Brian Harnois Interview

Welcome back to The Expressionist Magazine

If you love watching the Sci-Fi channel, or now shown as SyFy channel, you probably saw the hit series Ghost Hunters with Jason and Grant as they lead their team of paranormal investigators across New England and the rest of the United States searching for some scientific evidence, or evidence of reasonable acceptance that ghosts do exist.  For many they set the bar on how to investigate, and we got to speak to their original tech manager Brian Harnois, best known for his “DUDE, RUN!” incident at Eastern State Penetentary in Philadelphia, PA.

Brian has been with the group for years, and has since moved on to other paranormal ventures like his new paranormal radio show, which is set to debut in October of 2009.  We had the esteem privilege to sit and talk with him, about his journey in the paranormal, his time on Ghost Hunters and see where he’s headed in the future.  We also have the podcast of the interview if you would like to listen on our podcast link.

Did you ever have a real paranormal experience before you started to investigate it?

Yeah, that’s how I started out in my paranormal career. I was eleven at my friend’s house. I was sleeping over there. He always said his house was haunted. So that night I was on the top bunk, he was on the bottom, and it was then I saw a full bodied apparition walking through his room. It freaked me out enough that I wanted to know more about the stuff. That’s where I started.

What do you love most about the paranormal, what is so fascinating about it to you?

The whole point of knowing do they actually really exist. There is no real proof, no scientific proof ghosts exist. It seems like the more you go investigate the less you find. If there are ghosts they are so diligent on not being found out. That’s one thing I am fascinated about, trying to find that one good piece of evidence, the one that blows everyones mind.. still haven’t found it yet.

What made you say… TODAY I am going to be a paranormal investigator?

After the experience when I was younger, I started reading and doing research. Then when I was old enough to go out by myself at night and drive, when I was around 16 to 17 years old, I started to go into different buildings and places to find another ghost. The passion grew so I wanted to find more places to investigate.

Did you ever have a group of your own prior to TAPS, or do your own private investigations?

TAPS was my first group. I did it by myself for two years prior, but in 1999 I joined TAPS. That was my first real experience with a group.

When did you join TAPS and why?

It was a fluke actually. In 1999 I wanted to join a group so I Googled “Rhode Island” and the word “paranormal,” and the first one that came up was TAPS. I clicked on their site. I saw Jason Hawes was one of the co-founders of the group, so I emailed him. Then like five minutes later the phone rang. He must have been online at the time. I did leave my phone number, and he asked me to meet him at Bess Eat’n Donuts in Warwick, Rhode Island and I joined… it was a fluke.

From your experience, what is the most common mistake paranormal investigators make on evidence?

Orbs. Someone will take a picture of a room with tons of dust particles in the air. They see the picture and they’re like, “Look, look, orbs!” They really have to realize a lot of it’s nothing but dust. That’s one of the common mistakes with groups on their websites. It’s a big mistake. That is just now being realized.

How important is it to keep your heart and emotions out of the research when you investigate?

On a technical standpoint, I never do, but it’s hard not to. If I were someone doing an investigation, I never would because when dealing with some entities they feed off your emotions, and if you come in with your emotions ablaze, they can pick those things up and use it against you. The only emotion I show is when I find something. You should be calm, cool and collective. It can also distort what you see. If you want to see something bad enough, your imagination can take over and you will see a ghost that’s not there. So the best thing to do is investigate the way you should. If you find something, you find something, if you don’t, you don’t… just let it be the way it is.

What advice do you have for amateur or independent paranormal investigators?

Best thing is don’t go in there thinking you need 10k dollars of equipment. You need knowledge more than anything. You go into an investigation you make sure you have knowledge and book smarts. On the equipment, you don’t need that much money in it, if you think you do, then your not ghost hunting the right way. When I go in, I have my EMF detector, flash light, digital recorder and camera, that’s it. You don’t need a DVR, you don’t need a thermal camera. Just go in and have some fun, but make sure you bring knowledge. If you go in without any concept of what your doing, that could get you in some serious trouble.

I know you’ve investigated graveyards. Many people say they are not haunted, and why would they be? The person’s body is there and they’re not connected to it anymore. Do you believe that? Any proof that the statement is wrong?

I have been to many cemeteries, that’s where I started. I saw some things and caught some things. I have seen some apparitions and shadows. Why are they there? Maybe they want to be with their body. I never really found out why they stay with their body, but some of them do, and heck it works for me because I get to investigate them.

What was the most frightening experience you had as a paranormal investigator?

I would have to say back in 2003 when I did an exorcism with my mentor Keith Johnson. She was 87 years old, and turned into a demon. Her eyes turned black, she talked in all different kind of languages and it took four to five people to hold her down. That was really scary and the most frightening thing because it wasn’t just a spirit, but demonic and attached to a human, and a human can hurt you. It wasn’t just dealing with a ghost but dealing with a live person and that is sometimes scarier than dealing with a ghost. That was one of the most frightening experiences of my life.

