Meet Shaun O’Brien | Composer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shaun O’Brien and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shaun, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
A few different reasons actually. The first being that I’ve always wanted to be creating something and has always felt like a need in my life. First it was drawing as a child, then music really took over when my parents got a free piano from a neighbor who was moving away. I’ve also painted and done photography a lot but creating music has always had the strongest pull on me. I think it’s just my way of processing and expressing how I’m feeling. A couple other reasons why I like to make music is to give back to music for what it has given me, and to offer something beautiful to the world.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
I think what I’ve learned most is resilience. I’ve definitely had my fair share of challenges, but navigating through them has made me stronger and wiser. Getting signed with your band when you’re young and then being dropped after a year is of course a disheartening experience, but it led to what I do now. And at the end of the day what I love to do most is sit in my home studio and make music. That’s just one example among the many, but it’s always best to try and learn from those experiences and then move forward. To just keep going. And if what you’re doing is that important to you, you’ll find a way.

Musically, my background and what I listen to is definitely a mix. It ranges from classical piano to punk and new wave, alternative to indie folk, film scores to hardcore, electronic to traditional, and many more. What I’ve made so far has mostly been in the electronic to indie acoustic worlds, but I think that mixture of what I like comes through in what I make and also helps inspire fresh ideas. Cross-pollinating to make something interesting and new.

Where I draw my inspiration from is not only from listening to music, but looking at art or a photograph can give me an idea. Or simply by taking a walk and being in nature. Also, from watching a movie and imagining what kind of music would complement a scene.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If you have a friend visiting town, what are some spots you could take them to?
I’d want to take them to my favorite places in the different areas I’m familiar with, mostly on the east side from Downtown, Echo Park, Silver Lake to Los Feliz. Now I live in Beachwood Canyon, but here’s a couple days’ worth of things I’d do:

Morning breakfast at Beachwood Cafe, then take a walk up in the hills. You can see the Hollywood sign pretty close up there.

Head over to Griffith Observatory for an amazing view of all of LA. During the day, sunset, or at night are all equally great.

Head over to Los Feliz area to check out Skylight Books and walk around. Vermont Ave and Hillhurst Ave a lot of cool little shops. Have a sit-down coffee and snack outside at Figaro Bistrot.

Lunch at Boo’s in Silver Lake. The best cheesesteaks in LA.

Go to downtown to walk around Grand Central Market and The Last Bookstore. Just walking around all the plazas and streets around the historic older part of downtown is cool to see. Visit The Museum of Contemporary Art.

Drive over to Silver Lake to walk around the reservoir area, then go to Forage or Edendale for a pre-dinner drink.

Dinner at Blair’s across the street. Or Little Dom’s is great too.

Depending on who I’m with, it’s fun to check out famous skate spots and filming locations along the way to different places. Like the Mulholland Drive houses, Paddy’s Pub from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Chinatown or Pulp Fiction locations.

Maybe next day do some stuff a little further out like pick up sandwiches at Bay Cities in Santa Monica and eat lunch on the beach and walk around Venice. Then drive up to the Getty for an afternoon museum visit. Dinner at Paradise Cove Beach Cafe and then drive back down along Pacific Coast Highway. It’s a beautiful drive especially at sunset, but I think parts of the highway are still closed since the January fires happened.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Starting from the beginning, shoutout to my childhood piano teacher Tiffany Jones, my school band teachers and high school guitar class teacher, my bandmate Zack Gray and the many bands we formed (which was my introduction to becoming a professional musician and without those times together, I might be doing something else), Jake Versluis who managed our band and later on brought me into composing sync licensing projects with Position Music, Jay Trammell from Fat Cat Recording in Sacramento where I learned recording basics and how to use Cubase, composer Ryan Dodson who I learned a ton from in mixing and production ways during my first years in LA, and James Meder from Pique Recording here in LA for his technical and sonic expertise. Also, to the many other musicians and artists I’ve worked with, been inspired by, and learned from.

Website: https://www.shaunobrienmusicworks.com

Instagram: @shaunobrien_

Soundcloud: https://www.soundcloud.com/shaunobrienmusicworks

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@shaunobrienmusic

Other: Bandcamp – www.shaunobrienmusic.bandcamp.com

Image Credits
Mansour Mozafari
James Meder
Shaun O’Brien