Colin Kaepernick in Nike’s new spot.
A new Nike ad starring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is set to debut during Thursday night’s season-opening game. But who penned the stirring background music?
Kaepernick is the high-profile athlete chosen by Nike to deliver its powerful “Just Do It” campaign. Behind the scenes, composer Dustin O’Halloran provides the background song called “We Move Lightly” for the spot. It seems to match up perfectly with the tone of the new inspirational ad.
The powerful new advertisement is called “Dream Crazy,” and centrally features Colin Kaepernick as narrator. In addition to Kaepernick, other featured athletes include tennis star Serena Williams and NBA star LeBron James.
Kaepernick narrates about pushing to become the greatest, and the former San Francisco 49ers QB pops up a few times during the advertisement. His words and images of athletic excellence are carried by a moving piano piece in the background courtesy of Dustin O’Halloran.
O’Halloran, who was born in Phoenix, Arizona, has been involved in the music industry since 1994.
He was able to teach himself piano since the age of 7 and ultimately pursued his passion by studying art at Santa Monica College. O’Halloran would go on to form the indie rock band Devics with Sara Lov and others.
In addition to Los Angeles, he called Italy and Berlin his homes as well. Most likely, he picked up influences in both places that carried over to his moving live performances and studio LPs.
O’Halloran’s put out five solo albums featuring his piano music, including 2017’s 3 Movements EP and 2011’s Lumiere. In addition, his music has been featured on multiple soundtrack albums, including 2013’s The Beauty Inside, and 2009’s An American Affair.
He’s also received multiple award nominations for his music on the soundtrack for 2016’s Lion. And if that isn’t enough, O’Halloran also provided music for Amazon’s hit series, Transparent.
As of today, O’Halloran’s song “We Move Lightly” has over nine million plays on the Spotify streaming music service. The song was featured on the 2011 indie film soundtrack Like Crazy and is also part of O’Halloran’s Lumiere solo album. It’s likely that this song was specifically selected by those involved in Nike’s ad campaign for how well it fits with their new spot.
Television viewers will hear the song and see the televised unveiling of the new Colin Kaepernick Nike ad during Thursday night’s NFL season-opener.
The Atlanta Falcons vs. Philadelphia Eagles game gets started at 8:20 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC.