head space of like what I was going through when I was writing the songs, and when I like when that period of my life ends, and the stuff that I've written the songs about is no longer like what I'm dealing with. I c I feel like less emotionally connected to them, obviously.

[12:37] Drew Gasparini: Wow.

[12:38] Lizzy McAlpine: And so it just feels weird to release them. I don't know, that's just a weird song.

[12:42] Drew Gasparini: No, I listen, hold on. Let's let's talk about this for a second, songwriter to songwriter, just because I think that's so interesting. I always have a hard time releasing songs, and I d I'm not usually the one singing the songs by George, it's usually some sort of fucking uh uh Broadway cat doing it for me. And seldom nowadays do I release any of my own stuff. But it's really tricky for me to say, uh, you know what? Yeah, I still feel good about that. Even if it's a week later, a month later, my emotional evolution is so quick sometimes that that song is so left in the dust, and that idea and whoever I was during that idea is left in the dust with it. And I just want to move forward and move forward and trudge ahead. But there's probably a mountain of I'm not kidding when I say 900 songs that no one will ever hear because I'm like, it doesn't represent my brain right now, it doesn't represent who I want to be down the line either.

[13:35] Lizzy McAlpine: And uh I don't know if it'll ever come around and those songs will make a little more sense to me.

[13:39] Drew Gasparini: But do you think that that's an option down the line that maybe you'll have this weird awakening to some of those old ditties?

[13:48] Lizzy McAlpine: That's a possibility, but what all I knew I mean, all I knew that like after we recorded that EP, it also it sounded like the just it it sounded very like pop.

[14:02] Lizzy McAlpine: And and that's like cool. I loved how it sounded, but I just was like, I don't know if that's like what I want to be right now. Like down the line, I'd love to release like a pop EP or a pop album or something like that, but but I feel like like coming off of give me a minute, it just felt like a little weird.

[14:20] Drew Gasparini: Yeah.

[14:21] Lizzy McAlpine: To do that.

[14:22] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, I I agree. Uh get can we talk about give me a minute for one second? And then I want to ask you like I want to ask you questions that have nothing to do with you or music or anything.

[14:30] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah.

[14:30] Drew Gasparini: Uh which I'm I'm always excited about because it lets me into your goofy personality. This is basically the world's worst first date. That's how I qualify it for your podcast with me.

[14:40] Drew Gasparini: But let's talk about your album Give Me Uh a Minute.

[14:44] Drew Gasparini: I uh I've listened to it so many times and I've not listened to it like here are my favorites, and I skipped through. I listened to it in succession every single time.

[14:54] Drew Gasparini: I'm gonna get emotional saying this to you, by the way. I need you I need you to know something.

[14:59] Drew Gasparini: 2020 was such a hard year for everybody. When I got sick with COVID, I could not for the life of me bounce out of that and find the motivation to write anything.

[15:12] Drew Gasparini: And I'm contracted to, which is making it ten times more difficult is meeting a deadline for karate kid or whatever the fuck I got going on, and trying to feel inspired by it. It was not until I started listening to your videos, and not until this album came out that I felt like, oh my god, thank God, this is shaking me out of it.

[15:34] Drew Gasparini: Your songs are so good that they make me want to do better. I want you to know that. Like uh as a songwriter, I I am so wowed by you.

[15:44] Drew Gasparini: I hate how young you are. I do want to destroy you. It's true.

[15:47] Drew Gasparini: Uh, but here's I wrote down this is what I wrote down. This is how I I qualify your voice. This is what I hear when I hear you say.

[15:54] Lizzy McAlpine: Okay.

[15:55] Drew Gasparini: Your voice sounds like what butterfly kisses feel like. It doesn't land on my ear, it drapes my entire body like a blanket.

[16:08] Drew Gasparini: That is what your voice sounds like. And when you marry that with your lyrical prowess, my God in heaven.

[16:15] Drew Gasparini: I just honest to God. You know, and the other thing is of the people that like were like, you gotta check out Lizzy before I did. They're all of my friends who are not just theater friends, they're like in music.

[16:26] Drew Gasparini: They get music and they have their thumb on the pulse of what's happening in music. I really hope, and I know that it's already starting to percolate.

[16:33] Drew Gasparini: I hope that theater kids latch on to you like you are cocaine. I really do. Maybe cocaine was not the right kids don't do cocaine, actually.

[16:45] Drew Gasparini: Um, but the whole album, it gives me this vibe of like, you know, it's it's a it's like what we need right now. It's like what we need coming out of this horrible year, and it's how I define like after 9-11, we had like the Damien Rice's of the world coming out, and there was something just so human about the approach to his songwriting.

[17:05] Drew Gasparini: I feel the same exact way about uh your songs, and my sister Chloe, who is she's uh writing for I think she's literally in a session with BB Rexo right this minute upstairs.

[17:16] Drew Gasparini: Uh isn't that wild? But uh she wanted to make sure that you knew that she's also like this theater songwriter kind of kid, and she's just so obsessed with you.

[17:26] Drew Gasparini: My whole family is like banana shit crazy for you. Um, this obviously made the cut, you released it.

[17:33] Drew Gasparini: What about these songs matters more? Besides like the style, I guess, because you mentioned the other EP was a little more pop oriented and that didn't feel truthful.

[17:41] Lizzy McAlpine: But what is it about these songs and the stories you're telling that seemed like this is what needs to come out?

