Shawn Lee (American musician, producer, video game composer)

Shawn Lee (born December 28, 1963) is an American musician, producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the co-founder of London-based soft rock duo Young Gun Silver Fox, along with Andy Platts. He is known for creating the entire score for the video games Bully and The Getaway. His song, "Kiss the Sky", was featured in the Telltale video game Tales from the Borderlands and is used as the title track in Apple TV's Hijack. Shawn Lee was born to a mother of Lebanese and American Indian ancestry and a father of Irish American ancestry. Lee has relocated twice in pursuit of his career. He moved to Los Angeles in 1988, where he worked with The Dust Brothers and Jeff Buckley. After being in various bands, performing on The Tonight Show, a publishing deal with EMI and touring on Lollapolooza, Lee moved to London, England. There he signed a solo record deal with Talkin' Loud. This resulted in an album, Discomfort, which was only promo-released in France in 1996. In 2000, Lee released Monkey Boy on Wall of Sound Records. The album included Lee's song "Happiness", which was later recorded by million-selling British artist Will Young. 2004 saw the release of album Soul Visa, in Japan only, on Rush Production. Soul Visa was later released in 2006 worldwide under the BBE label. The album Harmonium was released in 2005 in Japan, again under Rush. As Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra, Lee has released eleven albums on US label Ubiquity Records and one under his own label Silver Fox Records: Music and Rhythm, Moods and Grooves, Voices and Choices, Strings and Things, A Very Ping Pong Christmas: Funky Treats From Santa's Bag, Hits the Hits, Miles of Styles, Under the Sun, Hooked Up Classics, World of Funk, Reel to Reel, and Techstar. Lee's music has appeared in many films such as Ocean's Thirteen, The Break-Up, and Confessions of a Shopaholic, as well as on television series, such as CSI: Miami, S.W.A.T., Lost, Desperate Housewives, Nip/Tuck, Ugly Betty, and Eastbound and Down, and the Mack Dawg Productions snowboard movie Picture This. Lee also scored the Rockstar Games video game Bully in 2006. Bully was twice nominated for best score from GameSpot (winner) and Spike VGA (Video Game Awards). He composed some pieces for The Getaway before working on Bully's score. Lee also scored the UK/Swiss feature film Save Angel Hope, which is yet to be released. The 2008 surf documentary film Under The Sun also features an original Shawn Lee soundtrack released on Ubiquity Records. In 2009, his song "Kiss the Sky" with Nino Moschella was featured on the second-season finale of Life, as well as in the first-season finale of the HBO comedy Eastbound & Down and the penultimate episode of the fifth season of Nip/Tuck. Lee continues to live in London, working on an array of new albums in his studio "Trans-Yank." These include collaborations with Clutchy Hopkins, Tony Joe White, Darondo, Money Mark, and Tommy Guerrero. He also frequently performs with London-based electronica band Psapp, both on record and at live performances. In 2011, Lee collaborated on an art exhibition with French visual artist Gerald Petit in Lyon, titled "A Conversation Piece". They collaborated after that on the LP "La musique électronique", with AM, Gerald creating the visuals for the album and the single "2 times". In 2023, they worked together on the Gerald Petit's solo exhibition, "Ni île", at Frac Normandie Caen, for which Shawn made an emotional performance in regard of the installation "Touch the Sky" (2023), for which he played 3 different versions of a guitar composition that Gerald Petit wrote in 2004, while he was living in New York. And more is yet to come..." Since 2011, Lee has collaborated with indie artist AM, whom he showcased with at the 2011 South By Southwest Music Festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. AM & Shawn Lee released their debut album Celestial Electric to critical acclaim in September 2011 on ESL Music. The