Rhian Sheehan


Rhian Sheehan is a New Zealand composer and producer born in Nelson and now based in Wellington. Known for his fusing of orchestral chamber music & piano, with ambient electronic & post-rock cinematic atmospheres, he has released 6 solo albums. He is also known as a screen composer, having written music for film, TV, games, exhibitions, advertising, roller coaster rides, and planetarium dome shows.

Career

Sheehan released his debut album Paradigm Shift in 2001. The album was released in the UK almost two years later in 2003, and received praise from music critics. Sheehan was named "The Next Big Thing" in 2004 by U.K's Future Music Magazine. He has since released 6 albums and two EPs. His 2009 albums Standing in Silence, 2013's Stories From Elsewhere & 2018's "A Quiet Divide", step away from his earlier ‘electronica' work into more of a shoegaze, post-rock ambient, chamber music direction. Eminent US reviewer John Diliberto called Stories from Elsewhere "a modern ambient chamber music masterpiece of quietly epic dimensions".
Sheehan's work has featured on variety of CD compilations, most notably the multi-platinum selling Cafe del Mar CD compilations. Sheehan's music has been heard on BBC's Top Gear, as well as The Discovery Channel, the National Geographic channel, and the HBO series Silicon Valley. His music has also been used in a variety of advertising, having written music for Google, Facebook, Nike and GoPro commercials. In 2009 he composed the soundtrack to the British National Space Centre's We Are Astronomers, a 360° Full Dome Film, and has been seen by an estimated one million people. In 2009 Sheehan composed the score to the 13-part prime-time TV drama series The Cult, and the Emmy Award winning web-series Reservoir Hill. In 2012 Sheehan wrote the score for the UK 3D Planetarium documentary film "We Are Aliens".
In July 2012 Japan's Preco Records released his most recent albums "Standing in Silence" & "Seven Tales of The North Wind" together as a limited edition double box-set that includes bonus material, including the remix of "Borrowing The Past" by American post-rock ambient luminaries "Hammock ".
In March 2013 American label Darla Records released Stories From Elsewhere. The album was also released in Japan by Preco Records, and in New Zealand and Australia by LOOP Recordings.
In October 2013 Sheehan completed writing the soundtrack to the US and UK produced Planetarium Fulldome Film Back To The Moon For Good. Commissioned by XPRIZE, The film is narrated by Tim Allen. The 25-minute digital dome film highlights the history of exploring the moon and provides an insider's look at the teams vying for the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE, the largest incentivized prize in history. The film was produced by the UK National Space Centre, XPRIZE, and Robert K. Weiss. The show is one of the most popular and watched Planetarium shows ever made; having screened in over 450 Planetariums across the world.
In 2014 Sheehan contributed string arrangements for Jakob 's album Sines. The album won the Taite Music Prize in 2015.
In July 2015 Sheehan completed writing and producing the orchestral soundtrack for the UK produced 3D Planetarium Fulldome Film "We Are Stars", for which Sheehan was awarded "Best Soundtrack" at The 2015 Fiske Fulldome Film Festival.
In August 2015 Sheehan released his first live album "Rhian Sheehan - Live at The Wellington Opera House"
In December 2016 Sheehan completed scoring the soundtrack for Weta Workshop's new Dr. Grordbort's exhibition.
The 2017 debut album SweetSexySavage, by American R&B artist Kehlani features a sample of the Rhian Sheehan track "Waiting". The sample is used as the backbone to the track "Not Used To It".
In October 2018 Sheehan completed scoring the music for Magic Leap & Weta Workshop's 3D mixed-reality game, Dr. Grordbort's Invaders. The steampunk inspired robot shooter game was written & directed by Greg Broadmore, and features the voices of Stephen Fry, Lucy Lawless, and Rhys Darby.
On October 12, 2018 Loop Recordings & Kobalt Music released Sheehan's album "A Quiet Divide". Releasing the album alongside a 6 date audiovisual live tour around New Zealand, the album reached no.2 on the NZ Top 20.)
In September 2019 Sheehan traveled to New York with artist Joseph Michael to collaborate on a large-scale audio-visual projection-mapping installation projected on the United Nations building. The installation ran for 3 nights leading up to the UN Climate Action Summit. The installation featured an original score by Sheehan, and music by Brian Eno, and included the voices of 6 young climate change activists, including Greta Thunberg.

Album Discography

Rhian is the nephew of New Zealand photographer Laurence Aberhart and the son of travel and landscape photographer/publisher Grant Sheehan. A photo Rhian took while traveling in India is the cover image of his 2009 album Standing in Silence.
Rhian Sheehan appears in the final scene of James Cameron's film Avatar as a military engineer. The scene was filmed in Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand, in the same suburb Rhian lives.
He is married to musician Raashi Malik. Together they have 3 children.