[17:48] Lizzy McAlpine: Oh, I have no idea. I mean, like, we had been working on this album for a year. It came out.

[17:56] Lizzy McAlpine: I picked the release date specifically because uh it came out on August 13th, and a year ago on August 13th, 2019, was the first day that I met my producer and the day that we were started recording Apple Pie together.

[18:13] Drew Gasparini: And Apple Pie. What a what a monster. I love that song.

[18:17] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah, so I wanted it to come full circle. Um, you know, released a year later from the day that I met, etc.

[18:24] Lizzy McAlpine: And um originally it was supposed to be an EP. It was supposed to be Apple Pie and then like four other songs that did not make it on album.

[18:35] Lizzy McAlpine: So Apple Pie is the only one that transferred over. And then throughout the whole year, it I was kind of like I don't know.

[18:44] Lizzy McAlpine: I see I categorize my projects as like when I think about my life, I think about in that it in terms of like my projects.

[18:55] Lizzy McAlpine: So like the give me a minute era was like I dated this kid named Andrew, and then like we broke up, and then I started dating this kid named Scott.

[19:02] Lizzy McAlpine: And like it was just like that was like the period of time that that I wrote that album about.

[19:07] Lizzy McAlpine: And um, yeah, I don't know, it just like made sense. And then we I put cause all cause also I really like like having my projects be a story and like be a journey that you can listen to front to back and like see the the mature the oh my god, what the word what is the word the through line I don't know you can just like like it a little bit yeah you can just like tell that I went through a breakup and then like reflected on myself and then like came into this new it's just you can just like see my journey and I like that take note young songwriters take note the bravery the bravery it takes to cut a vein open publicly like that is is immense.

[20:00] Drew Gasparini: What a superhero you are.

[20:02] Drew Gasparini: This is what I mean. Like this is this is the superpower. The fact that you can showcase that sort of bravery and vulnerability, which is ultimately what bravery comes down to, is is so epic to me.

[20:15] Drew Gasparini: I hope anybody who's a young theater fan or anybody who's a young songwriter or anybody who's just a fan of yours, period really understands that you're not doing this willy-nilly.

[20:25] Drew Gasparini: There's a purpose behind the choices you're making and and how you're trying to tell your story.

[20:32] Drew Gasparini: That's what's awesome about it is you keep this interpersonal. I really, really, really, really like that.

[20:37] Drew Gasparini: Um I wrote a song a long time ago that ended up in my last uh thing.

[20:44] Drew Gasparini: And again, I'm not singing it, so it always feels a little like one step removed.

[20:48] Drew Gasparini: And uh I get asked questions about this song all the time. The song's called Snow, and there's a line in it that goes, This this is not necessarily some fun kind of song that I want my mom hearing about me.

[20:59] Drew Gasparini: And it's all about drug issues that I had all throughout my 20s, and like waking up in the middle of a snowbank and like like really hitting a certain version of rock bottom.

[21:10] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah.

[21:11] Drew Gasparini: What people don't understand is like my mom comes to all my shows. Like she's gonna pop up at these shows and she's gonna have to sit there through tears and experience that.

[21:20] Drew Gasparini: That's the same kind of visceral feeling that goes out with music, regardless of who you are or what your relationship is to the writer.

[21:27] Drew Gasparini: So that's what you're doing. Everything that you bleed out, this is like your your relationship with Andrew is everybody's relationship with whoever the fuck their Andrew is.

[21:36] Lizzy McAlpine: You know what I mean?

[21:37] Drew Gasparini: That's why I think you're so universally uh appealing.

[21:40] Drew Gasparini: What do you think your appeal is?

[21:42] Lizzy McAlpine: I know what it is, I'm obsessed with you.

[21:44] Lizzy McAlpine: I hate how much I'm obsessed with you.

[21:47] Drew Gasparini: This whole podcast is a really good balance of complete uh adoration and just I I hate you so much.

[21:54] Drew Gasparini: How do I how do I mix those two together?

[21:56] Lizzy McAlpine: Uh but what is what is your appeal, would you say?

[22:00] Lizzy McAlpine: I mean, I think it's what you were just talking about. I feel like I I mean I don't really think about the fact that I'm like letting people into my deepest, darkest thoughts.

[22:09] Lizzy McAlpine: Like, I don't it doesn't really cross my mind. I just kind of do it because that's like what I've always done.

[22:15] Lizzy McAlpine: And especially, I mean, I'm gonna tie this back to theater because I feel like theater just impacted my entire life when I started it.

[22:20] Drew Gasparini: It's also a theater podcast, it's cool if you do that.

[22:23] Lizzy McAlpine: That's all right, yeah.

[22:24] Lizzy McAlpine: But but especially my junior year, I was in the show called Eurydice, and it was like a play about you know the Greek myth, whatever.

[22:31] Lizzy McAlpine: And um and that show, I I played Eurydice, and like the whole third act was like I was like so I sobbed on stage every single night, and it was just like it before that it was really hard for me to like be comfortable being vulnerable in front of people that I had no that I didn't know.

[22:51] Lizzy McAlpine: And after that show, it just like I don't know, it just became easier, and and I feel like it all stems back to that show because it just it really like taught me how to open up.

[23:05] Drew Gasparini: Do you think that you have an easier time not showing emotion but getting your emotional point across through your performance or through songwriting than you would typically in like a conversation like we're having right now?

