Meet Gavin Hudner | Songwriter & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gavin Hudner and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gavin, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I’m from Los Altos, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley which is known for creativity in technology but not necessarily the arts, and yet, I was raised in a very musical household. I grew up listening to a lot of jazz, which developed my musicianship skills without me even realizing it. I loved being in musicals as a kid and had the leading roles in “Oliver!” and “Aladdin” at my local community theater. I enjoyed musical theater until I realized I am a terrible actor, so making the jump to solely music was easy after years of singing. When I started high school, not a lot of people around me were doing anything music related and most people were rather discouraging about pursuing a creative career. This allowed me to connect online with people outside of my community and work with people all over the world. I think growing up in the Bay Area taught me a lot of important lessons about accepting my differences and being able to branch out of what people consider the norm.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a songwriter and producer before anything else. I started in my bedroom writing exaggerated songs about my experiences, and taught myself how to produce along the way. Knowing the drums, piano, and ukulele really helped with this process. Recently, I have taught myself guitar and just got a violin to learn. When I moved to LA, I got put into sessions and realized that collaborating with others is much more fun than writing songs alone. Doing a session a day, sometimes two or three a day, has taught me about how to work with others and has made me a better producer. My freshman year at UCLA was all remote, so I would be in online class, set my zoom to mute, and spend the entire day in a dark studio on Burbank Blvd, learning how to produce music. This routine allowed me to meet so many people in the industry and gave me an incredible start in producing. To me, being a producer means supporting and elevating the artist’s vision. I love being able to express myself sonically and lyrically even though someone else is singing the song; It still feels like it’s a piece of me.

Recently, I have been reaching into the world of A&R, which has evolved into a big passion of mine. I love discovering new artists as well as connecting singers with writers with producers. Today, I have obtained 50 million streams from songs I have written and produced including “Could’ve Just Left Me Alone,” by Alexa Cappelli and “Intrusive Thoughts,” by Grant Knoche. I also sit in the top two percent of songwriters and top five percent of producers in the world. It has always been a goal of mine to be able to work with my closest friends and express myself creatively every day and I am so excited about the songs to come.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would start the day at Teaspoon in Sawtelle. This boba shop is a chain, but the first shop they opened is in my hometown in Norcal. Sawtelle Blvd is such a cute street to walk around – we would definitely need to pop into a few plant nurseries. I love to swim in the ocean, so I always take my visiting friends to Will Rogers beach in the summer. The Hammer museum in Westwood is free and always has really cool art exhibits. I love pasta so we’d have to go to Le Petit Four, and get the Lemon Penne with extra parmesan. Another great spot would be Violet in Westwood. The restaurant has pretty outdoor seating and I have dreams about their Steak Frites. Ending the night at a venue watching a friend of mine perform is my favorite kind of night.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to shout-out my parents and brothers for supporting my passion, and for not getting too mad about me singing every second at home growing up. Singing, writing and producing came naturally to me as I’m from a long line of musicians. I learned piano and ukulele from my grandpa, and growing up, I performed at Pier 23 in San Francisco with my mom who is also a jazz singer. My grandpa taught me about learning music with your ears rather than learning from sheet music. Growing up surrounded by music has taught me a lot about performing and ultimately fostered my love for jazz. My parents, who met in a band, put my brothers and I into drumming, guitar, and piano lessons which led to me trying to write and produce some of my first songs in high school.

I would also like to shout-out my amazing elementary school music teacher Ms. Hodgett for always encouraging me to be creative and express myself through music. From kindergarten on, we were exposed to a wide variety of music from all around the world–reinforcing my decision to study ethnomusicology at UCLA, where I am in my senior year.

Website: https://www.gavinhudner.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gavinhudner/

Image Credits
Emma Evans and Grace Wilson