In the heart of Chicago’s relentless creative hustle, Giles Travis II—better known as Go Home Trav—has emerged as a standout digital creator whose work fuses motivation, music, and Windy City pride. A marketer, entrepreneur, and artist rolled into one, Travis channels his experiences into raw, inspirational soundtracks that resonate far beyond the studio. His independent releases under Giles Creative Lab have captured the essence of Chicago’s grit, particularly through anthems that have become unofficial rally cries for Bears Nation during the 2025 season.
Raised in Chicago, Travis’s journey reflects the city’s unyielding spirit. As a multifaceted professional, he serves as Chief Marketing Officer at Brand Breakers LLC and founder of Giles Creative Lab, where he blends graphic design, strategy, and community impact. On his official site, Go Home Trav, he has a whole package of Chicago Bears songs, ringtones, and more:
“I don’t just make songs—I turn purpose into soundtracks that carry people through life.”
This ethos shines in his reflective social media posts, like one Instagram reel where he shares:
“Being a creator in Chicago hits different… Chicago made me. Now I get to give that energy right back.”
His work empowers entrepreneurs, sparks inspiration, and builds community, all while drawing from the raw energy that shaped him.
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Travis’s breakthrough as Go Home Trav came with the November 2025 release of “Bear Down (We Came to Win).” Conceived initially as a rap, he reimagined it with blues influences to echo Chicago’s soulful heritage, evoking the dominance of the Michael Jordan era. The track, clocking in at 1:39, is described on his site as “the calm before kickoff, the breath before impact,” a rally for underdogs who “stay silent while preparing to prove the world wrong.” Lyrics like “Bear Down, we came to win!” charge with competitive fire, mirroring the Bears’ defensive hunger and comeback spirit.
The song exploded organically. Fans created viral hype edits syncing highlights to the beat, amassing thousands of likes and views on X, Facebook, and Instagram. ESPN 1000’s David Kaplan featured it in player shoutouts, while 670 The Score interviewed Travis about its origins. Reddit threads hyped it as the energy the team needed, with calls to blast it at Soldier Field. Streams surged on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music, turning it into a grassroots phenomenon during key wins.
Following up on the “We Came to Win” EP, “Good Better Best” (3:07) delivers a motivational mantra: relentless improvement in the face of adversity. Part of a larger project including tracks like “Fire Inside” and “Step Into Greatness,” it encourages direct fan support through pay-what-you-want downloads. While the team’s own “Good, better, best” chant (popularized by head coach Ben Johnson) shares thematic overlap, Travis’s version stands as a personal anthem for perseverance.
As a digital creator, Travis excels in multimedia storytelling—promoting releases with engaging visuals, behind-the-scenes content, and community calls to action. His Chicago roots fuel authenticity, bridging his passion for sports with empowerment. Notably, Travis shares deep ties to the local sports media scene: he, along with Sports Mockery’s ownership, are all alumni of St. Rita High School. This shared Southwest Side alma mater—famous for producing driven Chicagoans who build community-focused ventures—adds a personal layer that led to early conversations with Travis about contributing original tracks to the new “Untold Chicago” podcast. With these connections and growing recognition, he’s poised for even bigger collaborations.
Giles Travis II isn’t just making music; he’s crafting legacies that pump up a city. In an era of fleeting trends, his purpose-driven approach reminds Bears fans—and all Chicagoans—that the best emerges from the grind. Bear Down.
SM Sits Down with Giles Travis II (Go Home Trav)
1. What personal experiences in Chicago inspired you to turn “Bear Down (We Came to Win)” into a blues-infused anthem?
Giles: It actually didn’t start as a blues-infused anthem at all. It started as a rap song — and it was strong. But I realized the way it was originally made, it would’ve only reached a certain audience.
I felt like this song was bigger than that. I wanted it to bring people together without losing the core of what it was saying. So I asked myself, what’s the most authentic Chicago way to do that?
Between spending time at Kingston Mines and thinking about old Maxwell Street, it hit me — the blues is Chicago. It’s soulful, it’s communal, it carries history and heart. That felt like the right vehicle to bring these lyrics to life in a way that could live outside of just one group and really belong to the whole city.
2. You’ve said you turn purpose into “soundtracks that carry people through life.” How do you decide when a personal mantra—like those in “Good Better Best”—becomes a song that motivates an entire fanbase?
Giles: I don’t feel like I decide that — I feel like people decide.
When something resonates with you personally, but you start seeing it do the same thing for everyone around you, that’s when it becomes bigger than a song. At its core, it’s about reminding people that they’re capable of more than they think they are.
When you see teachers using it to motivate their students, or people applying it to their everyday lives, you realize it’s going to live outside of where it started. At that point, if I have the ability to spread that message further, I feel a responsibility to do so.
3. Bears fans adopted “Bear Down” organically, from radio play to calls for it to be blasted at Soldier Field and praise in team content. Did you expect such a profound grassroots impact?
Giles: It’s honestly a pretty crazy story. I actually sent the song to the Bears first because I truly believed it was a big record. I even gave myself a deadline — I didn’t want to miss the entire season sitting on it.
I told myself I’d give them two weeks to respond, and if I didn’t hear back, I was going to create a groundswell on my own to get it noticed. So yes, I believed the song had the ability to break through — but how quickly it happened caught me completely off guard.
The reception from Bears fans was shocking in the best way. It was an incredible feeling when something you believe is special turns out to be something everyone else connects with too — not just because you’re the artist, but because artists think everything is special. This was different. This was real.
4. Chicago shaped you—how has growing up here influenced your approach to creating music that’s as much about empowerment and community as it is about entertainment?
Giles: Growing up in Chicago, I’ve always wrestled with the question of whether music reflects culture or whether culture shapes the music. And by culture, I mean the reality of the world we’re living in right now.
That question became personal early on. I watched how easily music influenced people — especially kids. I saw songs become part of how people see life and themselves. Music wasn’t just entertainment; it was influence.
Coming from the inner city on the South Side, I also saw how increases in violence mirrored what was happening in society. That’s when I realized that if you want to make a difference, you have to do something different. I never fully settled the debate, but I came to believe that music shapes reality — because it reaches further. One person’s reality, once turned into music, can quickly become everyone else’s.
5. With the success of “Bear Down,” what’s next for Go Home Trav?
Giles: What’s next for Go Home Trav is creating experiences that help reshape the world — not just releasing songs.
This summer, I’m planning a one-day expo, along with sports training initiatives and patient-centered experiences that combine music, motivation, and real-world impact. Looking ahead to next winter, I’m developing a musical, and on an ongoing basis, I’m launching monthly music education classes to pour back into the community.
On the music side, I want to continue creating soundtracks for all of Chicago’s sports teams while collaborating with artists I respect — Nola, Ade, Willie Taylor, Jeremih, and more.
At the end of the day, if you want to make a positive impact on the city and you’re willing to do the work, I’m always open to collaborating. The goal isn’t just to make Chicago a good place to live — it’s to help make it the best place to live.
