SHOOT’s Music & Sound Spot Tracks Chart topper this quarter is ESPN’s tongue-in-cheek “Group of Death: The Rockumentary” from Wieden+Kennedy, New York. It continues a mini-trend of ad agencies creating not only inspired work but also the rock stars themselves who headline that work. Consider our Fall Spot Tracks lead entry (SHOOT, 10/23/09), California Milk Processor Board’s “Battle for Milquarious” Rock Opera starring spandex-clad rocker White Gold, who brandishes a milk-filled guitar. White Gold and the Rock Opera were creations of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.
This time around Wieden+Kennedy, New York, becomes the “star maker,” assembling four musicians, with roots in heavy metal and soccer, to form the band Group of Death. The band has already started to generate a buzz for soccer’s upcoming World Cup–held every four years–and ESPN’s coverage of the games.
Although the global tournament doesn’t get underway until June, soccer fans worldwide marked Dec. 4, 2009 on their calendars because it was the day of the World Cup draw. To capitalize on the excitement of this event, W+K fashioned The Group of Death band whose moniker comes from the nickname used to describe the toughest opening round bracket grouping of international soccer teams selected during the World Cup draw.
The Group of Death band rocked out with a concert on the evening of Dec. 4 at legendary New York soccer pub Nevada Smith’s during the announcement of the tournament draw. The centerpiece of W+K’s viral web campaign was a concert “Rockumentary” which also follows the soccer-obsessed band members during the days leading up to the World Cup draw. The band’s MySpace and Facebook brand pages also went up the night of the draw.
The W+K New York team and Group of Death members Steve O’Reilly, Matt Anthony, JT Weber and Matt Montalto collaborated on composing the music, with lyrics written by W+K copywriter Andy Ferguson. Among the songs performed in the “Rockumentary” was “Your Love is Like A Boot To The Face.”
The concert is a kickoff to Group of Death’s world tour which will culminate in Johannesburg–the site of the World Cup–in June.
Kim Nguyen, who works independently, directed the seven-minute “Rockumentary,” which also features ESPN analyst Rob Stone covering the concert, and Jack Smith, owner of Nevada Smith’s. The W+K ensemble included creative director Stuart Jennings, interactive creative director Jerome Austria, copywriter Ferguson, art director Ricardo Viramontes, project manager Kelly Kraft, broadcast producer Kelly Kraft, interactive producer Kristen Aron, executive producer Gary Krieg, and executive creative directors Todd Waterbury and Kevin Proudfoot.
Ed David was the DP. “Rockumentary” was edited primarily by Brandon Boudreaux of Post Millennium, New York, with additional cutting by Eben Bull, also of Post Millennium.
Audio post mixer was Adam Charity of 38 Greene, New York.
SAYING YEAH’ TO SPOTS
After creating original music for Adidas, Microsoft, and McDonald’s, and licensing tracks to Apple, Coca-Cola, and GMC, to name a few, San Francisco-based record label Quannum decided they should probably open an actual music house for the ad biz. The result is YEAH’, which launches with a roster of diverse and accomplished artists turning out ad music and sound design to complement their longform work. YEAH’ features such music creative talent as artists Blackalicious, Lifesavas, General Elektriks. Quannum and YEAH’ co-founders are Xavier Mosley (a.k.a. Chief Excel, producer, writer, composer/arranger and founding member of Blackalicious) and Lateef Daumont, a member of bands Maroons and Latyrx, and a frequent collaborator with Fatboy Slim.
MORE MUSIC NOTES Nylon Studios composer Oli Chang is moving from the company’s Sydney quarters to its Manhattan studio. Among Chang’s credits is the viral track “Chicken Techno,” a song he penned originally for a Domino’s Pizza ad in Australia that went on to catch viral wildfire, with people worldwide downloading the track for enjoyment and as a ringtone….
Woodland Hills, Calif.-based music library firm Songs To Your Eyes has licensed an upbeat pop rock tune to a national KFC TV spot, through DeepMix LA and Draftfcb, Chicago, as well as a retro jazz cue to four online and industrial videos promoting VW through agency Deutsch LA….
