When the Badgers pour out of the tunnel on game day, they’re met by a mix of cheers from the tens of thousands of fans who fill the stadium and the blare of the band leading them in with the school song. It’s the first song that hits the players, gets them motivated to take the field and unifies them as Wisconsin football players.
Behind the scenes, though, music is an important part of this Badger team. You won’t find too many players with “On, Wisconsin” on their iPods, but an inspection of their individual music listening devices would find some very similar and very different songs across the board.
Take sophomore Rafael Gaglianone for example. The Brazilian-born kicker doesn’t listen to too many of the same songs as players like junior cornerback Sojourn Shelton or redshirt junior center Dan Voltz, but he’s getting there.
“Before a game, I like EDM—electronic dance music,” Gaglianone said. “It just kind of reminds me of back home and all we used to listen to when I was out with my friends and stuff like that. I listen to a little bit of Drake here and there too, though.”
Most players, Gaglianone added, usually come up with playlists to listen to before each game. With so many players, the selections vary quite a bit. Some stick to what they know, and others have wide interests that span multiple genres.
“I’m open to listen to anything,” Shelton said. “If you go on my iTunes library, you’ll see a lot [of] things that you wouldn’t expect, like Miley Cyrus and all of that. I’m open to listen to whatever it is, you just have to kind of be willing to expand your horizon as far as not just listening to one thing.”
Shelton sees himself as the sort of music aficionado of the team. He claims to have more than 5,000 songs on his computer, legally obtained of course, and he’s always willing to open his teammates up to new music.
“I’m actually a music fiend,” he said. “A lot of people on the team come to me when they get an iPod or a new phone and they want to get some new music. They come to me first, me or [redshirt senior tight end Austin] Traylor.”
“Me first,” he continued, “because I have more music than Austin does, but overall, I mean I’m just willing to help out anybody and put people onto stuff because everybody’s from different areas, so everybody doesn’t listen to the same thing. It brings us together a little bit.”
Shelton may be one conduit for spreading music around the team, but he isn’t the only one. He thinks he’s the one that teammates go to first, but that may not always be the case.
“Eh, I usually ask Corey [Clement]. He’s the lyrical genius of the team,” redshirt sophomore defensive end Chikwe Obasih said. “His stage name is Yeroc. He has a couple of songs out there on Soundcloud—you should look it up, I’m not kidding. He’s performed them back in New Jersey.”
No matter who is providing the tunes, the music seems to bring teammates just a little bit closer. It doesn’t always have to be professionally produced songs, though. Redshirt junior running back Dare Ogunbowale is an avid piano player, and he’s always honing his craft.
“When we’re at the hotels, if there’s a piano there, I’ll play,” he said. “Me and [redshirt senior quarterback] Joel [Stave], we’ll just play around. [Redshirt junior offensive lineman] Logan Schmidt actually knows how to play too. We just play around, though. No concerts.”
Some of the Wisconsin players like Ogunbowale prefer the slower, more mellow songs for their pregame listening. Ogunbowale in particular likes reggae and piano music, while others, specifically the offensive linemen, prefer country. As Gaglianone put it, “They’re more of the country, you know, farm type of music.”
“Definitely country,” Voltz admitted. “I listen to music on the bus ride over, and then once I get to the locker room, I kind of like it quiet, so I can think about some keys to the game and stuff like that.”
“I can’t speak for too many guys, but I know most of us [offensive linemen] don’t really get too jacked up.”
It’s easy to see why the men up front would want to stay pretty even-keeled. As Voltz explained, the offensive line has to focus on their technique and assignments during games, and it is important for them to stay steady through the highs and lows of the game.
Ogunbowale echoed similar sentiments, for a slightly different reason.
“I try to go into games calm because when you run out there in Camp Randall, you’re going to get your heart racing anyway, so you don’t really need to listen to faster music,” Ogunbowale said.
In the end, no matter their musical interests, every Badger football player can’t help but feel the excitement in the air at every home game. Hearing the fans cheer them on is music to their ears.
