November 4, 2024 • 20 mins
Celebrating her smash "Never Going Home Tonight" w David Guetta and Alesso going #1, Madison Love joined us on America's Dance 30 for the first time, and shared how the song was born on her end!
She also talked about her insanely long list of writing credits for the biggest pop artists, how many songs she writes a year, and which artists' albums she's working on. Plus all the details on her Madison Love Future Fund scholarship!
We also got to know Madison better w #FinkysFirsts!!
Find out about:
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
She also talked about her insanely long list of writing credits for the biggest pop artists, how many songs she writes a year, and which artists' albums she's working on. Plus all the details on her Madison Love Future Fund scholarship!
We also got to know Madison better w #FinkysFirsts!!
Find out about:
- if music was the first thing she wanted to get into growing up
- the first song she ever wrote
- the first song she wrote that was picked up by a big artist
- the first time she performed for a crowd
- if using her real name was her first choice for her artist project name
- the first sad song she thinks about
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Madison, how you doing. Hi?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
How are you?
Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's great to finally meet you.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I know, I feel like we're just Instagram friends now.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
We totally are. Thank you so much for rescheduling. My
voice was completely gone and I felt you deserved better
than that.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Oh my God, no worries at all. Dance counting down
the biggest dance songs in the country. This is America's
(00:37):
Dance thirty.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Madison Love, Welcome to America's Dance thirty for the first time.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Can I be completely honest with you. I had no
idea how much of a powerhouse you are in the
songwriting game, especially in pop music, until I started doing
research on you.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Oh my god, thank you Hustler.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Your credits are unbelievable and we're going to talk about
that coming up. But congratulations on never going home tonight
with Geta and A Lesso going number one so exciting.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Woooo.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
It's such a cool experience because I've had songs go
number one before that I've written, but I've never heard
myself on the radio before with my voice, so it's
a totally different experience this round.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Well, I can't wait to talk about how this song
was born. But first, since it is your first time
on America's Dance thirty, let's get to know madis in
love a little better with Finky's first all right. So
I always love finding out the origin story of artists.
(01:49):
I know that your dad is a vocal coach and
that you went to the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.
But when you were growing up, was music the first
thing you wanted to get into or was there something
else you wanted to be I.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Was always writing songs, rewriting lyrics to Disney movies and
just writing lyrics since I was a kid, So music
was always number one.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Have you ever gone back to those old songs that
you were rewriting?
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Oh? Yeah, I pull them up all the time. There
was a couple that I'm like, oh, maybe I can
revisit this idea. But then I'm like, okay, it's a
little high school. It's very Taylor Swift inspired, but the
old old, you know, tear drops on my guitar kind
of era, and yeah, definitely inspired by her growing up,
(02:37):
and I was like, I can do the same thing.
I can write songs about what's going on at school
and the boys that broke my heart and then performed
them live at school and I used to do that
in high school.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Well, it's so incredible that you were actually able to
parlay that into a profession, because not a lot of
people can. So congratulations, Thank you so much. Now, as
I mentioned, your writing credits are insane, feel free to
take an while I go through these. You have written
with Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, Kesha, mgk Ava, Max Gezy
(03:09):
and Halsey, Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, Katie Perry, bb Rexa,
Kim Patris, Meghan the Stallion, Pink. Are you still awake?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Okay, just makeing sure, Charlie XCX, Zara Larson, Demi Lovado,
tritnal Axwellan and Grosso of course, David Getta and Alesso
and so many more. Is it as crazy to you
as I'm reading that as it is to me.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
It's really crazy.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
It's hearing all those big names in a row is
Oh my god, my mom would be so proud.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Oh unbelievable. But do you remember that first song that
you ever wrote?
Speaker 3 (03:48):
I actually do, because I was talking to my old
guitar teacher and I remember he taught me. You know,
he taught me a couple of core progressions, and then
he would go away for a couple of weeks, and
then I would write a bunch of songs to those
core progressions, and then I would perform them for him.
But like, I wrote this one song it's called thirteen,
and it was a song called being. It was about
being thirteen, and I remember, and I think I remember
(04:11):
his face being like, this is kind of good.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
But then I was like, is it good? I'm not sure?
