To most, becoming Sacramento State’s most notable alumni is not even a thought, but it is a goal musician Harris Rudman works toward everyday. 

“All I’ve ever really wanted in my career is to be the most notable Sac State alum,” said Rudman, who graduated in 2016. “I always joke that you need to be Sac State’s biggest alum, then you look and you’re like damn Sac State really got some history. I’ll just be cool as long as I get on that Wikipedia page.”

As a “major Sacramento person,” it would be like a video game accomplishment to him. Rudman said his 2018 album “2013” is “an ode to Sacramento, to the city, and just kind of the sculpting of me, my sound and my life.”

Although his music is highly influenced by hip-hop and soul music, Rudman lets people decide what to call it. 

“Someone DMed (direct messaged) me recently and was like, ‘You know, how would you say your music is like?’ and I don’t really know what to say,” Rudman said. “I don’t fucking care. Not in a disrespectful way but it’s hard. I’m happy that it’s not my responsibility to decide.” 

Rudman said he applies the things he learned studying sociology at Sac State to his music. Mainly knowing about institutions and why people do the things the way they do.

“It’s kind of like a stream of consciousness and all encompassing of just how I feel about life or my experiences,” Rudman said about his music. “Which is why I think I liked that major, because it didn’t feel like this separate thing I was studying.”

Rudman started putting out music about 10 years ago, and released his first official album “Alone Time” in 2013. That project was the first time he worked with his creative partner and producer Brian Lentz.

Since 2013 the two have worked together on all of their music and events. They even went to Paris where they wrote and recorded Rudman’s 2019 album “Missing Document” in a week and a half.    

“My favorite part of our creative partnership is just making the music,” Lentz said. “We are pretty much always on the same page musically.” 

The duo does more than make music together. They started a YouTube channel in January 2019 called “LIVE! From Candyland” with videographer ZEROSCOPE, who also goes by “Zero.” 

The channel provides a place for Sacramento area artists to perform one of their songs live in an intimate setting. Rudman said he brings in the talent, Zero shoots the video and Lentz produces the music. 

A lot of artists in smaller cities have to create their own opportunities which allows them to be more creative, Rudman said. This is one of the opportunities they have created for themselves and others. 

“Zero always knew that he wanted to do a one shot performance series and Brian had his ideas… I think he’s the one who came up with the setting,” Rudman said. “We pretty much tested it out and we shot it with me for that first episode and we were like, ‘Oh shit we have something here.’” 

For Rudman, Lentz and Zero, candy is a unifying thing. 

“It’s symbolic, you know, there’s rules, always share your candy,” Rudman said. “Then with that it’s a unifying thing. It’s not an articulated ‘We are going to do whatever we can to bring people together,’ but that is our underlying thing.”

Although the channel has not uploaded in seven months, Rudman said they are preparing to come back hard. 

The channel is not the only thing Rudman is prepping for. He is currently finishing up his next album which will be released in the coming months.

Rudman has performed at the annual Sacramento music festival “Concerts in the Park” and in select shows on Hobo Johnson’s tour with friend Nate Curry. 

“Just to see the progression of where he started to now, is amazing,” Zero said in a direct message on Instagram. “Playing at CIP (Concert in the Park) in Sac is a huge deal and accomplishment.”