Duncan Sheik
Duncan Sheik
Duncan Sheikis an American singer-songwriter and composer. Initially finding success as a singer, most notably for his 1996 debut single "Barely Breathing", he later expanded to compositions for motion pictures and the Broadway stage, such as the successful musical, Spring Awakening, where he won multiple Tonys and a Grammy. Sheik practices Nichiren Buddhism and is a member of the US branch of the worldwide Buddhist association Soka Gakkai International...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionComposer
Date of Birth18 November 1969
CityMontclair, NJ
CountryUnited States of America
Lately I've been a workaholic. I'm in the studio all the time and I've helped to produce a couple of artists
Simon Hale, the British arranger, does all string and wood arrangements on my records
I got a publishing deal with BMG, they were supportive, and some money to record demos
I'd have these weird experiences where I'd just be walking down the street with this chord progression in my head, this happened more than a few times, and I'd walk home and find a fax in my machine and it would match the music in my head
Happy music doesn't tend to move me much
When I was a teenager, I got into four track recorders, drum machines, and synthesizers, and I started producing instrumental music.
It's inevitable your environment will influence what you do
If I were to do this over I'd play a lot more shows before I made a record
I try to make sure that the Buddhism is more or less implicit in the music rather than explicit
My second record was all about big ideas - I was trying to make big statements about the culture, about life. I think in a certain way, I was a 27 year old kid with a guitar
The experiences of promoting my first album were really something; there is so much illusion in my environment (touring and pop music) that I wanted to clear away.
For my second record I had gotten ProTools (program) and started to familiar myself with hard disc recording.