American pop rock band Against the Current have today released their latest single, “Wildfire”, in collaboration with the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) and two of its casters.
Welshman Andrew ‘Vedius’ Day and North American Daniel ‘Drakos’ star in the new music video, launched to promote the start of the Spring 2022 LEC season.
The track marks the first time that a music artist has collaborated with esports talent from Riot Games for a song. It’s a result of the partnership between Warner Music Group and the League of Legends publisher.
The collaborative track includes vocals from Vedius and Against the Current vocalist Chrissy Costanza, as well as a rap interlude from Drakos. The music video itself was filmed in Los Angeles.
Against the Current previously produced a song for the 2017 League of Legends World Championship, titled “Legends Never Die”, which has clocked up more than 500m global streams.
Vedius said: “The LEC team has had a lot of fun producing music videos in the past but to partner up with Chrissy and her band Against the Current was extra special for us. They’re so well known in the world of esports for their massive hit “Legends Never Die”, so to collaborate on a song with them was a bit of a ‘pinch me’ moment.”
Chrissy Costanza, vocalist for Against the Current, added: “Bringing “Wildfire” to life was a surreal experience from beginning to end and any opportunity we have to be involved with the League of Legends world is incredible.
“We’re so excited to be the soundtrack to LEC 2022! Shooting the video was one of the biggest productions we had ever been on so it was a crazy experience. We had never done overnight shoots or worked with so much pyro. The team behind it was awesome and we had an absolute blast.”
The LEC is known for producing comedic, music videos and musical skits, with the broadcast talent regularly producing hit songs. Last year, the team produced “Reckless With My Heart”, an emo-inspired tune which has amassed more than 3m views across social platforms and received a nomination at the 2021 Esports Awards for Creative Piece of the Year.
The team have also produced multiple rap battles in the past, with their most recent – Mediocre Rap Battle of the LEC – totalling more than 400,000 views.
Meanwhile, Against the Current features trio Chrissy Costanza [vocals], Dan Gow [guitar], and Will Ferri [drums]. The band’s tracks have amassed nearly 1bn streams and have sold out shows on multiple continents with their pop rock sound.
“The LEC team has had a lot of fun producing music videos in the past but to partner up with Chrissy and her band Against the Current was extra special for us. To collaborate on a song with them was a bit of a ‘pinch me’ moment.”
Vedius, LEC
“Wildfire” can be listened on a range of music platforms via https://againstthecurrent.lnk.to/wildfire.
Last week, LEC team G2 launched their first metal track and their own record label.
The LEC kicks off once again on January 14th 2022.
Vedius isn’t the only Welsh League of Legends personality: Alphari, top-laner for Vitality, recently spoke to Esports News UK about his goals for 2022 in a video interview.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
