Spencer Ludwig

Early life and education

Ludwig is the son of a Filipino mother and Russian Jewish father and grew up in Los Angeles, California. He attended Oakwood School and began playing saxophone in the fourth grade due to his school's support for performing arts. Ludwig grew fond of jazz music and performed in the school's jazz band during his middle school years.

Ludwig learned to play the french horn in high school but decided to apply to college as a trumpet player. He started off by teaching himself how to play the trumpet going into his senior year of high school. He recorded and sent audition CDs to various schools. He was accepted to California Institute of the Arts where he studied jazz. He supported his way through school by playing with local bands from Los Angeles and teaching trumpet part-time at his former high school.

Career

Ludwig was part of the local Los Angeles music scene, performing with numerous bands. He began performing while in college, forming a cover band with guys that graduated from Oakwood School a few years before him. It was in 2012 that Ludwig got his break with a major band.

While playing a music festival with a band called Sister Rogers in 2012, Capital Cities band members Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian watched him perform, later asking him to join the group as its trumpet player. Ludwig shifted his focus to solely playing trumpet, recorded and touring with the group for four years. He recorded trumpet on the group's platinum debut album In a Tidal Wave of Mystery.

Ludwig has released a number of unique song edits known as Spencer Ludwig Trumpet Edits where he remixes popular songs by adding his signature horn to the track. He also signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records in 2015 to be a solo artist. He is set to release a debut album in 2016, with tracks produced by RedOne, Gregg Alexander, Jesse Shatkin, Jake Sinclair and Bram Inscore. In July 2016 he released the first two singles from the album, Diggy and Right Into U. The song "Diggy" is featured in Target's new fall style TV spot, "Vibes", which premiered on September 14.

Singles

(As solo artist)