Speaker 3 (04:18):
And I mean I had to write hundreds of songs
before one of them was great. I mean, I definitely
wrote a lot of bad songs. And you just kind
of keep hustling and working at it and working with
incredible collaborators and you learn from them and then you
just slowly get better and better. And it took me
a long time too. And I think after going to
(04:38):
Clive Davis program and working with teachers that have won
Grammys before, and that program is so incredible that I
learned just all their tips and tricks, and yeah, it
just made me the writer I am today.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
It is so incredible. Well, speaking of all those artists
that you have written for, do you have any idea
how many songs you write a year?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Oh my gosh, Well, let's say I write seven a week,
because maybe I do two sessions a day, so I'll
do a session from one to five and then sometimes
I'll do a session from seven to one am. So
I'm just I'm out here and writing as many songs
(05:21):
as I can.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
I'm building the catalog unbelievable. Now do you remember the
first song that you wrote that was picked up by
a big artist?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
My first big song was with Camilla Cabello and MGK.
That was a record that I wrote while I was
still in my dorm room. And I remember getting the
opportunity because I ended up signing to a publisher while
I was in my second year of college, but he
let me write remotely. He was like, oh, I'll send
you ideas and if you nail it, you nail it.
(05:51):
And so I got the opportunity to write this song
for that was ended up being like the big song
for Kamila and MGK, and it was playing on the
radio before I like walk down the aisle to graduate school,
said all the kids in the class were.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Like, what the heck is going on?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
The teachers are like, you can leave, and I'm like, no,
I can't. I have to graduate. I have to graduate.
I started the school and I'm going to finish it.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
That's amazing. See, I started college. I was already working
at the radio station when I was sixteen, and I
started college and then stopped because I was already working here.
I already had my career set. But I totally should
have went your avenue because I have nothing to fall
back on.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Well, it's all good.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
I don't know yet what I would be doing right
now if it wasn't songwriting. I mean, I'd probably work
for an ad agency or like marketing jingles. Yeah, you
give me a theme, they're like this Christmas, this artist,
think of something clever.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
I'd be like, that would be my job. I would
kill that.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
You recently spoke and performed for Congress to advocate for
songwriters and copyright law, which is so incredible. Do you
remember the first time ever performing for a crowd?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I do?
Speaker 3 (07:09):
I think I sang? Well, I definitely sang at my
town meeting. At school, I used to perform a lot.
I would write songs about the boys and girls in
my class, and then I would every Monday, I would
sing songs about how I feel, and I would perform
for those kids, and I remember their faces.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Originally I was like, this is probably really bad I.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Do because they're all sitting right in the fra row.
So I remember that and the anxiety of that. But
I'd rather sing for people that the songs are not.
That would be way easier for me.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
It's so funny you mentioned that. So when I was
in high school, I was bullied a lot, so I
was really shy in high school and my English teacher
at the time made us write stories based on a
book that we read, and I decided to write about
all the kids that had bullied me, and then she
made us read it out loud in class with all
(08:02):
the kids. I still remember like it was yesterday, like
my voice quivering as oh my god. It was the
most traumatic but also the best thing ever for me. Yes, yes,
A golf clap. Now, when you were thinking about your
artist project, was your first idea to always use your
real name or were there other names you were considering.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
I think, well, my middle name is Amiko.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
My grandmother's from Japan, so all of us in the
family have Japanese middle names, so I thought maybe that
would be a cool name, but then I just, you know,
I just go with the same name that I'm writing under.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
So Madison love And is there a menai to Amiko?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Amiko it means well, my mother's name, I think means
beautiful child, and my grandmother's is about wisdom, so it's
a mixture of both of those names together. Hers is
Mioko and my grandmother is Ako. So I'm Amiko.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
It's cool. Yeah, that's beautiful. What a beautiful name. Well. Finally,
in Finky's first in honor of Never Going Home Tonight
going number one, it opens with the line, DJ play
that sad song one more time when you think of
sad songs, what's the first sad song that you think.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Of sad songs?
