LOS ANGELES — Executive producer Kiki Einziger and executive creative director Ben Einziger have launched CAYA Music & Sound (www.caya-music.com). The co-founders, who are also husband and wife, launched the new venture in an effort to provide advertising clients with original composition, sound design, music supervision, sonic identity, voiceover and final mixing services.
While naming a company can be a painstaking process, ‘Come As You Are’ quickly rose to the top of their list of choices. The business’s philosophy and mantra, Kiki explains, is more important today than ever.
“We encourage our clients to stand out,” she notes. “Authenticity is crucial to our process. We invite you to tell us your story, and together we’ll discover its authentic sound.”
CAYA's COVID-era space
True representation is also paramount to the founders of CAYA.
“As a Cuban-American woman, I feel a strong sense of pride that CAYA is a female and minority-owned business,” says Kiki. “I’d be proud in any climate, but reading the headlines reporting that Latina and Black women currently hold the highest unemployment rate in the US, it feels even bigger to me right now.”
Ben and Kiki met in advertising, and worked as colleagues for years before getting involved. Having started on the agency side, Kiki led the production department at MassiveMusic for almost a decade. During that time, she produced music for global brands such as Target, Coke, Hulu, Budweiser, Dr. Pepper and Taco Bell, among many others.
At Massive, Ben was the creative director, with a focus on business development. He comes from a strong musical background: his mother was an opera singer; his brother is the lead guitarist for Incubus; and at age 23, his first rock band signed a deal with Atlantic Records. Ben was first given the opportunity to compose for a broadcast commercial 14 years ago while he was touring the world with his band. He was able to pair his ear for composition with a mind for business development.
“Ultimately, Kiki and I decided it was time to leave the nest and start a new adventure,” he explains.
At CAYA, their shared ambition is to elevate the creative beyond the client’s expectations.
“As a composer, I won’t write for a project that’s outside my musical wheelhouse,” Ben explains. “That’s the beauty of being a creative director — knowing when and which virtuosos to bring in that genuinely understand the true sound of the requested genre.”
CAYA has curated a pool of over 100 composers and sound designers located all over the globe, each specializing in particular genres. Having a reach to composers in varying time zones offer logistical advantages, as it means production can occur on a 24-hour cycle.
CAYA’s advertising debut was the Nike spot You Can’t Be Stopped.
“Based on AKQA’s creative direction, we knew the music needed to feel contemporary, lively, authentic and human,” Ben recalls. “It’s not in us to ‘fake the funk’, so we ended up recording a live horn section and gospel choir. I’ve watched the spot probably 200 times, and it still makes me want to dance every time I hear it.”
CAYA has a handful of other projects to its credit too, including the recent creative campaign for wellness brand Noom, and spots for Kia and Taco Bell. Additionally, they are crafting sonic identities for several major brands set to be released later this year.