Biography
Shawn K. Clement
Shawn has had a multi-faceted career as a composer in a variety of genres and styles. As a songwriter, producer, performer and engineer. Shawn has composed over 40,000 pieces of music, which has earned him more than 300 credits on TV series, Films, Video Games, and Records. Clement has been nominated for, as well as won, over the years, many awards. A notable piece of work, QUANTUM QUEST (performed by the San Francisco Philharmonic and recorded at Skywalker Ranch), was nominated for Hollywood Music in Media Awards’ Best Score, and won a Global Music Award. Shawn has literally worked for every major studio, every major television network as well as for every major cable network.
In 2011, Clement was commissioned by The Wounded Warriors’ Project to write the orchestral piece, “The Warrior’s Hymn”, for The Tribute for Wounded Warriors. It premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., by a 106-member orchestra, 247-member choir, and was sung by Jon Anderson of YES.
That piece was later recorded in the studio with Robin Zander of Cheap Trick on vocals; co-produced by Jack Douglas (John Lennon, Aerosmith, The Who, Cheap Trick, George Harrison, Alice Cooper, etc.) producing; Warren Huart (The Frey, Aerosmith, Korn, Ace Frehley) mixing; Bob Ludwig (Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Nine Inch Nails, etc.) mastering; a 40-piece choir and the Skywalker Symphony.
The record release of Warrior’s Hymn and another Jazz/fusion record called Raw Fungus (which also had an All-Star lineup) he recorded in the same year, and received multiple award nominations and wins, including 12 Grammy nominations.
One of Clement’s current/latest projects has been a recording of various works he has written over the last 2 years, which includes/ a very diverse group of musicians, including the late Keith Emerson (Emerson Lake & Palmer, The Nice), Vinnie Colaiuta (Frank Zappa, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Jeff Beck, Chick Corea, Faith Hill, Megadeath), Ike Willis (Frank Zappa), Don Adey (Moody Blues), Geoff Downs (YES, Asia, The Buggles), Tony Franklin (The Firm with Jimmy Page, Kenny Wayne Shepperd, White Snake, Quiet Riot..), Chaka Khan, and many more…
In addition to working as a composer, Shawn has also run his own successful production company that was located at Paramount Pictures, which developed and produced feature films and television shows. A personal highlight, while at Paramount, was when Ray Bradbury personally asked him, not only to score the only documentary Ray approved about his life, but was also asked to co-produce, along with Joe Mantegna. Unfortunately, Ray passed away before the film was completed. A panel was held at Comic Con, along with Joe and Edward James Olmos, amongst others – a befitting place as Ray was one of the co-creators of Comic Con.
As a side note, Clement has instructed a multitude of people in diverse environments. Also, he has conducted music theory and composition seminars at Lowell University, Boston Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, instructed for the Musician’s Institute, professionally taught guitar techniques for 7 years, and also spearheaded many “master-classes” and panels around the world for NAMM, ASCAP, BMI, CCC, GDC, Berklee College of Music and Comic Con to name a few. These master-classes and panels encompassed many aspects of the business including compositional techniques, publishing, contractual issues, copyright issues, artist rights and career trajectory theories – all pertaining to the creative film scoring business. All of this experience has kept him on the vanguard of leading industry companies, which has given him even more insight into modern technology and music.
Shawn was also privileged to work on a project again with Jack Douglas for The Special Olympics.
Currently Shawn is working on 2 albums, Emotional Detox and DOGS as well as a Charity event Sunset Gala Parkinson’s Research.
Aside from a vast music career Shawn has been involved with many animal rescue entities such as Tippi Hendren’s Shambala Preserve, Guide Dogs of America, Wildlife Waystation, Gibbon Conservation Center, Shadowland Foundation among others.