Gummi Tóta and DJ Zbad: New York athletes turned musicians
Gudmundur Thórarinsson (left) and Mika Zibanejad (right) balance being pro athletes with music careers
Playing in front of 20,000 boisterous New York City spectators on a weekly basis can give athletes a loyal fan base. Two New York professional athletes hope to attract fans for their musical talents as well.
New York City FC midfielder Gudmundur Thórarinsson, and New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad have expanded their wide range of talents to the music industry with majority European fan bases at the moment.
Thórarinsson, 28, known on the soccer field as “Gudi,” signed with NYCFC at the end of January. He arrived in New York after stints with clubs in his native Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, where he won the top flight’s title with Rosenborg BK. His time with NYCFC has been limited due to MLS’s early season pause along with an injury that sidelined him for the team’s two regular season matches. However, Thórarinsson has formed a quick bond with his fellow teammates during his short time with the club and took them by surprise when he revealed that he is also an accomplished musician.
Yes, he was obligated to perform a private concert at the team’s preseason training camp upon his arrival. Only teammate Anton Tinnerholm was aware of Thórarinsson’s hidden talent, but the news of the team musician ended up spreading rather quickly. Thórarinsson goes by the Icelandic stage name, Gummi Tóta–rubber band in English–and has roughly 30,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. His music is most popular around the Scandinavian country, but through collaborations with fellow Icelandic pop artists, he’s landed on Iceland’s Top 50 charts on multiple occasions.
Thórarinsson’s music features a mixture of calming and upbeat pop songs. Some will be your classic coffee shop background tunes and some you’ll want to get up and dance to. His most popular hit features a collaboration with his brother Ingólfur on Icelandic DJ, Doctor Victor’s song “Sumargleðin” which means summer fun. The upbeat, club-like track has over 1 million listens on Spotify, which is by far his biggest hit.
Thórarinsson began publicizing his music in 2012 after putting his career on hold to focus on becoming a pro soccer player. He made his first professional appearance in 2009 with his local club UMF Selfoss, the same team Ingólfur began his career with. Ingólfur, aka Ingó Veðurguð, now retired from the sport, also turned to music in the middle of his professional career when his song “Bahama” topped Iceland’s music charts for nine consecutive weeks in 2008.
In April, NYCFC released a video recorded by Thórarinsson of an untitled, inspirational song aimed to spread optimism during the coronavirus pandemic. “I wanted to reach out to our fans in New York City and send out good vibes,” Thórarinsson told beIN Sports about his motivation to write the song. During the interview he stressed the challenges of living in New York at the time and having to adjust to the American lifestyle.
His latest album was released last year, so stay tuned for more releases from Gummi Tóta.
In a virtual interview with Zibanejad, MSG Networks host Michelle Gingras asked the big question: “When is the album dropping?” Zibanejad developed his alter ego, “DJ Zbad,” after performing at an Ottawa nightclub in 2013. He was a member of the Ottawa Senators at the time. However, after uncovering his hidden talent and falling in love with the club scene, Zibanejad began releasing his Electropop covers in 2017.
The Swedish forward was traded to the Rangers in July 2016 and since then has been putting up career high numbers. This season in particular, although cut short by an injury, Zibanejad found himself atop the NHL leaderboards. In 57 games, Zibanejad scored 41 goals, the fifth highest, with a league leading 0.72 goals per game.
Given Zibanejad’s devotion to the Rangers, he still manages to dedicate time towards his music, finding regular opportunities to collaborate with other DJ’s and recording artists. He has a fanbase of around 500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify with the help of the world famous DJ, Tiësto, who played one of Zibanejad’s mashups at a concert last summer.
Zibanejad’s three latest tracks have been collaborations with New York based DJ, Hot Shade. Hot Shade, who is well-known for teaming up with Scandinavian artists, was also featured on the remix for the Maroon 5 song “Cold”. Together, they have produced music that has enhanced Zibanejad’s musical creativity. His songs are your typical club songs with catchy post beat drop melodies that are suited for a good time.
Since his musical debut in 2017, Zibanejad has produced songs for three years running, with five released songs so far. His latest single, “By My Side,” was released over the NHL’s pause in early April. While the league has been shut down for over three months, Zibanejad stayed with his family in Sweden, and is eager to return to training with the Rangers.
Teammate and fellow Swede, Henrik Lundqvist also performs in a band called “The Noise Upstairs”, featuring tennis legend John McEnroe, performs mainly at Henrik Lundqvist Foundation charity events.
Thórarinsson and Zibanejad are very aware that living the life of a pro athlete will not last forever and may well look to take their music careers more seriously upon retirement. Don’t be surprised if the two Scandinavian athletes come out with a collaboration in the future.