Speaker 1 (09:18):
See? I love depressing songs like I don't know if
you've ever heard of air supply.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Oh my god, right here, I know I'm trying to
I don't know why. The first thing that comes to.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
My mind is Bad Day by Daniel Powder. But really,
I don't know why that just is the first.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Thing that comes to my mind.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
But there's definitely like Adele songs that probably really like
the one.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Those ones actually make me cry.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Oh they're so good. PS. Complete side note. Did you
see the video of Adele seeing Celine Dion at her
show recently and like broke down in tears, going over
and hug in her.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Oh my god, No, I didn't see that. I'm gonna
have to check that out.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, so emotional. Anyways, on to better things. Let's talk
about this smash now before we talk about how the
song was born. I'm very curious because when your management
sent me notes about stuff to talk about, they said,
and I quote share something about Getta's work, ethic, creativity
or energy that might surprise people. I've spoken with Geham
(10:20):
multiple times. What is this secret that you have?
Speaker 3 (10:23):
I mean, the thing about Geta is he comes so prepared,
so he'll come with his laptop and he has he
has unlimited ideas, so he'll be like, okay, I have
these chords, or he'll have like a sound and he'll
have like flip ideas for songs that he loves that
he wants to remake and redo.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
In his own style.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
And so I remember, anytime I work with Gheta, I've
done so many sessions with him.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
He always comes with his laptop and.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
He's ready to work he's just like, let's get down
to business. I'm looking for this, I'm looking for this,
let's get this kind of energy, and it's always so inspiring.
I'm like, I would love to see his computer because
it's probably just all like ideas, like start something.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
And honestly, that's why he's been such a legend for
so long. Is his work ethic. I mean, he's just incredible,
it really is.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
I think he's also just such a kind human too.
Like the day the song came out, he like whatsapped
me and I.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Was like, is this really? Like I don't know if
it's a fake David Ghetta. It was, it was really David.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
And he was just thanking me for being a part
of the song and just saying how excited he was
about it and sending me stats, and I just you know,
you don't really get that from every artist that you know,
especially in pop music. Not every artist is going to
reach out to you personally and thank the songwriters. But
that's just the kind of class act that David is
and and it just shows you and when you're kind
(11:51):
to people and when you have the work ethic your
his career, I mean, you can just see how he's
the best and the nicest.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Well, I'm so glad you guys came to y for this.
How was this smash born with Geta and a Lesso.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Well, I remember there's a lot of writing camps for
Getta that he throws through his label, And I mean
I was writing for Getta since I was in college,
going to these writing camps, and I never got a
song with him.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
But I would go in and write.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
He would come in play some chords, we would write
to that, and then you know, all the years go
by and I just keep joining the camp.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
I'm like, I'm gonna get a day a Ghetta song
one day, you know.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Like I remember seeing him at Coachella in high school
and just be like wow, sitting in the in the pit,
all sweaty of the Sahara tent, just like waiting, and
then he played Titanium and I was like, oh my god.
So this is a very surreal moment. But we wrote
another song in one of the camps called When I
(12:47):
Was Young, which also was a number one.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
The logical song. Yeah, absolutely, yeah, So.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
We did that this year and then we wrote this
other song and we you know it was I wrote
it the day of, and I didn't know if I
was going to stay on the song or if we
were going to get another artist. But I think David
was like, I really love this version, so can we
put it out with your voice?
Speaker 2 (13:07):
And I was like, you don't say no to David.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Ghetta, you know, You're like, oh, this is such an
honor of course. So and then I think it was
just the demo, so we didn't have a drop or
anything yet, and I think he reached out to a
less so separately and they worked on like the version
that's you hear now, and he added the drop and
they just changed a bunch of things and made the
(13:31):
final version together. So when he said it's all a
lesso too, I was like, I mean, I can't.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
I can't say no.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
You're like, nonetheless, I'm going to retire now.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
I was like, this is kind of dance Royalty happening
right now.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
That is so incredible how that came together. Now. Some
and I love finding out from songwriters is when you're
writing so many songs and a lot of them go
to different artists, is it tough for you to give
(14:06):
your songs to other artists or are you fine? With
passing them on.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
I love one other artists sing my songs, especially because
well when they're artists that I'm a big fan of,
I'm like.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Oh my god, this is so crazy the way that
she's singing my song, you know, it gives me the
same high.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
And yeah, sometimes the artists will like take little the
way I sing the line, or the emotion or the
graveliness or something from the vocal that I've sold to them. Basically,
I'm selling the whole performance of the song with the track,
and sometimes they'll keep that essence and then I'll be like,
(14:45):
oh god that they they like kept a little bit
of my sauce, you know, or they'll maybe keep me
on the backgrounds. And I've definitely sang a lot of
backgrounds on songs.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
So yeah, I don't mind it. I love it. I mean,
why not.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Well, can I say that it's great having you as
the spotlight this time because you sound so incredible on
this song Thank You.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
It's definitely a cool feeling.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Do you remember the first time hearing one of your
songs on the radio?
