Call & Response: Zach Golden
(8 min)
The team at Elias Audio Branding have crafted some of the most memorable audio identities with a list of clients that includes MTV, Columbia Pictures, Intel, Yahoo, Farmers Insurance, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and more. If you could hear each of those mnemonics while reading through that brief list, you’re not alone. The work of founder Jonathan Elias and his company is simply iconic. So when the company announced the already award-winning anthem for the FIFA World Cup 26™, we had to reach out and learn more about the freshly launched project.
Enter the creative mind of Zach Golden. The East Coast Creative Director of Elias Audio Branding and the composer of this World Cup mnemonic was kind enough to give us a peek behind the curtain of not only how it came to life, but how it differs from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ theme (which he also composed). In this conversation, we learn about Zach’s background, his creative process, and what it feels like to compose something that millions of people will hear during one of the largest sports events in the world… and then hearing it in a pub.
Photo courtesy of Zach Golden
Lab Notes (LN): If you had to boil your artistic journey into one sentence, what would it be? (Run-on sentences accepted and encouraged.)
Zach Golden (ZG): My artistic journey has become a constant reminder that life will always have twists and turns, pushing me into various creative places that I couldn't predict I would be in - but the unexpected is what makes life and the creative process worth it.
LN: Congratulations not only on the launch of this new Audio Identity for the FIFA World Cup 26™, but also a big shout out for winning the 2024 Association of Music Producers Award for Outstanding Sonic Branding or Mnemonic for Elias Audio Branding.
How does it feel to have this work out in the world?
ZG: Thank you so much! Having a piece like this out in the world feels amazing. If I could have told my younger self when I first started writing and producing that a piece I composed would be heard on the World Cup stage - I would sincerely not believe it. It is almost surreal when I see the reach this piece of music has had already, and the tournament isn't even for another 2 years!
LN: Rewinding just a moment, we’d love to know a bit about your background in composition. When did you begin and how did you reach this point in your career?
ZG: My first dip into composition really started in college. I created (what I would call) a modern jazz group, which was inspired by artists like Avishai Cohen and Esbjorn Svensson Trio. As I was leaving college, I caught the production bug and dove head first into writing/production in Ableton, which eventually led me to creating with various artists based all throughout the world. The most notable of these would probably be Anthony Ramos, Jasmine Cephas Jones (both acclaimed actors who started as part of the original cast of Hamilton), and Suboi who is one of Vietnam's top rappers.
Simultaneously, I was hired as dub-room engineer at Elias in 2014, where I was able to cut my teeth composing for commercials when I wasn't handling engineering duties. That experience is really what stepped up my abilities, and my understanding of how to emotionally impact the listener through various creative production and composition techniques. As I developed my skills, I eventually became the East Coast Creative Director at Elias. Each client that I've had the opportunity to work with has shown me a new way of thinking about how music can be perceived and heard. Continuously rethinking my creative process in order to approach a specific client request has helped me expand my capabilities, and continues to do so today.
LN: Without giving away any trade secrets or violating NDAs, what can you tell us about how this project started? How long has it been in the works? How did you arrive at the sound we hear, and will hear for years to come?
ZG: The sound of the FIFA World Cup 26™ was in development for about a year before its announcement. The sound was created through the in-depth Elias audio branding process, with input from the team at Universal Music Group for Brands. Through various auditing and moodboard stages, we narrowed down to a few key strategic & creative themes/territories that would be essential for the Audio Identity.
One of the big creative challenges we identified was making sure that the piece captured the excitement of a match on the largest stage in the world. The Audio Identity also needed to appeal to all listeners while being firmly grounded in the core feeling of the brand and the World Cup. We wanted to make sure this piece covered the many twists and turns that a soccer/football match has. The arc of the theme is intended to express the dynamics of a football match, from the quietest moments of anticipation to the loudest swells of celebration. The theme also includes manipulated sound design to represent all levels of gameplay – from children playing on their neighborhood pitch to professional matches.
The percussion in the piece was partly built from football sound design (a ball being kicked, footsteps on a pitch, a ball hitting the back of a net for the goal, a ball being caught by the keeper). We needed to make sure the melody and arrangement choices were not only sticky and memorable, but that they captured the world class nature of the FIFA World Cup - without it being too classic/stodgy or highbrow.
