Brent Butler is a New York City based guitarist, vocalist, producer, actor, and even is the host of “Popdust Presents.” He accrued his eclectic music taste from growing up in New Jersey and being obsessed with punk-rock and even David Bowie, while being in a scene largely dominated by hip-hop.
It all started in 2015, when Butler set out to mix melodic, radio-ready hooks with rap verses while self-producing. He ultimately released The Cold Press, a concept-based EP and started his touring career. But, it’s what came after, the L I L A C EP, that leads us to where we are today.
Much like his previous work, Butler entirely self-wrote and produced L I L A C, making it a fun and unique dive into Butler’s mind. Each song presents its own level of adventure, whether he is wielding a guitar, rapping, producing beats, Butler does so authentically and proves he can essentially do anything he puts his mind to.
Off of L I L A C comes “Watching Me Closely,” an emotionally charged, self-reflective alternative song that finds Butler at one of his best moments. Today, we are bringing you the new music video to accompany the track, which adds another dimension to the track to make it even more intriguing. It opens with laid back instrumentals and multiple camera shots of a bed covered in balloons, plastic hearts floatings, and cotton clouds floating throughout a room. Butler appears and seems to be in a fairytale, only to find out that it’s an illusion and fights his way through reality.
The video — production done by Root Studios, directed by Jillian Iscaro, and Steven Mastorelli as director of photography — can be found at the top of this post. Brent Butler expands on the song, “About 6 or 7 months ago I stumbled upon Jillian Iscaro’s Instagram page while looking for local artists that could potentially lend art for L I L A C. I was immediately blown away by her photography, illustrations, animations – everything! So of course I elegantly slid into the DMs and basically begged her for months for some sort of collaboration. Jillian proposed a music video shoot so I said to pick any song off the EP and she would totally have dibs. She choose “watching me closely” and came up with an incredibly creative treatment. Working with Jillian, her DP Steven Mastorelli, and their crew at Root Studios in Brooklyn was a dream come true (even when I freezing to death in an inflatable pool for the water shot, haha). By far the most professional music video production I’ve ever been a part of and I couldn’t be happier or more excited to see the public reaction!”
If you enjoy the song and what you hear from Brent Butler, you can keep up with him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
