Shawn Lee to Explore the Fascinating World of Library Music in New Film

BY Alan RantaPublished Mar 28, 2016

Judging from his vast solo catalogue and extensive collaborations with AM, Clutchy Hopkins and Bei Bei, it's clear that multi-intrumentalist producer Shawn Lee loves library music. As such, it's a natural fit for him to produce a documentary about the unheralded genre. Indeed, Lee has joined up with Paul Elliott and Sean Lamberth at HutTwenty9 Films to get The Library Music Film done.

An official statement about the film reads:

This year we have set out to create a first of its kind, definitive feature documentary telling the untold story of the underground, mysterious, cult and collectable world of Library Music. This hugely influential and largely unnoticed catalogue of music of all genre and style has played an important role in creating the atmosphere, mood and vibe for the majority of your favourite TV, Film, Advert & Radio theme throughout your entire life, yet you probably have no idea who composed, played and recorded these phenomenal tunes!

The effect of the Library glory days of the '70s and '80s can still be felt today, with many of the original pieces frequently being used by the media. Classic tracks are also given new leases of life with contemporary record producers and vinyl diggers collecting these rare gems and sampling them for the biggest acts in the world today including massive hits for Jay-Z, Gnarls Barkley, Gorillaz and Fatboy Slim to name a few.


The film will reportedly follow Lee from his London studio home base around the world, as he interviews some of the genre's greatest composers (Alan Hawkshaw, Keith Mansfield, John Cameron, Barbara Moore, Dave Richmond and more), goes behind the scenes at the big library publishers (Music DeWolfe, Warner-Chappell, Bosworth and KPM), and gathers insights from contemporary collectors and reissue labels like Jonny Trunk of Trunk Records, Quinton Scott from Strut Records, and the aforementioned Fatboy Slim.

They have begun work on the project, but are looking for contributions via Indiegogo to complete the U.S. leg of filming. Perks for prospective supporters include signed LPs and posters, personalized mixtapes (real tapes) or an original tune named after you, in addition to several different ways to hang out with Lee and everything from a Facebook shout-out to a credited title as executive producer.

For more info and to contribute to the campaign, visit the Indiegogo campaign page here.

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