For this video Austin Jewett rode the Northern California forest before and after the wildfires with an original song to go along with it. “Surfing down the ash chutes was definitely one of the coolest experiences I’ve had on a bike” – Austin Jewett

Canyon sent over their enduro bike, the Strive, for us to film on. We set out to capture riding through the torched forest and ashen ground. It was a surreal experience seeing the desolate landscape with the smell of smoke still lingering.

Teli Pinkerton (the truck driver) said, “it was kinda sad and depressing at first, no life at all, but now it’s cool because you can see the new stuff growing back.” The already growing small green plants sprouting from the ash was a constant reminder of what once was.

This played into the name of the project “Renascence” as it means the revival of what used to be, in this case the rebirth of the forest after the fire, in contrast to the original forest. We continued this theme of old and new with modern bikes and the vintage truck, and even in the song.

Finding music for this video was extremely difficult. We needed to capture the raw beauty of the landscape as well as the tension and dramatic sombreness of it. After multiple hours of searching nothing came up that really matched this. At this time I thought too myself, I know exactly what I want in this song, so why not just create it myself. I then sat down and within an hour had the basis for the majority of the track. The piece has a constant piano riff that continues throughout the track to represent how time always keeps moving, like how the forest always grows back. I used vintage piano and synths which contrasted the modern guitar. This furthered the effect and theme of the video, old and new.

The result of the scenery and soundtrack create a dynamic experience which represents the tumultuous passing and continuance of time.