On 7 April, Nicholas O’Brien, an Oxford-based sound engineer and cyclist, begins a four to five month long cycling trip around Europe. He and his bike (named ‘Doppler’) will meet with musicians and artists along the way – with them deciding on the next leg of the journey – and at each stop, sound recordings will be taken of the music and performance to which O’Brien is exposed.
The Record And Ride website will be added to regularly during the trip, with updates and the recordings themselves. O’Brien is keen for anyone and everyone to engage with the project through the website – as he puts it, “any individual who simply forwards the project onto someone else is instantly immersed in the project”. Through this word-of-mouth sharing of information O’Brien hopes to spread ongoing updates – and the recordings themselves – far and wide. At the end of the trip, the best of the recordings will be compiled into a CD release, to be accompanied by a book describing the journey.
O’Brien is a musician himself, playing guitar and piano professionally, and studied sound engineering at SAE Oxford. He is also developing a new digital music instrument, the Somaphone, which is “based on biofeedback”.
A launch concert has been arranged, and will take place on 23 March at the Wheatsheaf in Oxford. Bambino dell’oro, Brickwork Lizards and Alamakota will be playing in order to see O’Brien off in style! Tickets for the gig are £4 (£3 concessions). More information about it can be found here.