first single from the album, "Dark Into Light," was released on limited edition 12-inch vinyl on the Ubiquity label on April 16, 2011, in honor of Record Store Day. When Rob Garza from Thievery Corporation heard the collaboration, he signed the debut album Celestial Electric to his record label ESL (Eighteenth Street Lounge). AM & Shawn Lee brought their second album La Musique Numérique to Park The Van Records. Shawn Lee is also one half of Young Gun Silver Fox along with Andy Platts. They have released five albums: West End Coast in 2015, AM Waves in 2018, Canyons in 2020, Ticket to Shangri-La in 2022, and Pleasure in 2025. Discomfort (Talkin' Loud, 1996) Planet of the Breaks (Time + Space, 1998) Beneath the Planet of the Breaks (Zero-G, 2000) Monkeyboy (Wall of Sound, 2000) Ape Breaks Vol 1-5 (Ubiquity, 2002–2003) Soul Visa (Rush!, 2004) Harmonium (Rush!, 2005) Bully Original Soundtrack (Ultra, 2006) Psychedelic Percussion (Pedigree Cuts, 2008) Soul in the Hole (Ubiquity, 2009) Soul in the Hole Instrumentals (Ubiquity, 2009) Sing a Song (Ubiquity, 2010) Sing a Song (Instrumental) (Ubiquity, 2010) Beats Between the Sheets (Pedigree Cuts, 2012) Synthesizers in Space (ESL Music, 2012) Soul Food 2 (Pedigree Cuts, 2013) Zombie Playground OST (Wonderfulsound, 2013) Golden Age Against the Machine (Barely Breaking Even, 2014) New York Street Funk (Pedigree Cuts, 2016) Shawn Lee's Soul Grooves (Pedigree Cuts, 2017) Rides Again (Légère Recordings, 2019) Shawn Lee Kung Fu Christmas (Silver Fox Records, 2021) Rides Yet Again (Légère Recordings, 2022) Shawn Lee's Soulscapes (Pedigree Cuts, 2022) "Cryin' Blue ('Til My Eyes Are Red)" (Talkin' Loud, 1996) "A Little Discomfort" (Talkin' Loud, 1996) "You Seem to Have Forgotten What Music Was Mutha Phucka! EP" (Idlesound, 1999) "I Can't Save You" (We Love You/WOS, 2000) "Kill Somebody" (We Love You/WOS, 2000) "Happiness" (We Love You/WOS, 2000) "Unpaid Debt" (For Us/Rough Trade, 2000) "The Mattress" (Eclectic Breaks, 2000) "So Much Trouble" (Scenario, 2004) "Mary Jane" (BBE, 2006) "Save the Music 12" #1" (Ubiquity, 2011) "Music for TV, Films & Commercials" (None/Unknown, 2011) "He Ain't Heavy" (None/Unknown, 2012) "The Word Jam" (Paris DJs, 2013) "Memphis (Instrumental)" (Point Blank, 2015) 1993 Demo Tape (52nd Street, 1993) We Love You – We Love You... So Love Us (Tracks: "The Sun") (Wall Of Sound, 2000) We Love You – We ♥ Yule (Tracks: "I'll Be F**king You This Christmas") (Wall Of Sound, 2000) Andrew Hale – The Getaway OST (Tracks: N/A) (Unreleased, 2002) We Love You – Yule ❤ Us (Tracks: "Sometimes It Snows In April") (Wall Of Sound, 2004) Ubiquity Records – Rewind! Vol. 4 (Tracks: "River Man") (Ubiquity, 2004) We Love You – We ❤ Yule (Tracks: "I'll Be F**king You This Christmas", "Sometimes It Snows In April") (Wall Of Sound, 2005) Nick Phoenix – Drumdrops (Tracks: "Skin City", "Lowlander") (Extreme Music, 2005) Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads (Tracks: "No Surprises") (Barely Breaking Even Records and Rapster Records, 2006) Clutchy Hopkins – Walking Backwards (Tracks: "Song For Wolfie feat. Shawn Lee") (Ubiquity, 2008) Alex Rizzo, Elliot Ireland & Daniel Hewson – Soul Food (Tracks: "Alex Rizzo & Elliot Ireland & Shawn Lee - Butter On Ice") (Pedigree Cuts, 2008) Alice Russell – Pot of Gold Remixes (Tracks: "Two Steps (Shawn Lee's 7 Inches of Soul Remix)") (Differ-Ant, 2009) Broadway Project – One Divided Remix EP (Tracks: "Pages Cello (Shawn Lee Remix)") (ODS Recordings, 2009) The Latin Project – Musica De La Noche (Tracks: "Legal (Shawn Lee Remix)") (TLP Musica Records, 2009) The Superimposers - CDEP 1 (Tracks: "Golden (Shawn Lee Remix)", "Golden (Shawn Lee Instrumental Remix)") (Wonderfulsound, 2009) BLUNDETTO - Bad bad things (Tracks: "Nautilus (feat. Shawn Lee)", "Ken Park (feat. Tommy Guerrero & Shawn Lee)", "La Carretilla (feat. Shawn Lee & Budos Band Horns)") (Heavenly Sweetness, 2010) Various - Cinematic Underscores 2 (Tracks: "Hammer Time", "Blue Sky Reverie", "Death Of A Dancer", "Morning Sunshine", "From The Sky")