In his relatively short
career, composer Shawn K. Clement's career trajectory has been fueled by
undeniable talent, striking musicality and pure instincts. He has grown from an
accomplished, respected guitarist and songwriter, to a successful composer with
a distinct, recognizable style and sound.
Clement's music can best
be described as compelling. His music is
intense and deeply-layered, and contains potent melodies which evoke strong
emotion. He possesses an exceptional talent for writing unforgettable themes
and his versatility as a composer is unmatched.
Originally from
Clement pursued his love
of music from the early age of 12 when he picked up the guitar and began his music
career. “Playing music was all that I wanted to do. I played guitar day and
night – nothing else mattered.” Unchallenged and bored with school curricular,
he skipped classes just so he could hang out in the band room. “The band
director would cover for me, as long as I wrote all of the arrangements for the
Jazz Band.”
Clement competed in and
won national guitar-playing competitions. During his school years, an under-age
Clement started gigging regularly. He taught guitar lessons for 8 years, and
conducted guitar clinics and seminars for colleges. Clement excelled
academically and segued into composing when he studied at the prestigious
Berklee College of Music in
Clement began his work in
film music in 1994. By 1995 he was writing music for Women: Stories of Passion,
a series on Showtime that still airs today, and The Savage Dragon, an animated
series for Universal, among others. In 1996 his life was forever changed when
he signed on to score the first reality television franchise, World's Wildest
Police Videos. World's Wildest Police Videos has consistently and continues to
air in the United States and all over the world, and has generated a long line
of work for Clement in the genre, including series and specials such as World's
Scariest Police Chases, Avoiding The Moment of Impact (2&3) and When Good
Pets Go Bad 1 & 2 (all for Fox Television); plus The World's Most Amazing
Videos (NBC), The World's Most... series for Discovery Communications, and the
World's Scariest Ghosts, hosted by James Coburn on ABC. In the huge volume of
music written for these shows, Clement used the reality format to define a new
musical genre that, for years now, has dominated primetime viewing. ASCAP
presented Clement with a most impressive award – the prestigious “ASCAP 2000
Film and Television Award” for Most Performed Underscore, recognizing this
accomplishment.
Although Clement dominates
this notable niche, it's simply one facet to a multi-dimensional composer. His
versatility can be seen in diverse projects in film, television and video
games, across all genres. While the darker, intense side of music appeals to
him the most, Clement’s extraordinary versatility takes him down every musical
path imaginable.
Clement's credits include
the acclaimed network series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, (1997-98) and the
theatrical feature entitled A Fate Totally Worse Than Death, a Sid Sheinberg
production recently released on DVD, starring Christopher Lloyd, Janet Leigh,
Jonathan Brandis and Julie Benz. He enjoys composing for independent features
like We Married Margo that debuted at the 2000 Slamdance film festival in Utah
and won the Audience Favorite Award at the HBO/U.S. Comedy & Arts Festival,
with a cast that includes Kevin Bacon, Cindy Crawford and Tom Arnold, and Erik
Estrada, and Last Chance a film with Tracey Walter and Tim Thomerson, won Best
Original Drama at its festival debut in April, 2000 in Houston, Texas at the
World Fest. Further highlights in his career are two Batman projects for Warner
Bros., each of which earned award nominations.
Clement's music has also
been heard on television shows Entertainment Tonight, Extra Magazine, The
Guiding Light, Ally McBeal, Donny and Marie, Married....With Children, Another
World, The Maury Show, Wasteland, As the World Turns, Crime & Punishment,
Ray Bradbury Theatre, The Heights and California Dreams.
In addition to scoring,
Clement is one of the few composers who is also an accomplished songwriter.
While composing for Buffy The Vampire Slayer he also createdsongs that have
reached cult status.
Clement's sensibilities as
a live player are one key to his artistry. "I take my first impulse and
make it work when I compose," he says. "I grew up playing in bands,
so I have the psychology of being able to play all night in different
styles." “I've learned that music can't get in the way of what's going on
-- music is another actor in the film; it creates an alternative form of
dialogue that serves to reinforce the visual. That is the place that I write to
– the point of artistry."
A mastery of musical gear
has won Clement endorsements from Yamaha Guitars, Cakewalk Music Software,
Garritan, Seymour Duncan, Dean Markley Strings, Rocktron, Lexicon, EMU,
Frontier Design, Peavey and Nemesys. He has been featured in full-page ads in
Mix, Keyboard, EQ and Recording magazines to promote gear for Frontier Designs.
In 2006 Clement was
brought in on a state-of-the-art technology project, led by a partnership of
Intel, Microsoft and Cakewalk. These industry giants worked together to create
the 64-bit platform for the music products industry. Clement, selected for his
complex, dense composing style, was asked to score a piece utilizing the new
platform, to create music that shows the capability of this new technology for
composing. “I was given a computer with limitless ability and was amazed by an
environment where all creating generates from one place. The capability is
inspiring and exciting – it was a tremendous project and I was honored to be a
part of it,” says Clement.
Clement enjoys the
diversity of scoring that his career has brought him. He has worked in
virtually every genre, although he most enjoys composing dark, intense,
deeply-layered music. Distinctly different than the majority of his
contemporaries, Clement, like most of the great talents before him, has the
ability to compose in all styles. He marvels at the genius of composers like
Bernard Herrmann, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Elliot Goldenthal, Danny
Elfman and Ennio Morricone, as well as Led Zeppelin, Yes, Paul McCartney, Chick
Corea, Pat Metheny, Bartok and Stravinsky, all significant influences in his
world of music.
Clement has developed a
confidence in his composing. Having artistically scored such a large volume of
music has afforded him the opportunity to work with some of the most talented
musicians in the world. In the fast-paced world of television and with the
grandness of film, he continues to produce the highest quality score in any
medium, in any genre. Clement is truly an exceptional talent.
For now, exploding into
the world of features, dramatic television, and top-rated, theatrically-based
video games, and with an enviable lock on the world of reality television,
Clement continues to capitalize on his growing reputation for delivering
exactly what producers and directors require: inspired music, imaginatively
conceived, brilliantly performed and impeccably recorded. "I treat
everything like a feature," concludes Clement, "I make it bigger than
it is: it's exciting."
AWARDS
2004 Batman:
The Rise of Sin Tzu Gang Award Nomination
Best Arrangement of a
Non-Original Score
2002 Batman: Vengeance
AIAS Award Nomination
Outstanding Achievement In
Composition
2000 Body of Work ASCAP
Film and TV Award Winner
Most Performed
Underscore
PERFORMANCE CREDITS
Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter
Albert Lee
B.B. King
Slim Jim MacDonald
Neil Schon
Randy Jackson
Brad Gillis
Pat Muldoon Vivian Campbell
Eddie Van Halen
Brenda Epperson
Don Johnson
Chet Atkins
Tom Coster, Jr.
Harry Dean Stanton