Brandon Ratcliff may be new to country fans, but the Louisiana native isn’t new to break ups.
In fact, when it comes to the not-so-happy ending of a relationship, Ratcliff’s got some hard and fast rules.
Ratcliff shared a behind-the-scenes look at the making of his video for “Rules of Breaking Up,” which was shot in and around an old factory in Nashville’s Germantown neighborhood, with Justin Clough in the director’s chair. Ratcliff told us about all the falling he does, how late the shoot went, and what he hopes fans take away from his story.
CMT: Is all the falling in the video meant to represent the falling in love, or the bouncing back?
Ratcliff: I think the video’s ultimate purpose was to capture the feeling of the song in a more ethereal way. Because it doesn’t have a specific plot, it allows the person watching the video to determine whether it’s the falling in or out of a relationship.
CMT: So that trampoline you were on: friend or foe?
Ratcliff: The trampoline was a lot of fun, although I had whiplash for a week after this shoot.
CMT: What else surprised you about the process of shooting a video?
Ratcliff: I had no idea video shoots lasted so long. I was up until 4:30 in the morning, and that part wasn’t fun. Also I had brand new shoes on during the shoot, and getting them almost completely ruined was hard for me.
CMT: Is there a woman in your life who inspired this ballad?
Ratcliff: This song, for me, was written from the perspective of imagining trying to go through a break up with my wife Lexi. I almost thought of it as a love song. I don’t know how I could go through those steps of moving on if it was her that I was moving on from. I would want to break those rules. Most of my songs aren’t about something or someone specific, because I try to cater the story to things we’ve all known, felt, or been through.
CMT: Then what do you hope viewers and fans will take away from the new video?
Ratcliff: Hopefully the video serves as more of a visual representation of how the song feels, and ultimately points the spotlight back on the song itself. I didn’t want to distract from the lyrics and the production of this song because that’s the most important part to me.