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Yes, because I was, I think in the car with
my mom and it came on and we were like
we had to pull over because we didn't want to
crash the car because I was.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Like, oh god.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
And I remember calling the producers of the song because
I was like, I don't know what to do right now.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
I have to call everyone I know.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
And I feel like I still have that same feeling
every song that comes on. If I'm like in the car,
I keep hearing somebody else's the song I wrote with
Gwen that's on Kiss FM, And every time I hear
in the car, I'm like, oh my god. And then
I try and I pull over, and then I try
and take a video of it, and I texted to
Gwen and I'm like, oh.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
My god, oh my god, it's flying right now. And
then She's like, oh my god, my god.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
So I get the same amount of excitement every single
It never gets old.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Well, I get the same feeling when I hear myself
on the radio still, and I've been doing it for
thirty one years, so I totally understand that. Congratulations on
the song going number one. It is so amazing, so fun.
It's also incredible that you created the Madison Love Future
Fund Scholarship back in twenty twenty one. You want to
share with our ad thirty fam all about that.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Sure, Yeah, this was something that I wanted to get
back from to my alma mater. I mean, I wouldn't
be anywhere in the industry without the program at tish NYU.
And so this program helps Originally, it helps the summer
high school program, kids that want to that are in
high school that want to learn and come to the
(16:42):
program for a couple weeks and learn about the music industry.
And it will support one kid through the program. And
now I've kind of set it up so that the
money goes to wherever the program needs it. But yeah,
so just helping people get it the industry and getting
the opportunity that.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
I had, And.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
I just really want to support the future, the future
of music, the next Madison Love, the next producer, the
next hopefully you know it's going to change the world,
the next number one on America Dance thirty, Let's.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Go, Let's Go. That's so awesome that you support because
the arts are one of those things that aren't supported enough.
So that's so incredible. Now, really, your career has also
had some major milestones recently. Do you want to share
some of the albums that you have almost completely written
for artists.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Well, I did.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Work a lot on the Gwen Stefani album that's coming
soon November eleventh, the next the last single just dropped
called Swallow My Tears, and I just I'm Gwen is
my queen. I literally everything that I love her so
much and I got it was kind of a crazy,
just moment giving writing with her, and I remember being
(18:00):
in the studio and I remember saying to her while
she was cutting vocals, like, this is just such a
cool moment for me because you're my favorite artist, and
she was like.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Oh my god, Muffin Stop. Yeah, that's my nickname.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
And I just love the whole experience writing with her
and the album. I'm really really proud of the songs
that we wrote, and so that's going to be really
exciting to come out. It's called Bouquet the album. And
I've been working on Kesha, which is another one of
my favorites, and we have a song right now called
joy Ride that's out, and there's another song coming soon
(18:37):
that's gonna be I think she started teasing, I don't
know if the name is out yet, but that's coming soon.
And so I love her, and I've been working on
Dove Cameron, which is gonna be a really really special,
like I feel like it's like a piece of art
that we made that she's going to start teasing songs,
a lot of really incredible pop bangers in there, and
(18:59):
also just like.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Beautiful art lyrics.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
She's such an incredible lyricist, so it's going to be
really fun to showcase all of her poetry, basically an
album of poetry. And you know, I'm just I'm trying
to get on more projects, you know, I'm I'm out
there hustling, working on Demi, working on who I'm going
to go see today.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
I don't know. I don't know why I always blank
when people are like, what are you bringing on? I'm like, oh,
there's just so much stuff.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
That's a good problem to have. Well, congratulations on everything.
