We don’t need to meet our heroes
…we become them.
The official music video for “Young Skins” is out now, and the song is officially live on Spotify everywhere. Hope you guys love it. Listen to “Young Skins” here and read this post below for a deeper dive into this song, its meaning, and behind the scenes of the music video…
“We’re just old souls in young skins
We wait our whole lives to be something
And when our time comes, we won’t run then
We don’t need to meet our heroes
…we become them.”
Watch the “Young Skins” music video here:
I made this video with a team of people from my town, fans who drove from hours away, and my partner-in-visual-crime director Brian Petchers. Watch the music video here and show some love in the comments.
This is one of my favorite music videos I’ve ever made and I can’t believe we pulled it off on such a shoestring budget. Couldn’t have done it without the kind souls and local legends whose faces you see decorating the storyline with their own coming-of-age still frames, of both sad and happy times, and rocking my Great Depression merch while going wild to the song in a field. That’s the same field where I grew up playing soccer. This felt full circle like shooting videos in my hometown area always does.
With a week’s notice, I put out a casting call to my fans, my friends locally, and my family to help us gather the scenes and settings we needed to pull this thing off. I’d say we made it happen in a way that exceeded any expectations.
My hometown area continues to be a muse for me. It reminds me of my childhood and the things I dreamed about when I first started writing songs, but it also serves as the place I moved back to over this past year to camp out alone in the woods in a small attic bedroom and write all of these new songs. Young Skins is one of those. I always thought of this one as the start to my official new EP, and though I’m in the midst of that now and don’t entirely know where it’s going to go, this feels like the right choice for kicking it off. Smacking drums. A chorus you can sing along to. Trumpets that hint at the longing but partially damaged heroism that we all aspire to… it feels like a new soundtrack for my life is starting to take shape.
All press photos below captured on set by Thomas Ford Flynn:
The meaning of this song is as much about me pursuing a lifetime of music and creativity on this strange and unpredictable journey as it is about encouraging others to die for their dreams. Along the way to pursuing what you really want to, and spending your time on things that truly fulfill you, you often have to confront painful memories, let go of things that serve as anchors to your past, and do what seems impossible. That’s what I talk about across the verses of Young Skins from my perspective and that of some of my longtime friends — and that’s what we set out to do with this music video.
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Hope you love Young Skins and appreciate the details we put into this song and mini movie.
For all the kids who dream of becoming one of the people in the posters on your bedroom wall.
I’m right there with you.
More soon,
D.O.