Los Angeles based artist Bootstraps has released the stunning video for his song “Whenever You’re Around,” directed by and starring Parenthood’s Sam Jaeger. Joining Sam in the cast is his former co-star Erika Christensen, Alexandra Daddario and Marco James.
Videos by American Songwriter
This song came to Jordan Beckett, the mastermind behind Bootstraps, very quickly after being out all night with an old friend. It’s about those people in your life that you may not see for years but when you are together it is like no time has gone by at all. For Jaeger the concept came from conversations with Beckett on how relationships can evolve over time, but the strongest ones have that initial spark underneath. Listening to “Whenever You’re Around“ for the first time reminded Jaeger of the days before he and his wife were dating. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why he felt the way he did or what it meant, he just knew that life was better when she was in the room. That understanding got them, as a couple, through all the highs and lows, so this video is meant to be a celebration of that feeling. Bootstraps music is also very introspective and cinematic so the video was made to reflect that.
“Singer-songwriter Jordan Beckett is a crafstman whose folk-pop has a filmic quality. – Buzzbands
The songis off the brilliant new Bootstraps album Demo Love. When writin the album Beckett was fascinated by the dichotomy of the word Demo,” which can mean to demonstrate or to demolish. Getting ‘demo love’ is also a music expression where you can’t let go of a song’s original version ‘the demo’ and you love it so much you can’t see or hear a new take. These contrasting ideas are all thematically woven throughout the album Demo Love.
Beckett grew up in the fertile Portland music scene, spending his teen years going to Elliott Smith, Death Cab For Cutie and Modest Mouse shows – which resonates throughout his music. A friend gave him Lucinda Williams’ Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, which changed the way he thought about songwriting and is an album he still credits as being a heavy influence on his writing style. Music was not always Beckett’s true calling. He was a college baseball star, but an injury sidelined him, and any future he had in sports. He refocused that time and energy from sports into learning guitar and honing in on his songwriting, using the rich musical and geographical landscape of the Pacific Northwest as a jumping-off point.
His music gained attention quickly from numerous placements in film and TV that include shows like Suits, Supergirl, Parenthood, MacGyver, Grey’s Anatomy, Elementary, and films such as Power Rangers, as well as features in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Beckett also wrote the entire soundtrack to the film Take Me Home, which won ‘Best Music’ at the Nashville Film Festival. His music has been streamed over 25 million times and Shazamed over 1 Million times. Bootstraps also found a fan in Taylor Swift. His song “Replica” is featured on the Songs Taylor Loves Spotify Playlist. The success and power of his songwriting led to touring with Mumford and Sons’ Ben Lovett on the Communion Tour.