Tell Demi, I said, Hi, I will Madison not only
thank you for rescheduling, but thank you so much for
your time. It's great meeting you so great to me.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
You're so sweet and so fun, and I just I
couldn't have had a better host.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
I mean, come on, keep.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Going, keep going. America's Dancer counting down the biggest dance
songs in the Country America's Dance thirty
Hey, Madison, how you doing. Hi?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
How are you?
Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's great to finally meet you.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I know, I feel like we're just Instagram friends now.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
We totally are. Thank you so much for rescheduling. My
voice was completely gone and I felt you deserved better
than that.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Oh my God, no worries at all. Dance counting down
the biggest dance songs in the country. This is America's
(00:37):
Dance thirty.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Madison Love, Welcome to America's Dance thirty for the first time.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Can I be completely honest with you. I had no
idea how much of a powerhouse you are in the
songwriting game, especially in pop music, until I started doing
research on you.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Oh my god, thank you Hustler.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Your credits are unbelievable and we're going to talk about
that coming up. But congratulations on never going home tonight
with Geta and A Lesso going number one so exciting.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Woooo.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
It's such a cool experience because I've had songs go
number one before that I've written, but I've never heard
myself on the radio before with my voice, so it's
a totally different experience this round.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Well, I can't wait to talk about how this song
was born. But first, since it is your first time
on America's Dance thirty, let's get to know madis in
love a little better with Finky's first all right. So
I always love finding out the origin story of artists.
(01:49):
I know that your dad is a vocal coach and
that you went to the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.
But when you were growing up, was music the first
thing you wanted to get into or was there something
else you wanted to be I.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Was always writing songs, rewriting lyrics to Disney movies and
just writing lyrics since I was a kid, So music
was always number one.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Have you ever gone back to those old songs that
you were rewriting?
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Oh? Yeah, I pull them up all the time. There
was a couple that I'm like, oh, maybe I can
revisit this idea. But then I'm like, okay, it's a
little high school. It's very Taylor Swift inspired, but the
old old, you know, tear drops on my guitar kind
of era, and yeah, definitely inspired by her growing up,
(02:37):
and I was like, I can do the same thing.
I can write songs about what's going on at school
and the boys that broke my heart and then performed
them live at school and I used to do that
in high school.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Well, it's so incredible that you were actually able to
parlay that into a profession, because not a lot of
people can. So congratulations, Thank you so much. Now, as
I mentioned, your writing credits are insane, feel free to
take an while I go through these. You have written
with Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, Kesha, mgk Ava, Max Gezy
(03:09):
and Halsey, Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, Katie Perry, bb Rexa,
Kim Patris, Meghan the Stallion, Pink. Are you still awake?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Okay, just makeing sure, Charlie XCX, Zara Larson, Demi Lovado,
tritnal Axwellan and Grosso of course, David Getta and Alesso
and so many more. Is it as crazy to you
as I'm reading that as it is to me.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
It's really crazy.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
It's hearing all those big names in a row is
Oh my god, my mom would be so proud.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Oh unbelievable. But do you remember that first song that
you ever wrote?
Speaker 3 (03:48):
I actually do, because I was talking to my old
guitar teacher and I remember he taught me. You know,
he taught me a couple of core progressions, and then
he would go away for a couple of weeks, and
then I would write a bunch of songs to those
core progressions, and then I would perform them for him.
But like, I wrote this one song it's called thirteen,
and it was a song called being. It was about
being thirteen, and I remember, and I think I remember
(04:11):
his face being like, this is kind of good.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
But then I was like, is it good? I'm not sure?
