A group of “hyper-talented” 20-somethings from across the Okanagan valley are behind Vernon-born singer-songwriter Justin J. Moore’s latest music video.
Moore made waves after a video of a duet with opera singer dad Paul Moore went viral last year. The cover of Ed Sheeran’s Perfect Symphony has since garnered more than 200,000 views.
But now, he’s back with his moving breakup anthem and music video that was entirely shot in the Okanagan.
Local viewers will recognize several spots captured in Moore’s Someone Who Loved You Can video. Kelowna’s Bernard Avenue, Dayton Street pedestrian overpass and City Park backdrop the dissolution of a relationship portrayed by Chelsea Tansey and Taylor Mcknight.
“We were really taking a new look at Kelowna and trying to capture the vibe of a proper city,” Moore said. “That’s where my heart is anytime I write a song, it’s always metropolitan; people up at all hours, there’s life — that’s where my heart is. Kelowna does a better job at that than anywhere else in the Okanagan.”
Plus, he added, “We literally knew all the hot spots already because we live here.”
Director Jackson Parker was on board the second he heard Moore’s song, which was written, recorded and mixed in his bedroom.
“He actually had gone through something pretty much exactly like me,” Moore said. “When I sent him the song, he said, ‘Dude, it’s time we make an actual music video.’”
The hardest part for Moore, he said, was shooting scenes in a barn in Armstrong in the freezing January air.
“It was fricken’ freezing,” Moore said, admitting he’s a “bit of a baby” when it comes to cold.
“I had to keep going into the car because my nose was turning bright red.”
The video was shot in less than 10 hours thanks to a meticulously detailed shot list, planned by Moore and Parker, and quick work behind the camera by videographer Brody Jones of Brody Jones Cinema.
“It was a highly collaborative passion project from everybody,” Moore said of his small crew from Armstrong, Vernon and Lake Country. “These are hyper-talented guys that will one day be the top dogs in their industry wherever they live.
They are at prodigy levels and they’re all under 25,” Moore said.
Moore said although he’s still trying to find his style of music, Someone Who Loved You Can connected more than anything he’s put out so far.
Next up, Moore is eyeing an EP and of course, more collaboration with Parker.
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