Huddy

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Recently I was able to schedule a Zoom call with musician and actor, Huddy, to discuss his new single and video treatment for a key song called “Fragile.” In this interview, I asked Huddy about the difference in preparing for an acting role versus performing for a live concert, where he finds most of his inspiration for his art, and the plans for the future. If you’re enjoying the interview, please consider streaming Huddy’s music here.

Thank you so much for your time today! You have a great new single called fragile, which I absolutely love. What was the lyrical inspiration behind this key song of yours?

For “Fragile”, it was really a moment of just diving into my own internal feelings, which was feeling like I wasn’t able to express myself to the people that are in my life. I felt like I couldn’t tell my parents about my problems. I felt like I couldn’t talk to my friends about my problems, and also my significant others that I’ve had in my lifetime. I feel like I make a point of trying to always try to mask my feelings and pretend like everything’s okay, and bottle it all up instead of sharing how I feel with everybody. And so I think this is like this reminder to everyone that not only am I fragile and I’m human, but I think everyone in the world is fragile to a degree, and needs to talk about their feelings. So it’s like a big <way of> bringing it all back to the core of who we are as people. People that have feelings and need to talk about them, need to share them. And it’s a great way to shine a light on mental health, and especially men’s <mental health>. I feel like men are less likely to talk about their feelings.

Yeah, for sure. And what guidance would you have for people out there looking for some ways to either speak out about mental health?

I think there’s a few ways. Either writing it down on your phone or on a notebook, talking to someone that you trust in your life. Sometimes that’s your dad, sometimes that’s your mom. Sometimes it’s one of your close friends. But talk to somebody that you feel like you can take and hear their advice on these problems. Talking to a therapist is obviously a good resource, but not everyone can afford therapy, so I think talking to anyone who isn’t going to take your feelings and invalidate them, and actually give you good pieces of advice, I think is a great way to get some perspective on your feelings.

Yeah, that’s a great way of putting it! And, I hope people take that to heart too. So I understand you’re also continuing to test out your acting chops from time to time. You have an upcoming romantic comedy called How To Lose A Popularity Contest. What do you find are the major differences in preparing for an acting role versus performing at a live concert?

Funny enough there’s little bits of the same things that kind of go into it. Like taking an acting lesson and preparing for a movie, it’s the same thing as going and doing a rehearsal for a live performance. It is just basically getting all the parts and the beats down and like what you want to do for each part of a show. And it’s the same thing you’re going to want to be doing when you’re trying to nail an acting role, and preparing for this. I also went and I started working out a lot. And I think that’s also another thing touring artists want to do is go out there and work out as much as they can, so that they’re ready. They’re running on the treadmill, singing their songs, and stuff like that. Just prepare yourself for going out on the road. And I think that the similarities are really interesting between acting and music and the way that you’re trying to convey an emotion through a song, especially with things like rock n’ roll. It’s all about emotion and feeling, and the specific delivery on what the meaning and message is of every song that you’re putting out. And I think that that goes within every scene that you’re doing. In acting, your timing has to be right. Your facial expressions have to be right. You’re <thinking about> how high and how low you go, and how much you scream, and whatever those kinds of things are. All of these beats matter, and as for acting in the same way you would be recording a song or performing it. Your facial expressions matter when you’re performing and when you’re making a music video. So I think those differences and similarities are not too far off from each other in a way. It wasn’t too unfamiliar for me to do this and take this opportunity.

That’s great! And what do you find either more challenging/more rewarding? Is it hard to be a multifaceted artist?

It’s challenging being an artist, because you take so much time to carefully curate the music. With making a movie, you only have a certain amount of hours in a day to complete a scene. So I think, in a sense, acting can be more challenging that way, whereas being patient as an artist and waiting for the right thing, and the right song, the right moment, <that> takes a lot of patience and pressure. Also, everything has a little bit of a weight that you have to get off your chest. If I’m playing a show, that’s a weight, and until I walk off that stage tonight and I congratulate myself and be like, “Oh, wow! That was great. I’m so glad I did that…” Until that scene in the movie is over, you’re still thinking about how I still have that weight on my chest, until I accomplish it, one thing at a time.

That’s awesome. And you’re obviously very talented at being able to do both, not everybody could pull that off!

Thank you!

Sure thing! What was your music upbringing like at a young age? And do you see any of those “breadcrumbs” of the past that influenced your multifaceted career today?

Yeah, growing up, I listened to a lot of classical rock. It was my family and my sister who introduced me to pop-punk and all of the artists of the 2010s, and early 2000s, I would say. I was always really into music, even from a very young age. I was always humming melodies,and singing songs or writing songs in the shower, pretending I’m writing a song, and then I’d forget it as soon as I got out of the shower. It was always something that’s flowing through my bloodstream, because my family all loves music. My dad plays 30 instruments. My mom used to sing in the choir. My sister used to sing in the choir. My great grandpa’s a composer. Both of my uncles have been in punk rock bands, and one of them is still performing today overseas. He’s in a big progressive rock band. And it’s just been something in my family, singing and dancing has always been something in my family that I grew up with and I feel like I had a special love and appreciation for it growing up. And so I think that was just kind of the start of it, and then I developed my own music taste. And once I had really made it out of LA, it was just like, “Okay, how can I become a musician?” Because this is all that I’ve wanted to do my whole life. Music was always at the front of it.

That’s awesome. And it was definitely in your blood to give it a shot, for sure, and it appears to be paying off! So you’ve achieved a great social media presence as well, on Instagram and among other platforms. What are some of your favorite moments of connecting with your fans, whether they be online though direct messages or whatever, or in-person at a concert?