While working with TAPS, what was your most memorable experience?

I would have to say the St. Augustine Lighthouse down in Florida. It was amazing. We were shooting that part of the show, Jason and Grant went in, then said there was something in there they wanted us to investigate. So, me and Dustin went in there, and all hell broke loose. The things were talking to us, we said hello and it said hello back, we saw full body apparitions walking up stairs, full battery drains on everyone in the whole crew in the lighthouse. Everything you could possibly get while dealing with a ghost you got in that St. Augustine Lighthouse that night. I was totally flabbergasted; it was the Holy Grail of ghost hunting. Funny thing is, they didn’t want us to investigate the lighthouse, they said nothing ever happens in there.

Who were you closest with on the team and why?

Keith Johnson was my mentor, he kept me going and taught me everything I need to know. It was like a big brother/little brother, father/son situation. I started getting close with Steve Gonslaves. I knew him a few years before the show started. I urged Jason and Grant to get him on the show; I wanted him by my side. I shared a hotel room with him, and investigated with him constantly. The first episodes of Ghost Hunters, they didn’t know what to do with us because we didn’t talk. The producers wanted them to make us talk. The reason why we didn’t was because we were so in sync with each other with ghost hunting, so we didn’t need to talk. We just would go into a room and we knew what each other was doing; you were supposed to be quiet anyway on a ghost hunt.

Does your paranormal side venture into UFOs, legends and what have you?

Well, I think I saw a UFO when I was 16 -years-old here in Warwick, Rhode Island. It was a scary situation, creepy actually. I saw a triangle in the sky with yellow, red and blue dots on it. I believe in stuff like UFOS; we can’t be the only intelligent life form in this solar system. Cryptozoology, like Bigfoot maybe, the Chupacabra, I don’t know. The Jersey Devil, Moth Man, no, I don’t think so. The Moth Man was just a gimmick. I have never seen anything like a huge moth. Voodoo, zombies… yeah, I believe in those. Vampires and werewolves, do I believe in them, even though they are in the limelight now? Probably not, but ghosts can’t be the only thing. I do believe in other things in the paranormal but I never ventured into those areas but one day I might.

Lets move on to your current gig… paranormal radio. Tell us how you got involved with paranormal radio?

I haven’t started it yet because of the baby, but when I talked to Fred Angel, he wanted me to do a paranormal radio show and I had done one a year ago with Donna LaCroix called Demon Radio and it got a huge reception. People wanted to hear us on the radio, Blog Talk Radio. We crashed Blog Talk Radio twice. For Blog Talk Radio you don’t get much of a following, and the last show we had, had 35k people. So Fred Angel asked me if I would do a radio show, and I said, “Alright, I can do it.” It’s under a business I started called Beware Promotions, probably called the Brian Harnois Hour. It’s not your mother’s paranormal radio show. I am going to get down to the nitty gritty of things. I am going to take the drama and bring it to the forefront; there is just too much drama in the field now and I am sick of it. I want to call attention to it so the drama dies out and we can get back to investigating before Ghost Hunters started. We aren’t a community anymore, and that is why I want to do this. I hope it kicks off and becomes a success. We can do a lot more things in the future. It should start in October, at night, around Halloween. I am not going to be nice to the guests. I am going to do the hard hitting questions like Larry King and Don Irmus.

If people want to get a hold of you, see what your doing… how can they?

Very easy, I have a bunch of websites: www.brianharnois.net, www.wicks.com/brainharnois/brainharnois, and www.bewarepromotions.com. This {last} one connects different para-celebs, and para-events… you know, be like an agent for the people in the paranormal fields. We connect groups with groups. We are going to be like the the TAPS family and get other groups where they can all communicate on cases and help them to get the case done. Right now it’s got a good review; lots of groups and radio stations that want to be represented. I want to bring the whole paranormal community together and it’s growing fast. The other websites are www.facebook.com/brianharnois or www.myspace.com/wheezy.

Before we finish up, let’s do a quick drill to find out more about you.

1.Favorite Food – Pizza

2.Favorite Horror Flick – Night of the Living Dead

3.Favorite All Time Movie – Star Wars

4.Favorite Song – “Summer Breeze,” by Temp Negative

5.Favorite TV Show – Scrubs

6.Favorite Hobby – ghost hunting

7.Most memorable childhood moment – The haunting at my friend’s house.

8.Favorite Sport – Football

9.Favorite Team NFL – Bills, MLB – Red Sox, NBA – Celtics, NHL – Bruins

10.Most Used Quote – “Dude, Run!”

11.Favorite Book – World War Z,  by Max Brooks