A heartfelt Kiwi feature film which rolled out to cinemas last week featured an upbeat acoustic track by a Nelson songwriter in its trailer.
Bryce Wastney, who operates Hummingbird Recording Studio on Nile St, has written and performed songs for almost two decades and is currently working with Irish singer Ronan Keating’s producer, Dan Healy, for his fourth album.
His song, Evenflow, was released five years ago, and he was “thrilled” it was picked up by the music producers to be part of The Mountain, which presents three children on a mission to find healing under the watchful eye of Taranaki Maunga (Mount Taranaki).
The film is the directorial debut for Rachel House, who is best known for her performances in Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Boy, and Whale Rider.
“[Evenflow] became my personal favourite track and it was a crowd favourite when I performed it live, you know a song is special and it is something magical when people really connect with it,” Bryce says.
“Evenflow is a song about being in harmony with the universe or being in sync, and the song slowly builds and builds and gets epic towards the end, so it’s an upbeat acoustic guitar track with lots of layers in there and lots of different loops.
“I was delighted to be contacted [by The Mountain music producers]… I’m thrilled to have this song [in the trailer] for so many people to enjoy it.”
Bryce performed the song live at a special screening of The Mountain at State Cinemas Nelson on 26 March and raised $600 for the Child Cancer Foundation through the ticket sales.
The charity was selected because the film features a 12-year-old who is undergoing cancer treatment.
“The movie was heartwarming and the lead actors with their unique personalities were world class,” he says.
Bryce says five of his songs had also been used in a previous Kiwi film, Last Paradise, and hopes more could be added to his movie songs playlist.
“It shows you don’t need to be living in the major cities to get noticed, you can do a lot of stuff from our region in Nelson,” he says.
“I don’t intentionally write for films but all of my songs have had this cinematic feel… trying to get noticed in [the film industry] is very hard, so I just keep writing more and more.”
The Mountain is showing now at State Cinemas Nelson. Visit statecinemas.co.nz or call 03 548 3885 for viewing times.