LN: The FIFA World Cup 26™ will take place in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, which makes the launch of this new anthem all the more exciting for fans of those national teams. Are you a soccer/football fan at all, and were you familiar with the signature sounds of previous World Cups?
ZG: I was super familiar with the various World Cup themes, especially the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ as I coincidentally composed that piece as well haha! I have watched most every World Cup over the past couple of decades, Argentina was always a favorite team of mine so it was incredible having them win the 2022 World Cup while simultaneously hearing my work being played throughout the globe!
The arc of the theme is intended to express the dynamics of a football match, from the quietest moments of anticipation to the loudest swells of celebration
LN: Elias Audio Branding mentions developing an anthem that was “flexible and durable enough to both represent the FIFA World Cup 26™ and function as the ‘Evergreen’ sound of the brand for adaptation in the future.” What were the biggest challenges with that goal? How do you compose something with future customizations in mind, especially when each host nation has their own musical and cultural identity?
ZG: In order to achieve a piece that could in essence be "future proof", we really honed in on the melodic content first. It goes back to the idea that a great song can be stripped down to its most basic elements of chords and melody - this way we aren't relying solely on the production elements of the piece, as these will always change as time moves on.
Although the FIFA World Cup 26™ is happening in three different countries, the sound of the piece does not overtly cater to a particular sound for each country as it did for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. The production feels and sounds more universal without landing in the "world music" genre. This in itself creates a much more malleable sound in the long term, for various countries and various use cases.
Outside of these considerations, the more immediate challenge was the fact that this piece was composed in 2023 for a World Cup happening three years later. Creating something that felt relatively futuristic and simultaneously timeless was the ultimate balance. I was trying to imagine what pieces of modern production would continuously be prominent in music while also attempting to imagine what the landscape will be for music in 2026.
LB: Thanks to not only the action on the pitch and tournaments, but the popularity of the video game, FIFA is a massive global brand. Taking that a step further, when creating the sound of one of the largest global sporting events in the World Cup, how do you understand the reach and impact, the billions of the ears that will come in contact with your work?
ZG: Honestly, it is a bit crazy to try and comprehend fully. I remember being at a bar watching the England vs. USA match in the 2022 World Cup and hearing my piece played out in front of a few hundred people that were glued to the screen... it was stunning for me to then think of the thousands of other places just like that where people were watching, hearing this music. I think the reach and impact is so huge for this work because it helps to create that memory and excitement for every viewer. 10 years after the 2026 World Cup, a fan can hear my piece and be brought back to the space where they watched their team play an incredible match. That to me is one of my biggest goals as a composer and producer - imparting a memory to such a meaningful cultural moment.
LN: Fans will likely hear this anthem every time coverage resumes after commercial breaks for countless matches. It will essentially signify the all important “Game on!” and folks will start singing along, maybe it will play as a little earworm for the rest of the day.
What’s one thing you want people to know about this anthem? What emotions do you want it to convey?
ZG: This anthem is meant to capture the experience of the FIFA World Cup 26™, no matter where you are or who you are. I created this piece to bring people together around a massive event that means so much to so many people. I hope that it gives people a feeling of excitement and anticipation as they sit down (or stand) to watch their team and I hope it adds to the joyous memories created for anyone watching the tournament.
10 years after the 2026 World Cup, a fan can hear my piece and be brought back to the space where they watched their team play an incredible match. That to me is one of my biggest goals as a composer and producer - imparting a memory to such a meaningful cultural moment.
LN: What inspires you, what gives you hope?
ZG: My wife and I just had our first child and she has given me a completely different sense of purpose in life. Her existence inspires me to live more and be better. Getting to see her grow and experience life gives me so much hope for the future - she is a constant reminder that the future is open to so many more possibilities than what we might imagine.
LN: What do you do when you’re not creating music?
ZG: I'm pretty big into games, so I enjoy playing various games online with my brother and other friends. Having dance parties with my wife and daughter has definitely become a household staple haha. Otherwise, I've been reading a few different books - one of them is titled "Listen" which is about how we listen to music and how we have interacted with music in more recent history.
LN: What are three things about you that wouldn’t want left out of your Wikipedia page?
ZG: That I play multiple instruments, all at an equally mediocre level, I have mastered playing "My Heart Will Go On" on the ever famously annoying Otamatone, and that I think Chicago deep dish pizza is better than NY style pizza (sorry, not sorry) haha.