Max Mystical Effect

If you're lucky enough to have a patch of backyard in Seattle, spring might mean it’s time to get those tips from Ciscoe, plant a little garden, rinse out the kiddie pool, and bide your time till summer. For some, like Seattle musician Ben Verellen, that patch of backyard might be North Aurora-adjacent, complete with all its, ummm, “local flavor.”

In which case one might make use of the better weather to treat oneself to the trickle of barely audible bliss in the form of a run-of-the-mill water feature. Or maybe a bird feeder? A little statuary?

Or you could lean into maximalism. Way in.

Behold, Fountain Mountain! Psychedelia and Disney serve as inspo for this permanent backyard installation created by Verellen. Verellen has channeled his special brand of weird sonically in bands like Helms Alee, Constant Lovers, and Klesa. He's got plenty of training shocks perfecting his electro-alchemy as a custom amp maker, and he's honed his “adult theme park in space” conceptual art skills at Bar House in Fremont—a divey wonder where ships sail on the ceiling and roaring yetis are known to wander.

Verellen was cool enough to share his building plan, complete with an instructional video (see below) to inspire your own urban “adult theme park in space” backyard oasis.

Ma’Chell Duma: What is the inspiration behind this backyard installation?

Ben Verellen: I surprised my sister by crashing their family Disneyland trip and there were lots of conversations between my 8-11 year old nephews, my sister and brother-in-law, my dad and I about all of the fake mountains and rock walls everywhere. “How did they do it?” I've been going to Disneyland since I was a little kid and some of those rock features have major nostalgia and have survived decades…Matterhorn, Splash Mountain. I like the idea of something immovable and concrete that isn't a parking lot or an office building. Monuments to whimsy.

I live right off of Aurora and thought a sort of audio and visual distraction—really a vibe distraction—would be good for my little backyard. "What sirens? I don't hear that guy yelling into the ether? All I hear is this beautiful, silly water feature!"

MD: Does it have a name?

BV: Fountain Mountain, thanks to my friend Angeline for the genius/obvious name suggestion.

MD: How does it work?

BV: It's a pond, beneath a mountain...then the mountain top has a reservoir. Flip on the pump (blue lights come on simultaneously) and a controlled amount of pond water is pumped up into the reservoir where it bubbles down the "ice fields" of the mountain and splashes back into the pond. Flip on the heavy flow feature (red lights join in) and a parallel path to the reservoir opens wide via an electrically controlled ball valve for max eruption and splash sound. Flip on the mist feature and a mist device atomizes pond water under the mountain into a heavy low-hanging fog. A small fan blows it out of the cave beneath Fountain Mountain for max mystical effect.

MD: How long did it take to make?

BV: Disneyland trip was in late February, and by April Fountain Mountain was alive! Still some waterproofing to be improved upon once we get a few hot days, but it lives!

MD: What advice would you give someone who wanted to add functional art to their yard or space? What's essential?

BV: Patience and curiosity go a long way! Try out lots of different approaches. Go with the flow. Divide and conquer. Take internet opinions with many grains of salt. Working with rebar, metal lath, concrete, stucco, et cetera, is heavy, messy business. And hard to do without hurting yourself, so keep first aid handy and keep shouted expletives to a minimum. Nice neighbors: essential.

MD: Where can folks view your other feats of weirdo engineering?

BV: Bar House (503 North 36th St.) has been my home for electrical engineered art stuff over the last 8 years, lots of silly effects and whimsy in there…and booze!