A Nanaimo musician has dug her way into the grave business of paranormal activity.
Or, at least, wrote the theme music for it.
Last year, vocalist Elise Boulanger was commissioned to create a signature piece for the seven-part StoryHive docuseries Spirit Seekers, which explores claims of paranormal activities surrounding six Nanaimo locations.
“I was excited about the idea, just because I like haunting things,” Boulanger said. “I find that they’re very alluring and captivating to the ear. And people often say I have a haunting sound.”
The docuseries – which was uploaded to StoryHive’s YouTube channel in September – focuses on tales surrounding Malaspina Theatre at Vancouver Island University, the Oxy Pub in the Old City Quarter, the Beban House at Beban Park, the Bastion on the waterfront downtown, Fire Hall No. 2 on Nicol Street, and Protection Island. In the last part, director and medium Paula DeMontigny discusses mediumship with another spirit communicator.
The theme music, which was released as a single on April 18 and can be heard on Boulanger’s Spotify account, has been described as her “entrance into electronica.” The vocalist said she considered making the signature piece into a full song, since it’s only 37 seconds long, but decided against it in order to stay true to the original composition.
Using recently developed skills obtained though a Socan Foundation music production program, Boulanger considered the different places being visited in the docuseries and aimed to combine the relevant “ghostly sounds” with “droning bass, waves of crackle, and [her] soprano vocal range in a dark, down-tempo styling.”
“One thing that I learned from [a medium] is that spirits – they’re never trying to harm you. They’re only trying to keep you safe,” Boulanger said. “So if you hear a racket, it’s because they’re trying to get your attention … When people think of haunting things, or ghosts, it might make them timid or unsure, but I had this positive view of spirits after learning … and I wanted to keep that positive spin on it throughout the creation process.”
Spirit Seekers can be viewed online at StoryHive’s YouTube channel, or on the Telus Optik TV channel.
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