It’s Edmonton’s newest attraction and now, a song about the river valley funicular could become the city’s latest viral video.
On Saturday, Luke Ehrenholz posted a video to Facebook that showed him performing the song “Fun Funicular” alongside Alexander and Jenesa MacMullin, as they took the tram-like elevator on its ascent up the North Saskatchewan River valley.
The video, which is less than a minute long and has been viewed more than 5,500 times, sees the three enjoying themselves while singing verses like, “it’s like a diagonal elevator/ taking a ride on the fun funicular/ no sweat, no fares, no stairs – wheelchairs!”
“Our friend Luke contacted us and told us about the funicular,” Alexander said on Wednesday. “We thought it was such a cool idea for Edmonton to come up with that and he said he wanted to write a song about it so we got together one night and put something together.”
“I had the idea of writing a song that would fit within the 37-second length of a funicular ride and decided it would be super fun to do that with Alex and Jenesa,” Ehrenholz said.
“We hung out on a Thursday night, ate some McDonald’s, played some music – it took probably about 40 minutes to do the collaborating portion and then we edited it a little bit,” Jenesa said.
When it came to actually shooting the video, Jenesa said the funicular’s popularity proved to be a bit of a challenge but that allowed them to perform the song a few times for others and ensure the timing was right.
A friend shot the video for them.
READ MORE: Edmonton’s river valley funicular opens to public, on time and on budget
Watch below: There is now a new way for Edmontonians to experience the biggest green space in the city. The river valley has its very own funicular, which officially opened to the public on Saturday. Julia Wong filed this report on Dec. 9, 2017.
“It’s just a cool kind of art installation as well,” Alexander said of the attraction.
“And you get a nice view of the river and most importantly, people who are in wheelchairs can access a great view now with no help.”
The MacMullins normally perform as a Spruce Grove-based pop outfit called Soap Box Duo.
They also run a music school called Music With Purpose.
The funicular, which cost $24 million and received funding from all three levels of government, opened this past weekend.
The inclined elevator takes people from 100 Street by the Hotel Macdonald to the area around the Low Level Bridge. A staircase runs along the elevator, leading to a promenade before opening out to a pedestrian bridge over Grierson Hill with a lookout over the river.
The funicular can hold up to 20 people at a time and it runs from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Jenesa wouldn’t rule it out working on more songs about Edmonton attractions in the future.
“I don’t see why not. It’s fun and it’s a good way to collaborate with other people and a good way to be connected with the city,” she said.
Soap Box Duo is currently recording a full-length album, according to Jenesa. The group put out an EP nearly two years ago.
-With files from Julia Wong
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