[23:20] Lizzy McAlpine: Um I mean, probably I it's it's much easier. It's much easier to sing about my feelings than to talk about them for sure.

[23:30] Lizzy McAlpine: I I do want to say, in terms of musical theater, your writing already lives in that department, and my biggest issue as a theater writer is being qualified as a theater writer.

[23:41] Drew Gasparini: Because I look at someone like you who is doing the singer-songwriter thing, who's a pop writer, who's this, that, and the other.

[23:47] Lizzy McAlpine: But the way you write is so storytelling and so I am and so I want that it feels like you could plop some of these songs into a fucking musical, like especially uh over the ocean call into Andrew.

[24:02] Drew Gasparini: That is a very theatrical connective, adhesive kind of moment there.

[24:08] Drew Gasparini: Everybody, Jesus Christ, I should say it now. I'm gonna say it 10 more times. Give me a minute is the name of the album.

[24:15] Drew Gasparini: Go check it out on Spotify and everywhere else you hear music. She has about a million monthly listeners, goddamn her!

[24:22] Lizzy McAlpine: Anyway, what did you expect?

[24:25] Lizzy McAlpine: Did you expect any of this?

[24:26] Drew Gasparini: Oh no, I never expect any of it.

[24:28] Lizzy McAlpine: I keep my expectations very low because then when good, good, good, good.

[24:33] Drew Gasparini: That's that's the best approach to doing this podcast as well.

[24:35] Lizzy McAlpine: As low as possible.

[24:37] Lizzy McAlpine: No, but I really like I don't like to like have high expectations because then if something doesn't happen, then I'll like have my feelings hurt, and we don't want that.

[24:46] Lizzy McAlpine: So I keep my expectations very low.

[24:52] Drew Gasparini: God damn it.

[24:53] Lizzy McAlpine: Right.

[24:53] Drew Gasparini: So I just like don't really I don't really expect any of this stuff to happen, and then when it does, I'm like just blown away.

[25:00] Drew Gasparini: Yeah.

[25:00] Drew Gasparini: Well, gosh, I'm I'm blown away on your behalf. I just like uh I mean, like, do you think this could have happened?

[25:08] Drew Gasparini: This is this is a do you think this could have happened down the line if it didn't happen this year, or do you think this was a magical year for you?

[25:18] Lizzy McAlpine: I don't know.

[25:19] Lizzy McAlpine: I mean, I can't imagine it happening any other time.

[25:24] Lizzy McAlpine: Like, I know this weird this year was like insane in so many ways.

[25:29] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah, it was like simultaneously the worst year of my life and the best year of my life, so it's just yeah, I don't know.

[25:37] Lizzy McAlpine: It feels right somehow that like all of this was happening at the at the same time as like the world was like going into chaos and like it just it just chaos being the biggest understatement ever it just it I mean I don't know, it just feels like there was no better time to have this happen.

[25:58] Drew Gasparini: Well, I would like to say on record here that I think that you were mine and probably just thousands and thousands of other people's you were probably the best part of their 2020 in a lot of ways, and I I really mean that from the bottom of my heart.

[26:13] Drew Gasparini: If there was an award for best interruptions to a podcast, don't you think I'd get it?

[26:18] Drew Gasparini: Because here I am again, interrupting the podcast to remind you guys that without sponsors for this show, I like to take a minute to say, go support our guests.

[26:28] Drew Gasparini: These are amazing artists doing amazing things, and you can keep up with everything that they got going on on their social medias.

[26:34] Drew Gasparini: Everybody go follow Lizzy McAlpine on TikTok. You can find Lizzy McAlpine on Instagram, and you can find Lizzy McAlpine on Twitter and beyond.

[26:43] Drew Gasparini: Not to mention she has an outstanding album out.

[26:46] Drew Gasparini: It's called Give Me a Minute. Go to Spotify and download that shit or stream it wherever you get your music.

[26:52] Drew Gasparini: It is magnificent.

[26:54] Drew Gasparini: Don't forget to follow. And hey, while we're here promoting shit, fucking subscribe to this podcast and tell your friends about it. If you like this podcast, I promise you'll like the other episodes. Go check them out. One little fun fact about this current episode you're listening to. While Lizzy and I were talking, we were in separate parts of the world doing this over a Zoom interaction, and I farted about 10 times, and she had no idea. All right, back to the interview.

[27:33] Drew Gasparini: It's a segment that's never happened before, but I just asked dumb questions. Uh Lizzy, is there a food item or a meal that makes you so hungry that it almost comes along the line of horniness?

[27:46] Lizzy McAlpine: Uh biscuits. I love biscuits.

[27:49] Drew Gasparini: Holy shit. Like the speed at which you have that ready to go.

[27:53] Lizzy McAlpine: Biscuits are like my favorite food. I've obsessed with biscuits. Biscuits dry by themselves? What do you do with the biscuit?

[27:59] Lizzy McAlpine: I mean, there's okay. Well, my family, my mom's side is from like upstate New York, and they're really into like, you know, maple cream and stuff like that. And so maple cream on a biscuit is just like phenomenal.

[28:15] Drew Gasparini: Okay, maple cream on a biscuit sounds like uh the title of a porn anyway. So I understand I understand the the horniness aspect of that. Now have you been to Jacob's Pickles on the Upper West Side in New York City?

[28:30] Lizzy McAlpine: I have not, no.

