Raul Vega, a 2005 graduate of Benicia High School, recently published a mystery story using his hometown as an inspiration for the setting. It is not a book or even a video series, but in true 21st-century fashion, the story is presented as a downloadable or streamable podcast published in episodic installments.

Vega, who is also a musician, said the Rose Drive Podcast started as something he could write music to.

“I didn’t have any projects lined up, so one day I decided with my roommate, ‘Why don’t we create our own?” he said. “We decided to go for it and come up with different ideas.”

Rose Drive Podcast tells the story of Markus Hill, a man still haunted by a figure named Forrest Sutherland who ruined his family before the end of Hill’s senior year and suddenly disappeared. Ten years later, Hill relocates from New York City to his hometown of Southampton where he overhears two classmates talking about the recent 10-year high school reunion and learns that Sutherland was at the reunion. The podcast focuses on Hill as he tries to learn information on Sutherland’s whereabouts.

Vega, who now lives in Los Angeles, was looking for a place to set the story.

“I figured, ‘What better place than my hometown?’” he said.

Thus, the city of Benicia became the inspiration for the fictional town of Southampton. There are some differences, including the Tannery Building mentioned as being near the Raley’s shopping center and Cliff’s Pleasant View— known in the podcast as “Cliff’s Bar”– alluded to still operating. However, a lot of Benicia landmarks and businesses are mentioned by name, including Jack London Park, First Street, the Camel Barns, the old Blockbuster and Hollywood Video locations and Raley’s, which just like in real life has undergone a recent internal transformation that catches Hill off guard when he walks in. (“It looks like a Whole Foods now,” he muses.)

Vega began the project about a year ago and has spent a lot of the time wearing different hats, including directing, writing, composing, editing and mixing audio. He recruited a lot of actors from L.A. with some having grown up in Benicia, including Robert Walker, Gabriel Reed, Vanessa Hernandez and Ryan Hellquist.

“Everybody I found, they either were friends of mine who also work in the entertainment industry like I do or (are) mutual friends,” Vega said. “There’s definitely not a shortage of actors out here, so it’s a good place to start casting.”

Working with the actors has been a particular highlight for Vega.

“My favorite part is definitely working with the actors and seeing them bring these characters to life in a way that I never could have imagined,” he said.

Composing the music has also been a major part of the podcast.

“I tell my story through music, so you’re gonna hear my music through every episode,” he said. “Some of them are more character-based, some are more environment and situation-based. A lot of the sounds you hear allude to stuff that happens later on in the series.”

“I shaped a lot of the characters and elements of the story around these compositions,” he added.

Vega chose to release it as a podcast to take advantage of a growing technology.

“This is a pretty new medium to get into,” he said. “Telling fiction stories in podcasting has started to surface in the past year, and with time, money and budget it’s kind of hard to realize this story as a movie or TV series at this point. I figured, ‘What better way to challenge myself and all my editing skills than to create a podcast?’”

Vega also figured releasing it as a podcast would be a good way for viewers to utilize their imaginations.

“The listener can come up with the images for it on their own without being told ‘This is what the environment looks like,’” he said.

Vega hopes listeners are entertained by and engaged with the Rose Drive Podcast and that hopefully they might be able to connect with the experiences.

“Each character has a different background and different viewpoint of the town of Southampton and in life and different experiences,” he said. “While several people may have grown up in the same small town, they have very different experiences and you can’t lump everyone into the same category. I think it’s important to express and acknowledge those differences and to celebrate them but also be very sensitive to it.”

The Rose Drive Podcast has released three episodes so far. They can be listened to on iTunes, Google Play, Soundcloud, Stitcher and YouTube. For links to any of these formats, go to rosedrivepodcast.com. Listeners are encouraged to wear headphones to immerse themselves in the sounds. There are also tabs on suspects and places where listeners can post their theories. The podcast contains mature content and language, so it is not recommended for children.