Izzy Pingrey is a 17-year-old singer-songwriter from New York City. She writes and produces her music with her dad in his studio with their dog.
Izzy listens to an amount of music referred to by many as “perplexing,” consuming an eclectic mix of genres. She once listened to a Taylor Swift song and a Limp Bizkit song immediately back to back. Izzy enjoys messing around with these musical interests to create her own hybrids of them and tell the stories of her personal experiences. She has been writing music since she was 13 years old and started producing it when she was 15.
Who inspired you to make music?
When I was 3, I went to go see my cousin’s middle school musical. It was Cinderella. I just remember after that night falling in love with all of it. But in terms of actually recording and making music, rather than my stint with musical theater throughout elementary and middle school, I’d say it was probably Clairo or Audrey Mika. I was kind of watching both of them come up and I loved how informal their music and their content was. I kind of had only thought of musicians as big fancy pop stars before I watched the pretty girl video. She’s just on Photo Booth in her room. It’s awesome.
What is your creative process like?
I think it depends on the song. I like to call myself a scatterbrain because when I’m creating something I’m just all over the place with it. I can work for 4 hours straight in my bedroom and just churn out a song, but a lot of the time I’ll come up with a hook or a bridge while I’m biking somewhere or in the shower. Most of the time I’ll have a few lines or a melody that I’ll write around.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Taylor Swift is the dream of dreams because she’s Taylor Swift and is everything in the world. But in terms of my own style and who I think I’d merge with better, I think if she knew who I was, I could make a really cool track with Beabadoobee. I’m so excited for The Way Things Go.
In your opinion, how do artists in this industry stay on top of the game when faced with so much competition? What is the secret to making yourself noticed?
If we’re going to be totally honest, I think calling myself an underground artist is a little bit of an understatement. I don’t think that I am very known in the industry. For me, I don’t like to think about it in that way of competition. I’m still in high school, going into my senior year, I’m hopefully trying to start a summer job soon, and I’m working on my college applications. My music is everything to me, but I’m honestly not really in the headspace of competition or anything. I just like making stuff as an outlet and it’s really cool to use it to connect with people.
How do you deal with writer’s block?
Not well. When I have writer’s block, I usually stop writing. It’s something I have to work on. But if I’m not inspired, I can’t do it. The song is just never good if I force myself out of it.
What is the most useless talent you have?
There’s a way I can blow air into just one of my cheeks and it lets me do a really good impression of a horse.
If you were to write an autobiography, what would the title be?
“The Story of My Life (I take her home)”
What would be a good theme song for your life?
She Wants the Sandwich from One Wayne G. I love that song. I just feel like it’s a good mixture of external humor that has underlying heartfelt messaging. A lot of people hear She Want the Sandwich and just brush it off for its lighthearted lyricism, but it actually is a song that I think has a genuine message of love and connection that is so simple but interesting. I relate to that.
Do you have any lucky items, objects, or traditions?
I don’t have any lucky items that I actually own, but just in general, I love ladybugs. I’ve always thought they were lucky since probably I was 5 or 6. I think that’s pretty common though. But I’ve always collected things that are ladybug themed. I have a ladybug garland in my room, I have a ladybug pillow, I have ladybug earrings and stuff like that. My friend Molly and I want to get matching ladybug tattoos when we turn 18, but I’m flaky so we’ll see.
What’s your favorite children’s story?
Knuffle Bunny.
If you were talking to a younger version of you, what advice would you give yourself?
I’d probably just tell her that nobody cares. I was really caught up in parts of my life that were really specific or relatively personal in terms of the way I was perceived by others. But looking back, I can’t remember a time when I ever gave a shit about the sweater someone else was wearing or the music they were listening to. Literally, nobody cares. It’s a waste of energy to focus on those things to seem cooler.
Izzy is super excited to share her new single “narcissus” released on June 23rd!
Here’s what she had to say about the track:
“I wrote ‘narcissus’ after dealing with some friendship troubles. I felt so overlooked, like I was just pouring my heart and soul into multiple relationships that didn’t reciprocate the love and care that I was giving. I’ve been interested in Greek mythology since I was a kid, and while I was ranting about some teenage drama I accidentally forgot to pronounce the T in ‘narcissist,’ and the rest just flowed out of me after that. I wrote ‘narcissus’ for myself and for anyone else who needs to think less about people who don’t think so much about them”.
Stream narcissus https://hypeddit.com/izzypingrey/narcissus
https://www.instagram.com/izzybels3/
https://www.tiktok.com/@izzypingreymusic7
Music video credits
Directed by Dyllan Hobeck
Cinematography by Dyllan Hobeck, Ryan Zheng, Robert Halpern
Styling by Josephine Lappe
Written by Izzy Pingrey and Arthur Pingrey
Performed by Izzy Pingrey