[28:31] Drew Gasparini: You have not goodness girl. Okay, so next time you're in New York and when the world is less of a bag of shit, you should go to Jacob's Pickles, God willing, it's still open. And they have, in my opinion, some of the best biscuits. I'm sure I'm gonna get comments for this now to correct me, but I think they have some of the best biscuits in New York City, where it might be a little hard to come by good biscuits. Good biscuits is the name of the memoir, Lizzy McAlpine's life. It's called Good Biscuits. Next question for you, dumb question. If you could have a pet that wasn't a typical domestic pet, i.e. cat dog, fish, bird, what would it be?

[29:09] Lizzy McAlpine: I feel like a ferret would be cool. I don't I don't know what's going on.

[29:12] Drew Gasparini: Oh, okay, Ferret. I feel like Ferret is on the cusp of qualified as a domestic pet. The way that they are spoken of. And what is it about, you know, I've been told that Ferret is my spirit animal.

[29:25] Lizzy McAlpine: Yep, I see that.

[29:26] Drew Gasparini: Mine is uh mine is a deer.

[29:29] Lizzy McAlpine: Who said that? Who decided that for you?

[29:31] Drew Gasparini: I just or did you decide that for yourself? I've been told in the past.

[29:35] Lizzy McAlpine: I always get I always get some rascally little critter. I never I like the way I look at myself as uh a musical genius and sex god, I always think that my spirit animal is something closer to like a tiger or a dragon, something mythical, a griffin.

[29:52] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah. Something mythical that doesn't really exist, right? But then I asked this question to Brittany Holges of the band Delta Ray. She was on this podcast, and she said, No, you're more like a gray fox wearing a tweed vest. It was so specific.

[30:07] Drew Gasparini: Oh my god. That's what she said.

[30:09] Lizzy McAlpine: Okay, so a ferret. That's all that's all right. You know what I would do? I would do a rhinoceros, but I would put these big flaps behind its head so it looked like a triceratops.

[30:22] Lizzy McAlpine: And I would ride it. I would ride it through New York City, and everybody would think that I had the last triceratops.

[30:33] Drew Gasparini: When you were in high school, celebrity crush, who not just a crush, who did you like desperately want to make out with?

[30:39] Lizzy McAlpine: Um I'd have to say that it was Dylan O'Brien.

[30:42] Drew Gasparini: Let's pretend I'm I'm old and out of touch. Who is who's the Teen Wolf?

[30:47] Lizzy McAlpine: I never watched Teen Wolf, but he was in that for some. I don't know. I never watched it. But he was he was in like the Maze Runner movies.

[30:56] Drew Gasparini: God have I seen a movie before? Those were like let me look up what else he was in. Okay, all right. He was in like uh yeah, his main thing was like Teen Wolf, which I never watched.

[31:11] Drew Gasparini: I love that you had a crush on somebody whose real only significant credit was a movie that you've never seen before.

[31:17] Lizzy McAlpine: Okay, honestly, or uh what's his face from from Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief? Percy Jackson.

[31:24] Drew Gasparini: Oh, from the movie.

[31:25] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah, Logan somebody.

[31:26] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, Logan somebody, sure, for sure. I'm with you. I know who it is. I mean, I had I was obsessed with Alexandra Di Dario, who was also in those movies, and I I feel like I'm not alone in that.

[31:36] Lizzy McAlpine: Um I have a I have another question for you. What is something people would be surprised to learn that you are great at?

[31:46] Drew Gasparini: Oh your acting and your songwriting and your singing, those are all on blast at all times. What's uh what's something that people would be very surprised? My guess before you answer, here's my guess. Are you ready?

[31:55] Lizzy McAlpine: Okay, yeah. I have a feeling you're really good at making those paper, what are they? The girls, a lot of fourth grade girls use them. It's this thing where you open it like this.

[32:07] Drew Gasparini: What do you call it though? Is yeah, it looks a little bit like a fortune cookie where you peel a number back and you go, oh Drew's never gonna have kids, and then you fold it back and then you keep doing it. I have a feeling you're really good at folding those.

[32:22] Lizzy McAlpine: Ah, but you know, so I'm gonna chalk that up as a as a yes for my guests. You know how.

[32:27] Drew Gasparini: So what is uh now you answer correctly? Don't tell what is something that you're great at that people would be surprised by.

[32:34] Lizzy McAlpine: Honestly, like I don't really know. I have like I don't know. I pretty much like I mean, I'm really uh this is music related, but I'm really good at like weirdly good at sight reading piano sheet music. Like weirdly good at it.

[32:47] Drew Gasparini: Earlier you were talking about how you don't get fear.

[32:51] Lizzy McAlpine: Well, I don't, but I can just I know with no.

[32:53] Drew Gasparini: Clearly, you do a little bit.

[32:55] Lizzy McAlpine: Kind of, I guess, but I but I'm but I can't do like lead sheets like with just the chord names. I can't do that. But if you like are like you don't know, like if if you're playing a song on guitar, you don't know the chords you're playing.

[33:07] Drew Gasparini: I mean, sometimes I do. If they're like basically, we have there's uh there's a group of men waiting outside for you. They're going to arrest you and take you away.

[33:16] Lizzy McAlpine: I cannot have this.

[33:17] Drew Gasparini: I've sent them. They're my goons. They'll be there uh in 30 seconds. Tops. We will be taking you away. You are no longer allowed to be in my company and in this business.

