Richard Spitzer. Born in New York City into an Orthodox Jewish / Cuban family, music was a natural part of daily life. Salsa sounds at home against the somber daily prayer at his Orthodox Hebrew Temple.  Spitzer found his way into performing at rave events at 16 then followed the path by pursuing a fine arts degree at SUNY Purchase College. There he studied studio composition with Phillip Glass, had songwriting classmates Regina Spektor, Dan Decan, Levon Vincent, and won a contest to open for The Roots.

After a rough 2019 combined with family loss, two nervous breakdowns, and an absurd democratic primary, 2020 brought about the pandemic and a national uprising.  Spitzer’s new material was written as a way to cope and seek answers in chaotic NYC, now the epicenter of the crisis.  Following a minimalist and acoustic pop centered self-titled debut album, this new work blends Richard’s taste for danceable drum production and his craft for ethereal pop synthscapes.   

Recently, Spitzer shared the video for his single “Text Your Ex.”

Director Allen Cordell on the video: “When Rich reached out to me to make a music video for Text Your Ex, I wanted to make a video I could accomplish while in quarantine, obviously, but also have it be about this crazy, insane year we’re all living through together. I think everyone right now is longing for reality to return to pre-2020 normalcy (whatever that means), and that became the idea. I filmed it at home with my family, and since it’s a video about texting, I shot it on my iPhone. It’s a time capsule in a way of this period we’re all going through, even if it’s through the lens of my personal experience.” – Allen Cordell, director

Spitzer says, “I thought Allen’s metaphor of the past (life pre-2020) as the ‘ex’ was a perfect concept. Although the song is lyrically specific, I prefer more macro ‘bigger picture’ interpretations of my work. Maybe In this way, it can also be more widely relatable.”