Solebay Puts Music to Harleys and Triumphs

A muscular motorcycle sits alone in a dark industrial back lot. As it fades out of focus, a note is struck and the chord begins a slow crescendo, the sound ominous and dark like the images in the video. A young leather-clad blonde comes into screen, passing down a set of narrow, concrete stairs, her straight blonde hair bathed by red light from above. She walks out to the blacked out motorcycle, but now her attention turns to a shiny chrome Harley CVO Breakout parked beside it. She walks past the unnamed motorcycle, giving in to the allure of the stance, paint, power and wicked wheels of Harley’s latest customized Softail. Vocals kick in and an uptempo beat begins as the rider climbs on and takes off into the night, the music perfectly matched to the tone set by the video, the combination of the two taking viewers along for the ride in the advertisement for the Harley Breakout.

Though you never see it, the music behind videos like this is just as important as the images itself. It helps set the tone and can convey action or project pensiveness. It helps suck viewers in and if done correctly creeps into the subconscious and before you know it you’re humming a jingle or singing a tune in your head without even realizing it.

The job of putting rhythm to motorcycles in this particular case belongs to Solebay Music, a bespoke music and sound branding company out of Suffolk, Britain, who has accounts with both Triumph and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The company has been providing the songs behind their respective video marketing campaigns for quite a few years now and has developed a catalog of original songs created specifically for these campaigns. According to Solebay founder Frank Pescod, the music has been so well received that the company is set to release those songs as two EP’s, one called The Triumph Sessions and the other simply The Sessions – EP for its Harley-Davidson compilation.

“We have established a good working relationship with both brands over a long period of time and have an agreement which works for both parties. We really enjoy working with these brands from a music perspective as we have a lot of freedom to do what we do best, which is get on and write great music,” said Pescod.

Most of the Triumph and Harley advertising campaigns Solebay has provided music for are for the European market, both online and in-store, others have been used on TV while a select few have received worldwide exposure. Realizing that “sound affects the choices people make in everyday life,” Solebay creates all its music in-house, tailoring it to each individual advertising campaign. Solebay uses skilled session musicians and writers to formulate the tracks. Pescod has an extensive background in music, be it as the front man for his band “The Brothers” to running Oxford’s leading independent music venue “The Jericho Tavern” to managing the folk band “Stornoway.” It is these musical alliances he has made and the fact that Solebay sources the skills of accomplished musicians that has led to the first physical release of Solebay-derived music.

Since many have already been exposed to their music and have commented positively on their efforts, Solebay figured their EP collections would be great music for motorcyclists to ride with. The songs combine several musical styles, from indie-rock to acoustic, synth melodies to rockabilly. The way Soleby tailors the music to certain demographics can be heard in the Harley-Davidson America campaign that features a rockabilly tune, while the European version uses a lighter, more poppish song. The Triumph Sessions features five tracks, from the guitar driven “Time on Our Side” to the more techno “I’m Not the Only One” while The Harley-Davidson Sessions contains six songs. One cut, “You Keep Lifting Me Higher,” actually comes in three different versions, acoustic, rock and rockabilly, each creating a slightly different vibe.

“We have tried to include our favorites along the way, along with what the public have been asking for all the way up to the most current campaign we completed late last year, Track 2, “Full steam Ahead” for the new Harley Breakout bike,” Pescod continued.

Pescod himself has been the main writer for the Triumph and Harley-Davidson campaigns, but has worked closely with guitarist Mark Chapman from the rock band “A” on many of the projects because “Mark is such a great rock man!”

“For Triumph and Harley-Davidson I will more often than not come up with a song idea and pen the lyrics, then bring in Mark to work through it with me, he will do his thing and then we solidify the arrangement in the studio. We are lucky as we have a big live room in Solebay Music studios so we can work through it all with other musicians. I will call up a drummer, I have worked with various drummers on these projects including Rory Fitzgerald and Gaz Trice, as well as various engineers Adam King and now my main engineer and right hand man Andy Pullan. Andy lets me get on with producing it all and oversees all the technical side at Solebay. I play most of the instruments and sing on all the tracks, except when there are special requirements like ‘Full Steam Ahead’ where they wanted a girl so I got in Hazel Tratt, who is a great female vocalist who I worked with on my solo project ‘To be Frank,’” concluded Pescod.

Solebay’s “The Harley-Davidson Sessions” will be released to the public on February 11th with an iTunes Preview available now. Until then, you can find the videos featuring Solebay’s music on Vimeo, YouTube, and Facebook as Solebay Music looks forward to the next opportunity it gets to meld the worlds of motorcycles and music together again.