[33:28] Lizzy McAlpine: I am amazed by that. God, my sister's the same way. It's like she's making these amazing progressions on the piano. And I go, Oh my God, show me the chord. She goes, Okay, it's this one. I go, yeah, what's it called? And she'll have no fucking idea.

[33:39] Drew Gasparini: I never write on piano. I've written on piano like a few times.

[33:45] Lizzy McAlpine: But I'm not good.

[33:47] Drew Gasparini: The day you start like really writing on piano, that's the day that you accidentally write a musical. I'm just saying everyone.

[33:51] Lizzy McAlpine: Okay, well, okay, honestly, okay, if I'm being honest here, I wrote for my senior project in high school. I wrote a song cycle thing about Christopher Columbus.

[34:03] Drew Gasparini: Oh, but but it wasn't like it was like it was like how shit of a person he was. It was honestly some of the songs are like pretty good.

[34:11] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah, but I would never, I would never uh his his I Want Songers I Am song is I'm not as rapey as everyone says I am. It's a big farce comedy.

[34:20] Drew Gasparini: That's what I hope this is.

[34:22] Lizzy McAlpine: I mean, it was pretty close to that. He's murdery, he's rapey, he's Christopher Columbus.

[34:29] Drew Gasparini: Hi, everybody. Yep. Anyway, when that comes to Broadway, I'd like to in turn for giving you the role in uh it's kind of a funny story. I would like to get the role of uh Christopher Columbus.

[34:40] Lizzy McAlpine: Why do I want to play why would you want to play Christopher Columbus?

[34:44] Drew Gasparini: That's awesome.

[34:45] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah, that will never that will never make it any farther than my SoundCloud.

[34:50] Drew Gasparini: Okay, yeah, good. Well, at least it'll make it to SoundCloud. I think that's that's amazing. Is it already on SoundCloud?

[34:54] Lizzy McAlpine: Yep, it is, unfortunately.

[34:56] Drew Gasparini: Oh my god, everybody go to her SoundCloud and listen to the latest hit. Murdery Rapey, Christopher Columbus.

[35:02] Drew Gasparini: Uh, do you know any theater lore stories?

[35:05] Lizzy McAlpine: Um, I do not. Like, have you heard the story about? I think it's something like Carol Channing. Uh, her mic was left on, and she went to the bathroom and she goes, corn? I don't remember having corn. And like everybody heard her say it because her mic was on.

[35:22] Drew Gasparini: Well, I got a theater gore story for you, and I'm gonna hopefully I won't butcher it, but this is a story that it was told to me by my friend Alex Brightman, and it made me laugh, and I thought I'd share it with you today. Uh the story is about Ben Vereen. Do you know Ben Vereen?

[35:35] Lizzy McAlpine: No.

[35:38] Drew Gasparini: Okay, uh Lizzy just fell asleep. Uh Ben Vereen is is a theater legend, TV legend. Uh he was in Roots, he was in the original cast of Pippin. He's he's a big name.

[35:50] Lizzy McAlpine: Uh he was he was me too' back in 2017, so I don't know what he's doing these days, but up until that point, he was quite the quite the guy.

[35:58] Drew Gasparini: Uh anyway, so he he uh was in wicked for like two weeks or something like that, and he was playing the wizard in Wicked. And I forget the name of the monkey in Wicked. I think it's Chicory or Chistery or something like that.

[35:58] Lizzy McAlpine: Something like that.

[36:11] Drew Gasparini: But the line is this here's my monkey servant, Chistery, or whatever the monkey's name is. When he said that line, he totally fucking blanked on the line, and this is exactly what he did. He goes, This here's my monkey servant, uh, Booger.

[36:28] Lizzy McAlpine: And then the rest of the play, they have to call it laugh out loud. It's a podcast. But he called the monkey booger, and then that leaves the whole the rest of the show. Everybody has to refer to this monkey as booger, which I think is amazing theater lore.

[36:42] Drew Gasparini: Last little question for you. Uh Lizzy, the alphabet. Do you think it's too long?

[36:46] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah.

[36:47] Drew Gasparini: Which letters need to go?

[36:48] Lizzy McAlpine: I'm glad you said that.

[36:50] Lizzy McAlpine: Y? I don't know. I don't I mean, like, I think Y could go. Or Z X is like random.

[36:58] Drew Gasparini: X could probably go.

[36:59] Lizzy McAlpine: I think K needs to go. I think it actually we need to have a sit down.

[37:04] Lizzy McAlpine: C does it. C covers the whole thing. We don't need K.

[37:08] Drew Gasparini: That's true. It's just it's like putting a hat on a hat. You know, Y is useful because you need the Yah. And Z is helpful because it gives the Zz. What does K do that C does not already do?

[37:20] Lizzy McAlpine: That's right.

[37:21] Drew Gasparini: Okay. Anyway. Back to your music. Um, can you tell me about who your inspirations are? I'm sure that's a question you get all the time, but that must mean you have a great answer. Prepared. Let's hear it.

[37:31] Lizzy McAlpine: Well, when I was first starting to write songs, I took a lot of inspiration from Tori Kelly and Dodie. Those were like the big ones.

[37:40] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah. And also Sara Bareilles, because um my mom would listen to her. These are all like people that my mom would listen to, especially Sara Bareilles. We would listen to her album Little Voice, like in the car all the time.

