Sounds from London to Lyon // EP.1 (Video)

I consider myself exceptionally lucky to have stumbled upon the first episode of Morris and Felix Winby’s “Sounds from London to Lyon” series on YouTube, which shockingly has fewer than 500 views at the time of publishing. Equal parts clever, creative, and original, the video follows the two brothers on the first week of a 1,000-kilometer bicycle tour between their home in England and beautiful Lyon, France. Along the way, they seek unique sound samples to incorporate into the music they make under the name eyeveyes (pronounced “ivy eyes”).

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The multi-talented young brothers are doing something distinctive with their pedal-powered quest for rhythms and resonances, and I appreciate that they maintain their humility and sincere approach to the people and places they encounter. They’re also not hiding that they are learning as they go, and their project naturally requires tuning in to the surroundings in an unconventional way, making for a captivating watching experience that’s unlike typical bicycle travel videos. You can find a written introduction to their journey, photos, and the full first episode below.

Words by Felix Winby

My brother Morris and I grew up in the rural countryside of England, surrounded by bird song and the drumming of rain. We both share a passion for adventure and music. During the past three years, we have spent half the year composing electronic dance music and the other half riding bikes on tours. During our bike-touring journeys, we have always found it incredibly freeing and creative to be living so “out of the box.” As our tours progressed, we started to explore composing our music on the road, bit by bit, beat by beat.

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This summer, we have now completed our first fully loaded and self-sufficient bike-touring music tour. The absurdity of the challenge and adventure was great. Carrying around 60 to 70 kilogrammes of equipment each, we set off to cycle 1,000 kilometres from London to Lyon whilst making music on the way. The musicality of the trip was often determined by things we could sample, this being the odd abandoned crane, distant conversations, or the whirring of a coffee machine. We’ve really packed our computers with sounds. We would then typically sit down in the evenings with the keyboard and a cup of beer to compose a piece that would tell the sonic story of our day.

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Our bikes are the soul bearers of our gear and movement. Morris rides a Thorn Sherpa with a custom cargo fork that he built himself to allow for increased carrying capacity. It’s a bit like a DIY Omnium or just a cheaper Crust Clydesdale fork. Felix took a Thorn Raven with a Rohloff hub on the trip and a BOB Yak trailer to carry the keyboard and stand.

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It took some time to learn about how to keep all our sensitive equipment safe from the elements and how we balance riding with writing our work. As the trip progressed, we were able to discover the workflows that worked and those that didn’t. It was a tough trip as far as weather is concerned as we experienced many days of rain which was difficult to write music in (confined to our tent) and a challenge to ride our bikes on the muddy, clay like, trails!

Stay tuned for more from Morris and Felix. In the meantime, you can keep up with them on Instagram and YouTube.