Photographer Michelle G Gonzales
Fashion Luca Kingston and Amanda Lim at The Only Agency
Writer Sam Cohen
Groomer Nathaniel Dezan at Opus Beauty using Olaplex
Producers Tessa Swantek and Sam Cohen
Director of Photography Quinn Friedman
Photographer Assistant Carlos Felipe
Locations Special Thanks The Godfrey Hotel Hollywood and Memento Mori LA
“I think people have always tried to make me something that I'm not, and I wanted to figure out how to take ownership of that in a way that actually felt authentic to who I really am.”
If you were to give Chase Hudson a time machine to access any era of his past, he’d travel back to his early childhood when life, and the problems it contained, “were so simple.” Back then, he lived across the street from his best friend, and they would venture out every day to ride their bikes, play baseball, or build with LEGO. This desire to access his former innocence is, in many ways, present within his latest body of music. Huddy, as he’s professionally known, said that he wanted to take control of the narrative that others tell for him and use that power to create something real instead.
At his core, he’s shyer than he seems. He knows how to enhance his persona when needed, as any good performer does, but the undercurrent of his true nature is reflected in his desire for simplicity. Huddy is a powerhouse of creativity—he’s an actor, musician, model, and social media star—and he’s also a human being who’s trying to make sense of the world and how it treats him. He’s aware that he can’t truly revisit the golden days of the past when the most complicated thing he had to worry about was what he and his best friend wanted to do that day. But Huddy is trying to figure out how to move forward in a way that honours the childhood version of himself who thought other people would be as kind to him as he is to them. The release of his new album is, he hopes, a way of letting go; not only of painful parts of the past, but of restrictions he’s felt creatively. And maybe in this attempt to let go, he’ll create a new era reminiscent of the one he found most joyful.
Burn the Ballroom Down releases and How to Win A Popularity Contest releases 16th January 2026.
Take in the full 16-page story beyond this teaser. Our brand new Autumn Winter 2025 issue, "To Be Human" is available to buy online.