Speaker 3 (04:18):
And I mean I had to write hundreds of songs
before one of them was great. I mean, I definitely
wrote a lot of bad songs. And you just kind
of keep hustling and working at it and working with
incredible collaborators and you learn from them and then you
just slowly get better and better. And it took me
a long time too. And I think after going to
(04:38):
Clive Davis program and working with teachers that have won
Grammys before, and that program is so incredible that I
learned just all their tips and tricks, and yeah, it
just made me the writer I am today.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
It is so incredible. Well, speaking of all those artists
that you have written for, do you have any idea
how many songs you write a year?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Oh my gosh, Well, let's say I write seven a week,
because maybe I do two sessions a day, so I'll
do a session from one to five and then sometimes
I'll do a session from seven to one am. So
I'm just I'm out here and writing as many songs
(05:21):
as I can.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
I'm building the catalog unbelievable. Now do you remember the
first song that you wrote that was picked up by
a big artist?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
My first big song was with Camilla Cabello and MGK.
That was a record that I wrote while I was
still in my dorm room. And I remember getting the
opportunity because I ended up signing to a publisher while
I was in my second year of college, but he
let me write remotely. He was like, oh, I'll send
you ideas and if you nail it, you nail it.
(05:51):
And so I got the opportunity to write this song
for that was ended up being like the big song
for Kamila and MGK, and it was playing on the
radio before I like walk down the aisle to graduate school,
said all the kids in the class were.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Like, what the heck is going on?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
The teachers are like, you can leave, and I'm like, no,
I can't. I have to graduate. I have to graduate.
I started the school and I'm going to finish it.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
That's amazing. See, I started college. I was already working
at the radio station when I was sixteen, and I
started college and then stopped because I was already working here.
I already had my career set. But I totally should
have went your avenue because I have nothing to fall
back on.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Well, it's all good.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
I don't know yet what I would be doing right
now if it wasn't songwriting. I mean, I'd probably work
for an ad agency or like marketing jingles. Yeah, you
give me a theme, they're like this Christmas, this artist,
think of something clever.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
I'd be like, that would be my job. I would
kill that.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
You recently spoke and performed for Congress to advocate for
songwriters and copyright law, which is so incredible. Do you
remember the first time ever performing for a crowd?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I do?
Speaker 3 (07:09):
I think I sang? Well, I definitely sang at my
town meeting. At school, I used to perform a lot.
I would write songs about the boys and girls in
my class, and then I would every Monday, I would
sing songs about how I feel, and I would perform
for those kids, and I remember their faces.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Originally I was like, this is probably really bad I.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Do because they're all sitting right in the fra row.
So I remember that and the anxiety of that. But
I'd rather sing for people that the songs are not.
That would be way easier for me.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
It's so funny you mentioned that. So when I was
in high school, I was bullied a lot, so I
was really shy in high school and my English teacher
at the time made us write stories based on a
book that we read, and I decided to write about
all the kids that had bullied me, and then she
made us read it out loud in class with all
(08:02):
the kids. I still remember like it was yesterday, like
my voice quivering as oh my god. It was the
most traumatic but also the best thing ever for me. Yes, yes,
A golf clap. Now, when you were thinking about your
artist project, was your first idea to always use your
real name or were there other names you were considering.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
I think, well, my middle name is Amiko.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
My grandmother's from Japan, so all of us in the
family have Japanese middle names, so I thought maybe that
would be a cool name, but then I just, you know,
I just go with the same name that I'm writing under.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
So Madison love And is there a menai to Amiko?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Amiko it means well, my mother's name, I think means
beautiful child, and my grandmother's is about wisdom, so it's
a mixture of both of those names together. Hers is
Mioko and my grandmother is Ako. So I'm Amiko.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
It's cool. Yeah, that's beautiful. What a beautiful name. Well. Finally,
in Finky's first in honor of Never Going Home Tonight
going number one, it opens with the line, DJ play
that sad song one more time when you think of
sad songs, what's the first sad song that you think.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Of sad songs?
Speaker 1 (09:18):
See? I love depressing songs like I don't know if
you've ever heard of air supply.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Oh my god, right here, I know I'm trying to
I don't know why. The first thing that comes to.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
My mind is Bad Day by Daniel Powder. But really,
I don't know why that just is the first.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Thing that comes to my mind.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
But there's definitely like Adele songs that probably really like
the one.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Those ones actually make me cry.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Oh they're so good. PS. Complete side note. Did you
see the video of Adele seeing Celine Dion at her
show recently and like broke down in tears, going over
and hug in her.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Oh my god, No, I didn't see that. I'm gonna
have to check that out.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, so emotional. Anyways, on to better things. Let's talk
about this smash now before we talk about how the
song was born. I'm very curious because when your management
sent me notes about stuff to talk about, they said,
and I quote share something about Getta's work, ethic, creativity
or energy that might surprise people. I've spoken with Geham
(10:20):
multiple times. What is this secret that you have?
