Today we’d like to introduce you to Huxley Rittman.
Huxley, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I was raised in Singapore from the age of 1 when my family planted ourselves there. I grew up loving music, being especially drawn to classic rock of the 60s-80s’. I thought being a Rockstar was just about the coolest thing you could be, and I always had an interest in playing. I started on the piano and enjoyed it but didn’t take music-making too seriously until I picked up the guitar a few years later. I had a band that started in middle school as a fun little experiment but had gotten pretty serious by the time we all split up for college. By this point I’d made up my mind that music is what I’d be doing with myself for the rest of my life so I made my way to Berklee College of Music, where I learned a great deal and met what would become my beloved band, Hux & the Hitmen.
Prior to the creation of this group, I’d only considered myself an instrumentalist/composer, rarely singing or dealing with lyrics, but the bustling music scene of Boston and the competitive atmosphere of Berklee pushed me to become a full on songwriter, and I’m glad that they did. I love singing, I love playing, I love writing, I love jumping around on stage like a straight up BUFFOON. It’s what makes sense to me, and the only thing I could see myself doing.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I like to think that there’s very little brain standing between my heart and my music. I like to write very honestly so that just about any listener can hear a song and think “okay yeah, me too”. When I listen to music, its always more a matter of mood and less a matter of story. Lyricism can get very heady and complex, and I personally don’t even pay attention to lyrics until the 3rd listen of a song or so, so when writing, I try to keep things very simple and very much straight from the heart, because the songs I enjoy the most are the ones I can hear myself in. I find that this enables me to have a very personal and immediate relationship with the people that take interest in the music. I like being able to make friends with a listener, feeling as though we’re safe in each other’s company without even needing to speak or meet. In terms of the musical side of things, I just like to have fun. I like music that is danceable and tickles a nerve, be it your happy nerve or your angry nerve or your teary nerve. I just want to be relatable and loud.
What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
Just get yourself out to where your people will be. I spent some time in Nashville TN, where I knew nobody. I am NOT a social butterfly so it took a lot of pushing myself, but I just kept going to open mics every night and forced myself to talk to people, and surely friendships grew and I built a really strong little group of friends and fellow musicians. Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s an easy way around it, you really just got to get out there and shake some hands.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
NEW EP OUT IN LATE SUMMER, stay tuned to these pages to hear it:
FACEBOOK PAGE: facebook.com/huxandthehitmen
WEBSITE: huxandthehitmen.com
MUSIC VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBBrLIf1GDs
Contact Info:
- Website: huxandthehitmen.com
- Email: huxleyrittmanmusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: huxandthehitmen
- Facebook: facebook.com/huxandthehitmen
Image Credit:
Jessica Amerson,
Clawmountain Studios,
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