John O'Brien

Some samples of my voice-over work. Please enjoy!

The Lurking Fear-Episode One: the first of four parts of my rendition of H.P Lovecraft’s legendary horror novella, released to the public almost exactly 100 years after the story was published. The first time I read it, it freaked the hell out of me. I wanted my listeners to feel the same way. Recorded as part of my podcast, The Lexicon of Dread. Here is the synopsis I wrote:

Something horrible is roaming the woods around Tempest Mountain. Something ravenous. Some of its victims, it tears limb from limb. Others, it drags away into the darkness. A young paranormal investigator is determined to uncover the truth, whatever the cost. However, that cost might be his very life. Or, at least, his mind. For what sane soul can walk away unchanged, after witnessing…The Lurking Fear?

Pizza Demon: an original comedy/horror sketch written, directed, edited by, and starring yours truly! In it, a humble pizza delivery driver makes a stop at the wrong house, and then makes an ill-advised bargain with a very strange creature. I hope you like its zany weirdness!

Some samples from my discography. Enjoy these, too!

Are You Troubled?: One of two songs I made specifically for this profile. This is the most uptempo song I’ve created so far; five minutes and twelve seconds of high-energy, bass-heavy, breakbeat-driven EDM, with a slight industrial tint. It started life as my attempt to create something in the style of the UK electronic artist Squarepusher.

Untitled Number One: The second track I made for this profile. This is a brooding, mysterious ambient piece, created (in part) with processed incest noises, amplifier feedback, and a plastic flute I bought at Dollarama for three bucks! The cascading vocal effect toward the end was created with a Behringer VD400 delay effect pedal, run through a Fender amp.

Space Elevator Party!: this was my attempt to write something in the style of Bonobo, one of my favourite contemporary electronic artists. You can also find it on my Bandcamp, as part of my EP Esoteric Space Opera, Part I.

A Morning Filled With 400 Billion Suns: an ambient/new age musical track I made, inspired by the work of Carl Sagan and the nature writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Part of my Sagan-influenced EP A Still More Glorious Dawn Awaits.

Dyer’s Mirage: the VERY FIRST piece of music I ever composed. For the first season of my podcast, The Lexicon of Dread, I recorded H.P Lovecraft’s classic horror novel At The Mountains of Madness. In order to make it stand out, I decided to try my hand at scoring. This track was created for a pivotal scene involving the book’s narrator character, Professor Dyer. It was very heavily influenced by dark ambient artists, such as Lustmord, The Haxan Cloak, and Tangerine Dream (specifically their album Zeit.) My intention was to provoke in the listener an overwhelming sense of unease. Compared to my more recent work, it is quite crude; my lack of prior experience shows. Nevertheless, I still like it very much. I would recommend listening to it with a very good pair of headphones.

Greetings, one and all!

My name is John O’Brien, and if you’re reading this….that means you have found my Screen Nova Scotia profile.

Lucky you!

Okay then, biography time:

I have been active in the Halifax film community since 2016. I got my start through the Film 5 program run the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative (AFCOOP).

Eventually, through the Film 5 program, I met and became good friends with emerging filmmaker Israel Ekanem. Beginning with his 2018 science-fiction short film, Drown the Lovers, he and I collaborated on dozens of projects. Usually, I work as Israel’s assistant director; on occasion, I’ve also acted in and/or co-scripted some of his film, and performed camera and location sound work from time to time.

Our longest-running collaboration has been the BlackOut Podcast, a interview show where Israel speaks to a very diverse range of fascinating people, from artists to community activists, fellow filmmakers to business owners. Since 2019, I have been the BlackOut Podcast’s production manager, ensuring that production runs smoothly, that guests are prepared and comfortable before their interviews, and that any unforseen problems are handled swiftly.

In addition, I also have my own podcast, which I call the Lexicon of Dread. I use it as a platform to record classic horror stories by authors such as H.P Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. At the time of writing, I have two seasons out, and plans for a third.

Every episode of the Lexicon on Dread features an original soundtrack composed by me. For a long time, I have been a fan of electronic artists/composers such as Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre and Vangelis, as well as dark ambient artists like Lustmord and The Haxan Cloak. Taking these performers as my inspiration, I crafted scores and soundtracks to reflect and intensify the chilling atmosphere of the stories I was narrating.

The genesis of all this was during the COVID-19 lockdown. Some people taught themselves to bake bread. I already knew how to do that, so I taught myself music composition.

Earlier this year (2024), I started a Bandcamp page to release some of my other music. I am constantly writing new songs, and my discography covers a wide range of genres. If you would like peruse some of my music, or check out my audiobook work, follow the links beneath my email address.

Last but not least, I have experience as a stage actor. In 2022, I was one of the lead performers in The Murder of Mary Lane, a period drama about the life of Hilda Blake, the final woman in Canada to be executed for capital murder. The Murder of Mary Lane ran as part of the 2022 Halifax Fringe Festival.

I have also collaborated extensively with the Theatre Arts Guild, the oldest independent theatre in Canada. I have worked as a producer on several of their audio productions, and was a voice-over actor for their radio comedy, The Emperor of the Moon.

Biography ends…..now.

If you are interested in working with me on/commissioning me for a project, or if you would like to see a detailed resume of my film work, please reach out to me.

Thank you for reading this far!

Cheerio!