OREM — Branden Steineckert never wanted to make a hit.

The current drummer for Rancid who lives in Utah County saw a void in American soccer supporter anthems, and he wanted to use his music to inspire a new generation of fans, both for club and country.

After his song “Believe” was adopted as an official anthem of local MLS club Real Salt Lake, Steineckert took his talents to the next level — the U.S men’s national team. Now, as Team USA gets ready to face Portugal in the second game of the Group Stages at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Steineckert’s latest song “We Stand United” (which has surpassed 91,000 views on YouTube) will be with them — in the stands, on TV and sung by thousands of supporters across the nation.

“I’m still amazed to this day how that has unfolded and worked out,” Steineckert said from his Orem studio. “Every game, it’s still surreal to me.”

Steineckert began working on his latest anthem for nearly a year, toying with words, phrases and musical accoutrements everywhere he could — on the town, at home, even in the shower. Last November, he finally sat down and began sketching out the melody. The words came to him, and he invited several friends to the basement of his house to lay down the vocal track on the anthem.

The final process took about a day, Steineckert said.

Here we stand united,

We’ll never be divided.

Fight and sing for victory.

“I don’t want it to sound like a choir,” he said. “I want it to sound like football fans.

“I don’t want the pitch or the timing to be right on (when singing); I don’t want it to be perfect. That would sound fake and contrived. I want it to sound organic, like something anyone and everyone can sing.”

Just as important was keeping the song universal — representative of the United States of America, and not just the U.S men’s national team, or a certain group of players.

“I didn’t want to be pigeon-holed to a certain era, captain, player, coach, nothing,” Steineckert said. “I didn’t want this to be a (current U.S. coach Jurgen) Klinsmann era or Clint Dempsey era.

“Just like ‘Believe,’ I try to write them in a way that is encouraging for any and all, whomever wears that shield.”

For every generation

Who represent our nation

And battle for the USA.

Steineckert showed the finished product to a good friend in the U.S. Soccer Federation, equipment manager Jesse Bignami. The anthem soon spread through staff and players, and received rave reviews.

When USA goalkeeper Tim Howard heard it, he sent Steineckert a text.

“I got goosebumps,” the goalkeeper wrote. “I keep listening to it over and over; I’m amped on this.”

One by one, other players had similar responses — Nick Rimando, Kyle Beckerman, Geoff Cameron, Dempsey; they all loved it. Steineckert went to the USA’s Sendoff Series opener May 27 against Azerbaijan in San Francisco, showing the video he finished the night before to everyone who cared on his iPhone.

The next day, he put the song on YouTube. It caught on quickly with U.S. soccer fans.

“To me, the thing that mattered was that this amps up the players,” Steineckert said. “It did, and I felt good about moving forward.”

Here we are (we are) United States

And we all (we all) can celebrate

That we are (we are) United States

And we’re proud to be the USA.

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By the time the United States faced Nigeria in the final Sendoff Series game June 7 in Jacksonville, Fla., Steineckert would hear “We Stand United” in public, from complete strangers and random listeners. He heard a group of teenagers singing it as he came off the field during a recreation league soccer match, 20 feet from where he was standing.

The anonymity of the moment felt fitting to Steineckert.

“I love not getting that attention,” he said. “This is yours, now take it and run with it. Make the banners; sing the song; support our team.

“It’s simply a song to encourage, to show support and to show pride in the people.”

Here we are (we are) United States

And we all (we all) can celebrate

That we are (we are) United States

And we’re proud to be the USA.

Steineckert didn’t write the song as a political statement. He didn’t write it to get fame or make money off of U.S. soccer fans. It’s about a team and a sporting event — one that happens to be one of the biggest events in the world.

“When I’m talking about pride in the U.S., that’s in uniting fans to show support for our sports teams,” he said. “It’s simply a way to unite soccer fans behind our national team.”

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