[37:52] Drew Gasparini: One of the greatest albums ever.

[37:55] Lizzy McAlpine: So phenomenal. And I was just obsessed with it. So I took a lot from her.

[37:59] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, well, I think the influence of all three of those people are wildly available in your music. Like you can hear where where you're not copying any of them, but man, and just in terms of the sonic landscape you're creating, I hear all those inspirations. All of them.

[38:14] Lizzy McAlpine: Anyway, keep going.

[38:16] Lizzy McAlpine: I mean I was gonna say something and I forgot what I'm saying.

[38:19] Drew Gasparini: Because I cut you off like a rude.

[38:21] Lizzy McAlpine: Because I had to be a man and come in. Take your platform.

[38:25] Lizzy McAlpine: Um oh yeah. Um now when I write songs, I'm kind of I kind of just get inspired by like everyone. It's not like a specific person. I mean, I definitely am inspired right now. I've been inspired by like, you know, Phoebe Bridgers and Holly Humberstone and like Ethan Griska and like that type of vibe.

[38:47] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, it's weird that I just want uh I just think it's funny that you didn't mention my name once in all of this.

[38:53] Lizzy McAlpine: So that's I guess that's that's fine.

[38:57] Drew Gasparini: A little funny to me. I wasn't mentioned at all.

[39:01] Lizzy McAlpine: Uh you know, I think it's I think you sound like just way more qualified versions of those people that you mentioned.

[39:12] Drew Gasparini: They're listening, they'll hear that. Don't worry. They'll all hear that about they'll be totally embarrassed that I called them out in that way. W who's not a musician that inspires your songwriting? Like, is there an actor or a gardener or something that influences you?

[39:27] Lizzy McAlpine: I my family influences me like crazy.

[39:30] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah, I mean, I feel like when I first got to Berkeley, I my songwriting was just like not great. And I was surrounded, especially like in the first semester, by all all of my friends were jazz musicians.

[39:45] Lizzy McAlpine: And yeah, like I had never really listened to jazz. I didn't know a thing about jazz. And so like being surrounded by all these people who now were like so into jazz and like sang it all the time and and like made it. It wasn't just like the old like jazz standards, which are phenomenal, but it w they were like taking it and and putting it into a more modern, you know, thing.

[40:14] Lizzy McAlpine: And and like that really inspired me. So I feel like the people that I surround myself with are like continuously inspiring.

[40:20] Drew Gasparini: You never listened to jazz growing up? Because like your vocals, there's so much Ella, there's so much Sarah Vaughn. There's a lot going on in your voice that I could hear being inspired by those.

[40:31] Lizzy McAlpine: Not really. We didn't really listen to that much jazz.

[40:35] Drew Gasparini: Wow. Well, you kept it to the white girls. What's your favorite Sara Bareilles album?

[40:40] Lizzy McAlpine: Little Voice.

[40:42] Drew Gasparini: She gave you a shout out the other day, didn't she?

[40:46] Lizzy McAlpine: Uh, over the summer.

[40:48] Drew Gasparini: This is next level.

[40:49] Lizzy McAlpine: I know. I literally, because oh my god, I just can't. This past year, the reason why it's been like the craziest year of my entire life was because all of these idols and these people that I look up to started like noticing me and knowing who I am and following me on Instagram and commenting on my stuff and reposting my things, and I was like, what is going on?

[41:07] Drew Gasparini: And Sarah was like—

[41:08] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah, people like Sara Bareilles and Jacob—Jacob, uh, why can't I think of his last name right now?

[41:15] Drew Gasparini: Calling her, right?

[41:17] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah, it's true. Gasparini.

[41:19] Drew Gasparini: Right.

[41:20] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah, it's been crazy. But she did—we've had some interactions since she followed me, and it's just so wild.

[41:27] Drew Gasparini: How amazing.

[41:28] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah, well, it's not gonna slow down anytime soon. This is gonna be your life.

[41:31] Lizzy McAlpine: The past few days have been like insane. Like, uh, talk to me, why—tell me why just—well, I can't tell you all of it because some of it's a secret.

[41:41] Drew Gasparini: Tell me what you can tell me.

[41:43] Lizzy McAlpine: I want—this isn't gonna be a tomorrow either. This is gonna be in a couple weeks. But we just started figuring out features for the album, and so I started reaching out to people, and I got all my first choices for the features, and like, it's just fucking crazy.

[41:58] Drew Gasparini: And we can't say who they are right now, but it's crazy.

[42:00] Lizzy McAlpine: Oh my god, uh, off record, you will tell me.

[42:03] Drew Gasparini: No, yeah, I actually will if you want to know.

[42:05] Lizzy McAlpine: Um, yeah, I do, I really want to know.

[42:07] Drew Gasparini: That's amazing.

[42:08] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah, and then like last night I went live on Instagram for a little bit and I started singing Broadway songs, and then Benj Pasek was just like watching and commenting, and then I sang some Dear Evan Hansen, and he was like, oh my god, like this is phenomenal. Like, I'm not surviving, I'm like, I'm dead right now, like all this stuff. And I was just like, what the heck?

[42:26] Drew Gasparini: Well, let me ask a question about Benj. Uh, has he offered you a role in a musical?

