All this month we are speaking to musician Sam Mulligan who this year released the album Pizza Forever. From Western Massachusetts, the singer creates music with a rock and comedic tone. This week we get to know Sam a little bit better.

Hello Sam lovely to meet you all! How did you get into music?

It’s lovely to meet you too, thank you for chatting with me! My parents are music lovers, so music was always playing in my house growing up. Wait a sec… do you know people that AREN’T into music?! What do they do?!

Your music also has a sense of comedy to it – how did that happen?

It’s a personal decision I guess! For me, it’s more fun to play and it’s what I tend to write when I’m on my default settings. My first band was with my best friend, Dave Richardson, in high school and we’d write songs to make each other laugh. I kept going that route, and Dave went on to become a fantastic folk singer/songwriter!

What have been your inspirations for this sound?

I’m a big fan of bands like Atom & His Package, Flight of the Conchords, the Presidents of The United States Of America, Guppy, Roswell Kid, Cheekface, and Weird Al. They all have varying levels of silliness in their music and I love all of it. I’m also inspired by fellow chiptune producers who are pushing the limits of making music with gameboys and other old technology, like nmlstyl, (T-T)b, DonutShoes, business pastel, and my band mates in Battlemode.

What is your favourite thing about the music industry?

Oh, definitely the music. I don’t care too much for numbers and contracts and all that boring stuff. I love playing and seeing live shows, there’s nothing quite like it.

Tell us about your music – what sort of genre of music do you perform?

I’d say it falls under the alternative rock umbrella, and there’s elements of electronic/chiptune and garage rock, along with the comedic element. Almost all of my songs are built on a foundation of the drums, bass, and twinkly bits from the Gameboy with a bit of grungy texture from guitars, but it’s fair to say that the main focus is the lyrics. Every part of it is a little absurd. If I had to hyphenate it I would call it lyrical-comedic-chiptune-rock music.

You are also based in Western Massachusetts. What is the music scene like there?

I live in a pretty small town and we don’t have a large number of venues, but we have some great bands here. Check out Cloudbelly, Rocking Puppies, and Babe, Wait! There’s a supportive community of folks out here, which is awesome. It’s also not difficult to get to other bigger cities from here. I can drive back and forth to Boston in one night, or take the train to New York, it’s great!

Who is your favourite musician?

I feel like this changes daily, but right now I’m really into America’s Local Band, Cheekface. They’ve put out a ton of music since 2019 and they keep cranking out great stuff. If I have to pick my all time favourite, I can’t.

If people want to follow you on social media where can they visit?

I am @sammulliganmusic most places, and I have a full list on www.sammulligan.com. I’m most active on Patreon, Instagram, and YouTube!

After “We’ll Be One” there’ll be another couple of singles, and in early January 2027 we’ll have a new album out. And all the while we are working on the next record. Idle we are not.

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