Speaker 3 (10:23):
I mean, the thing about Geta is he comes so prepared,
so he'll come with his laptop and he has he
has unlimited ideas, so he'll be like, okay, I have
these chords, or he'll have like a sound and he'll
have like flip ideas for songs that he loves that
he wants to remake and redo.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
In his own style.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
And so I remember, anytime I work with Gheta, I've
done so many sessions with him.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
He always comes with his laptop and.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
He's ready to work he's just like, let's get down
to business. I'm looking for this, I'm looking for this,
let's get this kind of energy, and it's always so inspiring.
I'm like, I would love to see his computer because
it's probably just all like ideas, like start something.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
And honestly, that's why he's been such a legend for
so long. Is his work ethic. I mean, he's just incredible,
it really is.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
I think he's also just such a kind human too.
Like the day the song came out, he like whatsapped
me and I.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Was like, is this really? Like I don't know if
it's a fake David Ghetta. It was, it was really David.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
And he was just thanking me for being a part
of the song and just saying how excited he was
about it and sending me stats, and I just you know,
you don't really get that from every artist that you know,
especially in pop music. Not every artist is going to
reach out to you personally and thank the songwriters. But
that's just the kind of class act that David is
and and it just shows you and when you're kind
(11:51):
to people and when you have the work ethic your
his career, I mean, you can just see how he's
the best and the nicest.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Well, I'm so glad you guys came to y for this.
How was this smash born with Geta and a Lesso.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Well, I remember there's a lot of writing camps for
Getta that he throws through his label, And I mean
I was writing for Getta since I was in college,
going to these writing camps, and I never got a
song with him.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
But I would go in and write.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
He would come in play some chords, we would write
to that, and then you know, all the years go
by and I just keep joining the camp.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
I'm like, I'm gonna get a day a Ghetta song
one day, you know.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Like I remember seeing him at Coachella in high school
and just be like wow, sitting in the in the pit,
all sweaty of the Sahara tent, just like waiting, and
then he played Titanium and I was like, oh my god.
So this is a very surreal moment. But we wrote
another song in one of the camps called When I
(12:47):
Was Young, which also was a number one.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
The logical song. Yeah, absolutely, yeah, So.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
We did that this year and then we wrote this
other song and we you know it was I wrote
it the day of, and I didn't know if I
was going to stay on the song or if we
were going to get another artist. But I think David
was like, I really love this version, so can we
put it out with your voice?
Speaker 2 (13:07):
And I was like, you don't say no to David.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Ghetta, you know, You're like, oh, this is such an
honor of course. So and then I think it was
just the demo, so we didn't have a drop or
anything yet, and I think he reached out to a
less so separately and they worked on like the version
that's you hear now, and he added the drop and
they just changed a bunch of things and made the
(13:31):
final version together. So when he said it's all a
lesso too, I was like, I mean, I can't.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
I can't say no.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
You're like, nonetheless, I'm going to retire now.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
I was like, this is kind of dance Royalty happening
right now.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
That is so incredible how that came together. Now. Some
and I love finding out from songwriters is when you're
writing so many songs and a lot of them go
to different artists, is it tough for you to give
(14:06):
your songs to other artists or are you fine? With
passing them on.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
I love one other artists sing my songs, especially because
well when they're artists that I'm a big fan of,
I'm like.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Oh my god, this is so crazy the way that
she's singing my song, you know, it gives me the
same high.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
And yeah, sometimes the artists will like take little the
way I sing the line, or the emotion or the
graveliness or something from the vocal that I've sold to them. Basically,
I'm selling the whole performance of the song with the track,
and sometimes they'll keep that essence and then I'll be like,
(14:45):
oh god that they they like kept a little bit
of my sauce, you know, or they'll maybe keep me
on the backgrounds. And I've definitely sang a lot of
backgrounds on songs.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
So yeah, I don't mind it. I love it. I mean,
why not.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Well, can I say that it's great having you as
the spotlight this time because you sound so incredible on
this song Thank You.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
It's definitely a cool feeling.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Do you remember the first time hearing one of your
songs on the radio?