[42:33] Lizzy McAlpine: Is that because here I am, sister? You know, here's the thing about Benj and Justin, and I love them both. We both wrote on season two for Smash. We both did. And so did Joe Iconis. Whenever anybody finds out I wrote on season two of Smash, they go, you did? But if you say Joe Iconis and Benj and Justin, they'll be like, oh, the guys who wrote on season two of Smash. How did I get forgotten? Again, bringing it back to me. How did I get so neglected? I have to get a podcast to announce to the world what the fuck my recipe is. Jesus Christ.

[43:08] Drew Gasparini: That is amazing. I love that Benj's—well, I mean, like, you kind of—you, for in terms of what your voice sounds like, boy, you'd be an absolute dream for what they write. You know what I mean? You'd be such a dream to like land in one of their scores on Broadway as well.

[43:22] Lizzy McAlpine: But I have dibs.

[43:23] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, it would be sick, but wouldn't it be so sick to do my show, Lizzy?

[43:30] Lizzy McAlpine: That's what this is all about.

[43:32] Drew Gasparini: I can do both. There's enough to go around.

[43:35] Lizzy McAlpine: No, that's not how this works. I claim—I claim—I claim stake ownership in your talents.

[43:42] Drew Gasparini: I'm like Ursula the Sea Witch. I will have your voice one day.

[43:45] Lizzy McAlpine: A little off topic. What do you think about Armie Hammer right now?

[43:48] Lizzy McAlpine: Okay, I went in a dude in a deep dive in like in this other day when like nothing was going on. And holy shit, I was so—I was so—I was not expecting that.

[44:00] Drew Gasparini: Not expecting what?

[44:03] Lizzy McAlpine: Like what's so out of the norm? The fact that he wants to eat human beings sexually.

[44:09] Drew Gasparini: Oh god.

[44:10] Lizzy McAlpine: I couldn't even finish the article. I was like so ugh.

[44:14] Drew Gasparini: Oh, finish it. Or better yet, save some time and just rent Silence of the Lambs. If you watch that, I feel like you'll get a better sense of what he's experiencing.

[44:23] Drew Gasparini: Here's a question. I agree we shouldn't kink shame. But where do we draw that line? If cannibalism, let's say—let's just pretend cannibalism is the kink. I don't know who it could be referring to, but maybe that person, maybe it's Armie Hammer. Maybe their kink is to be a cannibal. Is that where we're allowed to start kink shaming, Lizzy McAlpine, your thoughts?

[44:47] Lizzy McAlpine: I feel like when it—when you start eating people, yeah, that—that, I mean, you have the shame for that.

[44:56] Drew Gasparini: You have to engage in the actual act of eating a person, or should you be shamed for announcing that what you would like to be doing sexually is eating that person?

[45:06] Lizzy McAlpine: I feel like any thought of eating people is just not okay.

[45:12] Drew Gasparini: You're right. Well, you heard it here first, folks. She is kink shaming. She's kink shaming right here on this show.

[45:18] Lizzy McAlpine: Oh god. That's a great band name, Kink Shame.

[45:22] Drew Gasparini: That is. It sounds like something that Andy would name his band in Parks and Rec.

[45:26] Lizzy McAlpine: That's true. You want to hear a funny story speaking of Andy from Parks and Rec? I was walking through Times Square, and a family, like a dad, a mom, and their three children come up to me, and the dad says, has anyone ever told you you look like a chubby version of Chris Pratt? And I was so taken aback by the fact that he needed to use the word chubby and also just let me know that I'm not that celebrity. You know what I mean? It seemed like a really strange conversation starter.

[45:57] Drew Gasparini: Speaking of insults, you have a lot of people following you online. What is the weirdest thing that's been said to you online?

[46:05] Lizzy McAlpine: There have been some weird things. I mean, I take screenshots of them. I can look.

[46:10] Drew Gasparini: Oh great. Let's do a comparison. You read one, I'll read one of mine.

[46:14] Lizzy McAlpine: Um, there are just—there are a lot of like, I'm in love with you, like let's get married, and I'm like, you know, maybe not.

[46:20] Drew Gasparini: Okay, so I shouldn't ask you that then at the end of the podcast.

[46:24] Lizzy McAlpine: Okay.

[46:25] Lizzy McAlpine: Oh, where are they? I keep all of mine in a folder titled People Who Hate You.

[46:30] Drew Gasparini: That's—that's a good idea, actually. I might do that. There was—I get—I got a lot of—I get a lot of comments, like there's this. I mean, it's mostly like middle-aged women. Yeah, but I posted a—I posted a video of like a Phoebe Bridgers cover, and someone commented, don't like this one.

[46:48] Lizzy McAlpine: Oh my god.

[46:50] Drew Gasparini: Like you didn't need to comment that.

[46:52] Lizzy McAlpine: So unnecessary. That's the equivalent of did anyone tell you you're chubby, Chris Pratt? That's just—I don't need to hear that. What possessed you to just let me know? That's so bizarre.

[47:02] Lizzy McAlpine: I know. Oh, I found my favorite one. My favorite DM that I ever got was, um, it was just a response to like a random like story. It had nothing to do with what they said, but they said, do you remember me? We were lovers in a past life.

[47:16] Drew Gasparini: Oh, gross.

[47:17] Lizzy McAlpine: Oh my god. These are all your DMs on social media, but these sound like horrible Tinder pickup lines.

[47:23] Drew Gasparini: Yep.

