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
Duncan Sheik quotes about
I'm a pretty big P.J. Harvey record fan and you can really hear New York in his record.
And frankly, when I made that record, hit songs were not what I was trying to achieve.
I got a publishing deal with BMG, they were supportive, and some money to record demos
Simon Hale, the British arranger, does all string and wood arrangements on my records
My first two records were more energetic; Phantom Moon is subtle, quiet; so these various reactions are just something I expected
If I were to do this over I'd play a lot more shows before I made a record
For my second record I had gotten ProTools and started to familiar myself with hard disc recording.
I mean, at the end of the day when I'm making a record, what I want to do is what I do
I'm a pretty big P.J. Harvey record fan and you can really hear New York in his record
Ultimately, if I'm really moved by something, it's going to go on the record and that's that
But really important, perhaps most important is the craft; how you make your record, the creation of these sonic worlds you want your listener to hear.
After College I traveled across country to LA and within six months had a record deal - it was very premature, I was not ready to make a record.
The difficult thing about a pop record is that you're given guidelines: it has to have 3 choruses, and then it must be between 3 minutes fifteen seconds and three minutes forty-five seconds.
A real foolproof way to do it is play your stuff by hook or by crook and build up a grass roots following