Today, Zach Heckendorf released his new single and video “Up” via Organically Elevated/Missing Piece Records. Masterfully produced by Grammy winner John Fields (Jonas Brothers, Pink, Miley Cyrus), “Up” is an irresistible song that Westword said “falls into the Ed Sheeran, Lewis Capaldi school of pop — the stuff of earnest young men with big feelings, singing danceable songs with catchy hooks.”
“At its core, ‘Up’ is about viewing one's life through a particular lens,” Heckendorf tells Westword. “I could say it's a song about positivity, but that would be incomplete. It's about consciously creating the mentality that allows a person to view their current situation as just another stepping stone on the path of self discovery. The song also reflects my belief that this is the ideal mentality for both personal growth and societal growth. We have to be able to help ourselves first before helping others. We also have to have humility in order to know when we need assistance. This might all sound high falutin, but the song definitely isn't! It's supposed to be a fun, poppy, folk tune, but with a hard earned message by the song's writer. My hope is that the song can serve as a gentle reminder to listeners to keep looking ‘up’ towards whatever goal or ideal versions of themselves they're striving for.”
“The video was shot all around NYC with a stellar crew: Kyle Rothwell (Director), Wes Van Heest (Director of Photography), and Connor Landhauser (Director's Assistant),” Heckendorf continues. “My goal was to keep the viewer visually stimulated throughout the 3 minutes, 30 seconds, so we ended up shooting in a bunch of locations that had good ‘eye candy’ like Coney Island, Rockaway Beach, the McIntosh showroom in Manhattan, and Gleason's Boxing Gym in Dumbo. I'm grooving throughout the video because dancing on camera is unknown territory for me and definitely made me nervous. I wanted to take some sort of risk in the video to ‘walk the walk’ and battle one of my own fears during the filming process. My friend Barton Cowperthwaite, another Colorado native living and working in NYC as a professional dancer, created some choreography for me, which was very helpful.”
Since releasing his self-titled debut album at age 16, Heckendorf has released a series of critical and fan-favorites: The Cool Down, Speed Checked by Aircraft, Artifacts and an EP titled Up. He’s toured the U.S. extensively as a headliner and has supported artists such as Rodrigo y Gabriela, John Butler Trio and Rogue Wave as well as Michael Franti and Spearhead at Red Rocks Amphitheater.
Listeners discovering Zach Heckendorf for the first time will cheer the emergence of a bold, exciting modern troubadour who can speak to their private fears, hopes and joys with rapier wit and incisive insight. He’s got the poetic and melodic chops that allow him to neatly tuck meaningful themes and messages into irresistible ear candy, making them go down easy; before you know it, you’re hooked, and when you’re least suspecting it, you come away with a fresh frame of reference.
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