Creative duo releases Gamecock inspired album, video
In 2010, USC students watched, shared and went crazy over a video that exemplified what it means to be a Gamecock fan and told them to “rock out with your Gamecock out.”
Now, nearly three years later, the same group has brought not only a new video, but also an entire mixtape, just in time for kickoff.
“We wanted to do a more official video,” said Fabio Frey, co-creator and co-founder of Dinobrite Productions. “We wanted to take it to the next level.”
That’s exactly what Frey and Joey Thompson, the other half of the creative duo, did.
“Ride For My Team (Forever To Thee),” the newest YouTube sensation from the production pair, is a musical ode to South Carolina football’s past, present and future.
The song, which is one of 10 tracks off of their professionally mixed album, “The Gamecock Mixtape,” features local rappers Big Hurc, Suga Shane, Diverse, Ali Rah and FatRat Da Czar.
Along with the musical talent, the new video features plenty of Gamecock fans, beautiful views of Columbia and even a live tiger.
Did we mention there are also appearances from the recently drafted Marcus Lattimore, Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers and Darius Rucker?
“We just had this image in our heads of Marcus and George driving away in a Ferrari,” Frey said. “It was a pretty far-fetched idea at the time.”
Frey and Thompson kept that goal in mind constantly, though, writing reminders on the white board in their office and on their phones.
After games of phone tag with agents during production and a morning drizzle that almost lost
them access to the Ferrari, it finally happened: Marcus and George stood in front of the camera, hopped in the car together and drove off into the distance.
In the end, most of the pieces the duo imagined eventually fell into place, but the team has not forgotten the effort it took to get there.
“We do stuff so big (that) people take it for granted,” Thompson said.
Big to them meant canceling their plans, including paid work, for three months and spending thousands of dollars to mix the album professionally, all along unsure of how it all would play out.
Southeastern Conference rivals and folks unfamiliar with Columbia might wonder why the duo went to such an effort to create a video, but Frey and Thompson know that what they’ve made is unlike anything else — just like South Carolina fans.
“Sometimes people forget that there’s been a lot of bad years in football for us,” Frey said. “We have these fans that are humble and hardcore fans who didn’t even go to USC, who appreciate the team. Our fans are so diverse.”
Frey and Thompson wanted to share how great they think their team and school are and leave their mark on USC by doing it better than the amateur fan songs they’d heard did.
“We want this to be something people are still listening to five years down the road,” Frey said.
The pair said they wanted to go out with a bang. And to those who may try to top them, their message is simple: best of luck.
Their videos, album and “Gamecock Swag” T-shirts have brought them national recognition, a slew of fans and the possibility that a clip of the video will be played at a football game, but they’re not quick to forget why they started it all.
“At the end of the day, we’re just really big Gamecock fans,” Frey said.
“I can’t imagine going to any other university,” Thompson added. “I’ll be a Gamecock fan until I die.”