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Yes, because I was, I think in the car with
my mom and it came on and we were like
we had to pull over because we didn't want to
crash the car because I was.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Like, oh god.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
And I remember calling the producers of the song because
I was like, I don't know what to do right now.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
I have to call everyone I know.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
And I feel like I still have that same feeling
every song that comes on. If I'm like in the car,
I keep hearing somebody else's the song I wrote with
Gwen that's on Kiss FM, And every time I hear
in the car, I'm like, oh my god. And then
I try and I pull over, and then I try
and take a video of it, and I texted to
Gwen and I'm like, oh.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
My god, oh my god, it's flying right now. And
then She's like, oh my god, my god.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
So I get the same amount of excitement every single
It never gets old.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Well, I get the same feeling when I hear myself
on the radio still, and I've been doing it for
thirty one years, so I totally understand that. Congratulations on
the song going number one. It is so amazing, so fun.
It's also incredible that you created the Madison Love Future
Fund Scholarship back in twenty twenty one. You want to
share with our ad thirty fam all about that.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Sure, Yeah, this was something that I wanted to get
back from to my alma mater. I mean, I wouldn't
be anywhere in the industry without the program at tish NYU.
And so this program helps Originally, it helps the summer
high school program, kids that want to that are in
high school that want to learn and come to the
(16:42):
program for a couple weeks and learn about the music industry.
And it will support one kid through the program. And
now I've kind of set it up so that the
money goes to wherever the program needs it. But yeah,
so just helping people get it the industry and getting
the opportunity that.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
I had, And.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
I just really want to support the future, the future
of music, the next Madison Love, the next producer, the
next hopefully you know it's going to change the world,
the next number one on America Dance thirty, Let's.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Go, Let's Go. That's so awesome that you support because
the arts are one of those things that aren't supported enough.
So that's so incredible. Now, really, your career has also
had some major milestones recently. Do you want to share
some of the albums that you have almost completely written
for artists.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Well, I did.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Work a lot on the Gwen Stefani album that's coming
soon November eleventh, the next the last single just dropped
called Swallow My Tears, and I just I'm Gwen is
my queen. I literally everything that I love her so
much and I got it was kind of a crazy,
just moment giving writing with her, and I remember being
(18:00):
in the studio and I remember saying to her while
she was cutting vocals, like, this is just such a
cool moment for me because you're my favorite artist, and
she was like.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Oh my god, Muffin Stop. Yeah, that's my nickname.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
And I just love the whole experience writing with her
and the album. I'm really really proud of the songs
that we wrote, and so that's going to be really
exciting to come out. It's called Bouquet the album. And
I've been working on Kesha, which is another one of
my favorites, and we have a song right now called
joy Ride that's out, and there's another song coming soon
(18:37):
that's gonna be I think she started teasing, I don't
know if the name is out yet, but that's coming soon.
And so I love her, and I've been working on
Dove Cameron, which is gonna be a really really special,
like I feel like it's like a piece of art
that we made that she's going to start teasing songs,
a lot of really incredible pop bangers in there, and
(18:59):
also just like.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Beautiful art lyrics.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
She's such an incredible lyricist, so it's going to be
really fun to showcase all of her poetry, basically an
album of poetry. And you know, I'm just I'm trying
to get on more projects, you know, I'm I'm out
there hustling, working on Demi, working on who I'm going
to go see today.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
I don't know. I don't know why I always blank
when people are like, what are you bringing on? I'm like, oh,
there's just so much stuff.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
That's a good problem to have. Well, congratulations on everything.
Tell Demi, I said, Hi, I will Madison not only
thank you for rescheduling, but thank you so much for
your time. It's great meeting you so great to me.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
You're so sweet and so fun, and I just I
couldn't have had a better host.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
I mean, come on, keep.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Going, keep going. America's Dancer counting down the biggest dance
songs in the Country America's Dance thirty
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