[47:24] Lizzy McAlpine: You got anymore? I love this. I could do this. We could just do this for the whole podcast. I would have loved this.

[47:30] Drew Gasparini: Oh yeah. I mean when I—I hate talking about this, but I'll talk about it because you know why not? Um, no, no, no, it's okay, it's okay. When I put that like 1975 song on my TikTok, yes, and it blew up. Um, and then I went on my Instagram and I was answering questions, and someone was like, why won't you release that song? And I was just—I like just was honest. I was like, I don't really want to.

[47:53] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah.

[47:59] Drew Gasparini: It's just not—not my vibe right now. And people were mean, people got angry. People went on Twitter and they were like, why is she being like so rude about this? And then recently, someone was like, I don't understand that. Like, why don't you want your fans to be happy? And I was like, yes, but also I want to be happy with the music I release.

[48:20] Lizzy McAlpine: Like, what your fans want you to be happy?

[48:26] Drew Gasparini: You are serving them, that's it. You're in the country, that's how they look at it.

[48:31] Lizzy McAlpine: And you know what? It's gotten to the point that your whole TikTok bio is like, don't ask for the 1975.

[48:37] Drew Gasparini: Literally, it's so annoying. God, I love it so much.

[48:40] Drew Gasparini: No, I just don't understand. Um, all right, my turn. I'm gonna read my favorite of all time. And I get—and I get some bad things on YouTube, and I should take more screenshots of those, but this is just an Amazon music review from my album I Could Use a Drink, which came out in 2013. This is from a woman named—and I god, I would love if she's listening. I'm sure she's not. Based on this review, you would probably assume that she's certainly not. But Josephine Hull, if you're listening, this one's for you, babe. She gave me one star for the call. Which is just—there's no review needed after that. I get it loud and clear. The subject of the review is, yeah, with it's like Y E C H exclamation point.

Yeah. That's—that's the subject. Here is what she wrote. Absolutely horrible. Don't know what these others are thinking, giving it bigger reviews. They must be family and friends. This is schmaltzy, sickening, and sounds like a million other guys recording. Nothing on it is noteworthy, and this guy will, in all caps, never make it because he does not stand out. Lose the stupid cap, you lose the dumb blog comments. I don't know what she's referring to, and figure out a way to play music that we haven't heard a million times. All caps again, save your money.

[50:16] Lizzy McAlpine: Dang, girl.

[50:17] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, my favorite is a schmaltzy, and then she said, lose the stupid cap. Because I used to wear a newsboy cap back then, which is right. And you know what? I listened to her. Now I'm on trucker hats. How do you like that? So it's evolution as far as I'm concerned.

[50:33] Drew Gasparini: Uh Lizzy, we're getting close to an hour. I don't want to take up much more of your time, and I want to wrap this up. But first, I want to say before I give you my big closing warm cozy hug, is there anything that you would tell? This really does go out to a lot of theater kids, but I'm hoping that other artists listen to this as well. Is there anything you would tell just young artists? Because in my opinion, if you're a theater kid and you want to do theater, you're not an actor, you're not a singer, you're an artist because you're contributing to creating something. So what would you tell all the young artists listening out there?

[51:10] Lizzy McAlpine: Oh my gosh. I mean, just keep going. Yeah. You know, never give up. Uh, like especially—let's just put yourself out there. That's literally all that I've been doing for the past like many years. I've just been putting myself out there, whether it's on Instagram or TikTok, or you're auditioning for things, or like just sending your songs to people. Like, like, just do it. Just go for it.

[51:36] Drew Gasparini: Do it.

[51:38] Lizzy McAlpine: Yeah, absolutely. I love it. Just shoot your shot.

[51:41] Drew Gasparini: Shoot your shot, people.

[51:43] Lizzy McAlpine: That's right. That's straight from the mouth of the genius that is Lizzy McAlpine. I just want to remind you again, and I'm being so sincere. I know that I can be a little silly and unhinged on this podcast, but in the deepest depths of my heart, I want to say thank you so much for your music. It has inspired me endlessly to continue on. Um, I really—and it goes without saying I know that you feel the same about me. Uh, but I really do. Your writing has inspired me. Your album, Give Me a Minute, is—everybody go listen to it. It's out right now. Um, it is so beautiful. And when you talk about who has inspired you, you have just started the next generation of those women that you named in that list.

And I am just so happy for you. I'm thrilled for you. I can't wait to see what becomes of this big fat career you're about to have. And frankly, selfishly, I'm so happy I snuck my DM right in time, I feel like. I think I got it right before you blew up. So I really do appreciate you taking the time here and talking to me and being on this podcast. Lizzy, you are so lovely. Um, final words other than thank you so much.

[52:58] Lizzy McAlpine: Well, thank you for having me.

[52:59] Drew Gasparini: Hey, you made it to the outro. Good for you. Thanks for listening to Now We're Talking. Just want to let you know that we are a proud member of the Broadway Podcast Network, and you can find out a lot more about them and this podcast at BPN.fm/NWT. And you can find me, Drew Gasparini, on Instagram and Twitter and TikTok. Just search my name, folks. A big special thanks to our guest, Lizzy McAlpine, for being an amazing doll. And to all you sexy buttheads for tuning in. Hey, make sure to subscribe and rate. You can find this podcast wherever you stream your podcast. Keep tuning in and tell your friends. Now use your sexy little fingers and do the sexy little act of subscribing.