Cover photograph for the John Valentine Soundtrack, taken by Colin McLellan in Bolton Street Memorial Park, circa; 2009.
Toward the end of 2009, after Zubric had broken up, I was seconded by Nicole Chesterman regarding the joining of her corporate covers act, The California Dreamers.
I was familiar with the band and thought it to be a bit of a no-brainer, considering it was a 60's revival act and - as strictly a vocalist - I already knew all the words to most of the songs in their repertoire.
Almost immediately that I joined, Nicole's husband, William Kircher, was successful in auditioning for the role of Bifur in the upcoming Peter Jackson movie trilogy, The Hobbit.
I was also advised by my agent to start growing a beard for the scenes I'd initially be required for, as an extra in Esgaroth (Laketown). Pictured at right.
John Valentine
JOHN VALENTINE
Now let me tell you an old story,
sacred to the memory
of an Irish immigrant, 1849.
His name, yes indeed, John Valentine.
Now, this whiskey trading lad from Derry,
had leaked into the cemetery,
some of the very best of his
top shelf fortified wine.
Now, sometimes things get misconstrued,
but slimy green, iridescent ooze
was believed to be the cause
of all the dying.
Have a drink, makes you think John Valentine.
Oh, John Valentine.
They tried to flush this effluence,
these hardy pioneer immigrants,
the future is only ever one second away.
"Let's close the cemetery down,"
said Councillor J.F.T Brown,
"or we'll all be dead by the end of the month of May!"
Contaminated clay and gases,
from recently departed masses
explained away the deaths, but who was buying?
Well, no one enough to toast the town,
not the dead and not the crown,
from Tinakori Road, all down the line.
It's running down the hill John Valentine!
Oh, John Valentine.
The kinfolk had their own releases,
Disturbia and heady pieces,
but epidemic, death and chaos reigned.
A scapegoat or some pop narcotic
who delves into the night's erotic
luxuries must be found and then be framed.
The Princess, she went up in flames
and through the corpse charred remains,
was impossible to tell who was crying.
The say she screamed from within the fire,
her dying words from her funeral pyre...
"I'm going to fuckin' get you for this
John Valentine..."
Oh, John Valentine.
Triple shot or body rot?
(c) Carlton McRae, 2009
YOU KILL ME
You kill me, by letting me down.
You kill me, by letting me down.
I think I was good to you.
I gave you love just like you wanted me too
and then you killed me, by letting me down.
You used to thrill me,
in dark corners of town.
But now you just kill me,
with all your putting me down.
I think I was good to you.
I did everything you wanted me to.
I helped to elevate your profile to
and then you killed me,
by letting me down.
You can't buy popularity.
Should I lend you the recipe?
In the corner sits the nasty little flea
who tired to kill me.
(c) Carlton McRae, 2009
While a member of Zubric, the original-well had all but dried up. I was more involved with the film industry than music and concentrated my efforts on writing a movie script and associated soundtrack.
The script was based around a character I invented, an Irish immigrant called John Valentine (whose grave I actually came across in the Bolton Street Cemetery), who was illegally making moonshine whiskey in the cemetery, as it turned out, from a stream contaminated with grave effluence.
Many folk in the TV and film industry in New Zealand have read the final draft and all have expressed a similar reaction and sentiment regarding the project; "It reads well and moves along at a good clip, but unfortunately it is a/ a period piece and b/ set predominantly outdoors, therefore you are going to struggle to find any funding...but good luck!"
The story begins with a juice earthquake, circa; Wellington city, 1881. That year there had been numerous sizeable shakes, believed to have been responsible for the cracking open of graves within the bounds of the cemetery.
The problem had caused a degree of mayhem. Grave effluence leaking into the municipal waterways of the city was believed to be responsible for an outbreak of many zygotic diseases, to the point where some folk claimed to have seen ghouls running amok throughout the graveyard.
You Kill Me, the lead off single from John Valentine from YouTube.
