Often seen around in his iconic fluffy bear hat and a long green Russian army jacket, first-year Hudson Garcia is already making a name for himself. Garcia, GSB ’28, is from Orange County, California. He is a part of two bands; one is a Ska Punk band called Chudson, which consists of Garcia and his friends, and the other is The Pain, Killers, a biblical punk band. The Pain, Killers is made up of Garcia and his cousin, Collin O’Connor. He was also Garcia’s inspiration to start creating music as he saw how impactful it was to his cousin. He calls his genre “Hudson” which “embodies what it means to be Hudson Garcia.”
Some may have heard some of his music earlier in the year in the Faber basement during a release party for his new album “Hudson and Friends: The Hudson Album,” which attracted too many people for it to be held in Garcia and his roommate Ashvin Das’ dorm. The album can be found on Spotify. He also has a new album called “Hudson 2000” coming out soon, with no set release date.
Both bands are based in California, which has caused a couple of difficulties, but the bands make it work as they can still put on shows while Garcia attends Fordham University. He still performs with them occasionally whenever he is back in Orange County for breaks. However, there is a chance that Fordham students will be able to watch Garcia perform live and get a taste of Ska Punk as “Chudson” is going on tour in the spring and is rumored to be visiting New York for a show. “But that’s a secret,” said Garcia jokingly.
Despite the difficulties of being on the other side of the country from his band, Garcia has been making the most of living in New York. Most notably, he was able to sit in the audience of “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” and watch how the show was made. He said he was impressed by the efficient and strict environment of the show that made it run so smoothly and that the set was significantly smaller than he thought it would be. After the show, Garcia was lucky enough to talk with Jimmy Fallon one-on-one. “He was actually really nice,” he said when reflecting on meeting him. “I thought he was not going to be cool, but he was actually really chill.” Despite being on the opposite coast, Garcia did not slack in his duties of being a band member. He took the opportunity to help promote his band, creating an Instagram reel with Jimmy Fallon to promote “Chudson.” The video can be found on their Instagram @chudson.band.
Garcia has been helping to run a lot of the behind-the-scenes which has exposed him to the inner workings of entertainment. As a Gabelli School of Business student, he already has real-world experience in marketing and management. He runs the website that the band uses to sell tickets for shows and deals with issues regarding ticket sales. He also creates posters to advertise their shows and creates content to boost their band and tour dates despite being unable to be with them at the present moment. However, being on the set of “The Tonight Show” exposed him to other types of entertainment industries, something that has created an interest in a new field.
Garcia has always had a passion for entertainment since he was eleven years old. Being at Fordham has allowed him experiences he would otherwise not have had, such as meeting Jimmy Fallon, but also allowed him to learn even more about business and marketing, a skill he is sure to use to help promote his bands.
