Melaura - About Paradise - Be Part of the Legacy

WHY DID MELAURA WRITE A SONG ABOUT COWICHAN?
What's this event About?

Our hometowns can remind us of who we are. They can provide a sense of belonging and purpose, a feeling of being in “paradise”. In recent years, Melaura’s hometown on Vancouver Island has experienced rapid expansion and stress testing, which has changed or deconstructed many treasured landmarks and community gathering places. Paradise; a music video created for and by Cowichan Secondary alumni and Cowichan Valley citizens, attempts to create a cinematic time capsule of a few community heritage pieces before they are gone forever. Cowichan’s vibrant and diverse music scene inspired Melaura’s choice to write this new rock-country anthem.

While attending Cowichan Secondary School, Melaura dreamt of bringing this song and video to life, it became a bucket list item. School alumni contributed to and were highlighted throughout the video, sharing their memories and connections to the community with each other. An immensely successful and emotion filled open house was held by the school a few months after Melaura filmed Paradise, just prior to the school closing it’s doors. Melaura hopes the local gems she was honoured to capture, such as Cowichan Secondary, the World’s Largest Hockey Stick and the almost lost Caprice theatre stir nostalgia, love and positive memories for everyone in Cowichan and outside of it.

These gems are situated within the natural beauty of Vancouver Island, showcased in Melaura's debut single Chase the Sun. This song was showcased on Shaw TV and toured around the southern island at many local festivals. You can find more about the new single Paradise on Musicians of Vancouver Island a podcast by Jon Woodland.

Celebrate with me!

About the Event

This special release event is not just about the song and video, it's about our community, our culture and our history. It's about celebrating our hometown and thanking the amazing community members who made this project possible with their hard work and dedication. Some of the most iconic locations in this video were filmed for the very last time by my crew. The world's largest hockey stick was shot only a day before being dismantled with the demolition cranes on set!

Along with premiering the video, this event will include performances from local musicians and perhaps a few more surprises! All under the roof of yet another iconic venue, where many weddings and community events have been held since the 50's, renamed the Duncan Community Lodge, but warmly remembered as the Moose Lodge.

Paradise was created to bring our community together and remind us of what makes our small city so special. This event will celebrate that, by allowing time for reminiscing, connecting and tightening the bonds of our strong culture, so we can stand stronger together through whatever storms come our way.

Bring your memories and friends, I'm so excited to see you there!

Cowichan may be growing, but it is still our hometown, our Paradise.

Paradise Progress Blog (Updating soon)

So Much Paperwork!

I’ve been knee-deep in permit and insurance applications for the filming and they are ALL finally approved! Yippee!! This means we can start the filming process in some of the more exciting locations. I needed 5 permits and 2 sets of insurance. You would not believe how hard it is to find the right insurance for a music video!

I also set a recording date for the song with Silverside Sound (right) and gathered my musicians to get this song in the can. My sound engineer and the mastering engineer are both Cow High alumni, as well as phenomenal at their jobs! The rest of the guys are local gems. I am so excited to work with all of them. We have a great plan (above) for how this will sound, however even with a great plan, things change. It’s hard to tell exactly what the final version will sound like, but I'm sure whatever these guys put together will be genius!

More news on it’s way!

What’s happening?

Photo Credit: Cowichan Valley Citizen

In June, news about Cowichan Secondary (music video’s primary location) and the delay of the new school’s construction was released stating that the original school would remain in use until January 2025. Given this, I decided to push the video date back a bit and allow more time for getting the music, video, permits, insurance and crew right. With that being said, there is still so much to do before delivering this labour of love.

Photo Credit: Cowichan Valley Citizen

Shortly after, more news caught my eye: The Hockey Stick was to be removed. I arranged to film that part of the video just 2 days before removal. All of this before we even knew what the music would sound like! The new owner was very thankful that the stick will live on in film. The real thanks ofcourse goes to my amazing film crew of 3 extraordinary friends. They made the hockey stick and myself look absolutely cinematic, capturing the true Cowichan-ness of this iconic treasure for our community.

The song is being recorded in radio quality and will be completed prior to filming the rest of the scenes. I am so lucky to have the most amazing musicians and studio geniuses on this project. I know they will do a stunning job and care just as much as I do about this. Their dedication motivates me and justifies this project even more! Just knowing that SO many people care SO much and want to make this the best it can be is incredibly heart-warming. After all: we only have one shot, so let’s get it right!

Overall, I am so thankful for all the support and excitement my community has shown for this project so far. It seems everyone I talk to about this song/video is so grateful for the project and wanting to help.

Thanks everyone!

WHY DID MELAURA WRITE A SONG ABOUT COWICHAN?What's this event About?