I think my favorite moment of each concert is one, getting to connect with them while I’m on stage, but then being able to have a cool conversation with them, a laugh, or a deep conversation with the people after the show as well. I’ve found that, to be frank, quite fun. Just meeting people that you absolutely have changed their lives and or have saved their life…It’s really interesting and cool to be able to share a piece of yourself with them and be able to connect with them on <that> level. I mean, it’s mind blowing in a way, because music is everything, but it’s even more to somebody else and and so, like, I find it so fun to be able to have that connection. And that just kind of goes back to the root of why I started this all in the first place. It’s just the connection. And so to be able to get out there and meet with people is fun. And also, the chaos that kind of comes with playing a live show like mosh pits and crowd surfers and all of these things…that’s also a really fun way to let loose. I love to see that my music can bring that out of people.

Yeah, and concerts are a very therapeutic way of expressing yourself too. What are some of your core influences in your music? Obviously, you’ve worked with people like Travis Barker and stuff like that, but can you think of any other core influences that you put into your own music, or even acting?

I think for the influences I’m putting into this project, specifically, have been Linkin Park, Pierce The Veil, Deftones, Limp Bizkit, and I think, style-wise, my biggest influence is Lenny Kravitz. I think he has the swag of a million people all in one body and so I think I just kind of mesh all of those things together. That kind of makes me, and who I am, on this project. All <these influences> come from who I’ve looked up to in the last couple years. I’ve just carried those heavy influences for me, down into the music and in the messaging as well. It’s like, “How can I convey a message the same way that they would? And how can I bring the production to life, the way that they bring production to life?” And also, sonically make a cohesive project in the same way that some of these people who are my favorite artists do.

That’s cool to hear! Can you think of an example of maybe a producer, or somebody that you worked with in the past that really had an influence on not only your career today, but also potentially in the future?

My favorite producer, the person that has also been the most impactful in my music career, is Erik Ron. He wrote “All The Things I Hate About You”, and then he wrote the follow-up, “Healing”, with him. And then on this project, he’s probably written three to four songs as well. And man, he’s just a great producer. And also he knows my brain really well and has gotten used to my style of music, and isn’t afraid to do something that seems challenging or seems out of the ordinary a little bit. It’s always fun to go in and make something with him. And I think a lot of the music that is going to be coming out in this project will just wow people and a lot of those songs are the Erik Ron ones as well. He’s captured the essence of what Huddy music is. And so that’s been the reference that we’ve given to everybody is this is what it sounds like.

That’s great to hear! Do you think you’ll ever dabble into curating a score or movie soundtrack one day?

it would be kind of sick to do a full, curated Huddy soundtrack. That would be really cool. I mean, that’s just beyond my reach. I feel like even getting one song in a movie is something that would be a blessing for me, because I always feel like the time that you feel the most in a movie is when something crazy happens, and then that song is playing, then really connecting with that. I would love to have that be a song of mine.

Absolutely! And those kinds of emotional responses happen with music all the time, and I’m sure people have shared that with your music too. You have high-energy concerts from what I’ve seen on videos that I’ve looked at. What does your vocal warm up routine look like?

So about an hour outside of the show, I’ll do a vocal warm up routine with my coach, and then within that, I also have a humidifier for my vocals. So, I’ll do that before I do the warm ups. And then in that, also a big part of the warm ups is working with a straw. So I bought this thing called a sink, which is something that does the job of a straw and makes it harder to breathe or sink into it, depending on the difficulty that you choose, and so I’ll use that. And then after I get those 30 minutes out of the way, then I’ll do stretches. Get my blood warm, bunch of jumps, push-ups, and then I’m on stage;

How would you describe a life in the day of Huddy?

When I wake up, I’ll always look for the nearest coffee shop. I’ll get coffee, a pastry, anything that looks good, that can hold me up. After that, I’ll go back home, shower, give my team a call, and make sure that we’re good to go on posting things throughout the day. Because otherwise you’re just gonna forget about it and be living in concert mode soon as that’s out the way, bam. Start my warm-ups. Get in the concert mode. Play the show afterwards. I gotta cool down from the concert. I’ll take another shower, and then I’ll go out and I’ll meet some fans.

That’s awesome. Is there any advice that you could give young artists trying to look through their big breakthrough that you’ve kind of picked up along the way in your career?

If I were to give advice to up and coming artists, I would say the best way to do it is to only go with the songs that you really believe in. To always stay true to who you are and what your messaging is as an artist. Make sure it feels authentic. Don’t always go after the sound that everyone else is chasing. Try to be your own sound. Or, if there’s like a lane that excites you, find how you can make that lane sound, so that you don’t try to sound like everyone else. The best thing you can be is unique. And so I’ve always tried to look for the uniqueness in myself. And I feel like that’s what paid off most for me in my career. There’s another song called “21st Century Vampire,” and I still get told that to this day, there’s not another song like it. And that just comes from me trying to be my own person through and through.

That’s awesome. And you sound like a very authentic person. You have a very good direction for your music too, which is hard to find these days sometimes. So I commend you for that.

Thank you!

So after this year wraps up, what can fans look forward to for the rest of the year, and into the new year too?

We’ve got an album on the way! There’s more singles to look forward to, more of a visual world that’s going to be continuously building. There’s Warped Tour Orlando. There’s Ceremony Festival later this year, and I’m hoping and praying that we get to do some more shows just for the fans and I do something intimate over the next couple months to really capture that connection with the fans. Maybe try to do little pop-ups, or little “one night only’s” in certain cities. And I’m just looking forward to connecting with people through more music, honestly.

That’s great to hear, and I look forward to seeing you the next time you come through DC!

Thank you so much, man, for taking the time. I appreciate it.

Of course, have a great evening!

You too!

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