This week’s NY Entertainer of the Week is Spencer Ludwig. We chatted about his music, his residency at the Freehold in Brooklyn, and his NYC favorites.

upfrontNY: Can you tell us about how you got involved in music and when you knew this was what you wanted to do?

Spencer Ludwig: I first got involved in music studying at my school in Los Angeles, we had a great music program. I was very lucky and got introduced to Saxophone at a very early age in 4^thgrade, I was about 11. From that point on I was opened up to the world of Jazz and improvisation. I had a little Jazz band when I was a kid and I have always been improvising. Jazz and improvising is the foundation of my musical background.

Toward the end of high school I knew that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and knew I had to get serious about it. At the time, I was playing Trumpet which I fell in love with after listening to Miles Davis and specifically his album Kind of Blue and I decided to put all of my time and effort into perfecting my craft as a Trumpet player and got into a music college and I really learned a lot more there and was able to really sharpen my skills in Jazz and Trumpet playing.  Once you’re in the music world you’re either all in or not in at all really. I was all in and supporting myself through teaching lessons and playing gigs and going to class during the day. I have been letting the Trumpet take me on a wild ride ever since.

 

upfrontNY: What was it like when you first got started playing an instrument?

Spencer Ludwig: For me there has always been a quick learning curve as far as the basics of whatever instrument I want to learn and then I start experimenting and kind of learn through doing. In the beginning I started making noise and got excited about it. It has always been in me to let music out and whenever I am given the opportunity to make sound I turn it into music somehow. It came very naturally to me, Saxophone, wind instruments in general are just kind of like, the projection of the soul like you are literally projecting wind and air coming from your thoughts and ideas. It is a very physical and emotional experience playing a wind instrument. I think of it as an extension of your body, that has always been that way for me.

 

upfrontNY: You were in Capital Cities, can you tell us about that experience and being a part of that band?

Spencer Ludwig: Being a part of that band from the beginning to its peak was an incredible experience. To be a part of every stage of a band and to go through that really taught me a lot like what it could be if I did my own thing and how I would do it better and it also inspired me to want to do my own thing because it was such an incredible experience being able to travel the world and perform music that people were singing along to. It really was engrained in my brain and my memory that these were the best moments of my life and I want to continue this lifestyle that we have created of basically music becoming our passport as a way of traveling around the world and sharing amazing musical experiences with people.

There was so much momentum with Capital Cities it is so wild. Over the course of 4 years that I was with them it took off pretty fast and it was great.  We went from playing to our friends and family and sleeping on couches of random strangers to opening for Katy Perry and playing festivals around the world.

I got a taste of what I definitely could have and what I started to carve out as a solo artist.

 

upfrontNY: What has the transition been like going from Capital Cities to a Solo Artist?

Spencer Ludwig: It was very liberating. It is definitely more of a responsibility and more work , but it is so rewarding because when you are connecting with people through sharing your ideas you feel like you have done something special, that is what it is all about for me is the connection.

Being a solo artist isn’t technically being alone, I collaborate as a songwriter and I have band members of my own.  I still have a band I am just not the trumpet player in someone else’s band.

 

upfrontNY: Can you tell us about your residency at the Freehold and what people can expect from this?

Spencer Ludwig: This has been probably the highlight of my career thus far including all of the incredible moments with Capital Cities because this has been a moment in my career where I’ve got to really curate the greatest experience I possibly can for the audience and it is not just my show it is the whole experience from the moment you walk in to the moment you leave.  There is entertainment happening from all kinds of artists from the second you walk in. I wanted to flip the script on what it means to go see a band instead of the standard experience that people are familiar with I wanted to create something different so that people are enjoying the experience waiting for the band and while they are waiting they are seeing a fire dancer or a contortionist or an aerialist and suddenly out of nowhere a New Orleans Bluegrass band starts playing and an Opera singer pops up out of nowhere. It is constant entertainment to create an experience that is fun and free and unlike anything else out there.

I am constantly challenged every month, which is another thing I love about it to create a better event so I am forced to reach out and look out for new artists. It is about building a community that is excited about being free and creative, and that is the world I want to be a part of. This residency has allowed me to create the world I want to be a part of.

 

upfrontNY: What is the best part of having this event in Brooklyn?

Spencer Ludwig: One of my favorite parts of having it in Brooklyn is that I can walk to the venue because I live in Brooklyn and that is very special to me to connect to my community in that way, and highlighting the other incredible artists in Brooklyn.  It has been really easy to put on an event like this in Brooklyn because there is so much talent in New York City and a lot of it is in Brooklyn.

Being able to have a home base to consistently let people know that the best party in New York is happening here at the Freehold in Brooklyn, it makes it easy and fun and we are creating a home and community. I think everyone knows that New York is one of the most creative cities in the world, but I think also in any city things are spread out and the residency has allowed us to create consistency for this community of creative sand the people who want to experience this community of creatives. Every last Friday they know this really crazy party in Brooklyn is going to happen.

I feel like there isn’t another band or place that fits this description of the party that I have created. The party that I have created is the exact place that I imagine my music being experienced and the way I have imagined it being experienced, so if you need to create your own world to do what you need to do and say what you need to say I think you should do that.

 

upfrontNY: What is it like to sit back, take it all in, and see that you have brought all these people there?

Spencer Ludwig: It is beautiful. It just makes me so happy because it is not about me. It is about the people wanting to be together and in an environment that I am proud to say my music is a part of where people are happy to just be free and enjoy themselves and dress how they want and act how they want and kind of are there to expect the unexpected. I am just glad that people are connecting with my vibe.

 

upfrontNY: Do you have one particular song that is your favorite when you’re performing?

Spencer Ludwig: It changes. I have also been playing new music every month, testing things out and I have new favorites every month so it is hard to say.  I love playing “Diggy” because I know that it connects with people because I see them dancing and singing and saying oh I think I’ve heard this before, where did I hear this and it is because of the Target commercial. I have some other songs that have been out there in their own ways and I see people vibing and they don’t know why they know it but they know it, so that is cool. It is always about the reaction and the experience and the visceral experience. I can’t say I have a favorite song. It is all one experience and all the songs are part of it.

 

upfrontNY: What was it like to have “Diggy” in a campaign for Target, featured in movies, and be able to hear it in so many different places.

Spencer Ludwig: It is such a great feeling to know that something you have created is connecting with people and whether in a movie or on a playlist whoever heard it and is making the decision that they should share it with more people is validating that it is connecting with someone and they think it should connect with more people. That is a great feeling. I do it all for the feeling of being connected and sharing positive energy through something that I made or something that I am doing knowing I am transferring good energy to you is why I do what I do.

NYC FAVORITES

Favorite part of living in NYC: The Community. There is such a supportive creative community that I can walk into a place like Freehold and say I have a crazy idea. You don’t know me and I don’t know you, but this is what I want to do and why I want to do it. It happens and then people come and keep coming back. That to me, that open heart and supportive mentality for creatives is something that New York really embodies.

Favorite NYC Music Venue: The Freehold

Favorite NYC Restaurant: My favorite thing about New York is that when you’re hungry you can walk into whatever is closest and it is going to be amazing. I got to shout out my friend who created the restaurant Lilia and the sister restaurant Misi. Those are two of my favorite restaurants in the city and they for sure make the best pasta.

Favorite thing to do in the warm weather in NYC: Skateboard and Bike

Favorite NYC spot for inspiration: Just Walking around the city is inspiring.

Favorite NYC memory: I am making them right now.