Duncan Sheik
- Composer
- Actor
- Music Department
Duncan Scott Sheik was born on November 18, 1969, in Montclair, New
Jersey. His mother was single, so he was raised by her and his
grandparents in Hilton Head, South Carolina. He has one younger sister.
His father lives in New Jersey. Duncan was raised Catholic, but
converted to Buddhism later in life. He is a very serious practicing
Buddhist and has been for around 15 years. Duncan got started playing
music at a very early age, and was playing the piano at age five. He
later mastered the guitar, and was in a cover band, called Slightly
Off, at age twelve. During his teen years, Duncan was in boarding
school and frequently had his musical instruments confiscated for
playing too loud. Duncan attended and graduated from Brown University
in 1992. He didn't want to major in Music because he didn't want his
education to influence his musical style. Duncan majored in Semiotics,
the study of signs and symbols, instead. Sheik didn't seriously
consider music until college, when he was in Lisa Lobe's band Liz and
Lisa as her lead guitarist.
Following graduation, he drove across the country to Los Angeles where
he shopped around his demo tape. This began what is referred to as
Duncan's "Lost California Years." He was signed to a $100,000 contract
with the rappy-type label Immortal Records. The contract went nowhere,
and Duncan rotted in limbo for two years. During this time, he was
miserable and passed the time by writing songs. He was freed from this
musical hell in 1994 when Atlantic Records recognized his considerable
talent and bought him off of Immortal.
The rest, as they say, is history. Duncan released his self-titled
debut album, Duncan Sheik, on June 4, 1996 to glowing reviews. He even
earned a four out of five star rating from the prestigious Rolling
Stone. The single from it, "Barely Breathing," became the fourth
longest running top 100 single in Billboard history after being listed
for 55 weeks. His self-titled album later went gold. Duncan's second
album, Humming, was released on October 6, 1998. The first single from
it, "Bite Your Tongue," quickly became the most requested track in the
country. Humming earned glowing reviews, earning Duncan the status of
the most important new singer-songwriter of the decade.
On February 27, 2001, Duncan released his third album, Phantom Moon, on
the label Nonesuch Records. Phantom Moon is a primarily acoustic
project that came out of Duncan's collaboration with New York
playwright Steven Sater. Duncan and Steven both belong to the New York
branch of Soka Gakkai International (SGI) and started working together
when Steven asked Duncan to write the music for a play he was working
on. Steven faxed Duncan lyrics and Duncan wrote the music to them. They
came up with about 17 songs, and Duncan decided to make a record out of
them. He brought it to Ron Shapiro, the General Manager of Atlantic
Records, who suggested that they release it on Atlantic Records'
partner label, Nonesuch.
Jersey. His mother was single, so he was raised by her and his
grandparents in Hilton Head, South Carolina. He has one younger sister.
His father lives in New Jersey. Duncan was raised Catholic, but
converted to Buddhism later in life. He is a very serious practicing
Buddhist and has been for around 15 years. Duncan got started playing
music at a very early age, and was playing the piano at age five. He
later mastered the guitar, and was in a cover band, called Slightly
Off, at age twelve. During his teen years, Duncan was in boarding
school and frequently had his musical instruments confiscated for
playing too loud. Duncan attended and graduated from Brown University
in 1992. He didn't want to major in Music because he didn't want his
education to influence his musical style. Duncan majored in Semiotics,
the study of signs and symbols, instead. Sheik didn't seriously
consider music until college, when he was in Lisa Lobe's band Liz and
Lisa as her lead guitarist.
Following graduation, he drove across the country to Los Angeles where
he shopped around his demo tape. This began what is referred to as
Duncan's "Lost California Years." He was signed to a $100,000 contract
with the rappy-type label Immortal Records. The contract went nowhere,
and Duncan rotted in limbo for two years. During this time, he was
miserable and passed the time by writing songs. He was freed from this
musical hell in 1994 when Atlantic Records recognized his considerable
talent and bought him off of Immortal.
The rest, as they say, is history. Duncan released his self-titled
debut album, Duncan Sheik, on June 4, 1996 to glowing reviews. He even
earned a four out of five star rating from the prestigious Rolling
Stone. The single from it, "Barely Breathing," became the fourth
longest running top 100 single in Billboard history after being listed
for 55 weeks. His self-titled album later went gold. Duncan's second
album, Humming, was released on October 6, 1998. The first single from
it, "Bite Your Tongue," quickly became the most requested track in the
country. Humming earned glowing reviews, earning Duncan the status of
the most important new singer-songwriter of the decade.
On February 27, 2001, Duncan released his third album, Phantom Moon, on
the label Nonesuch Records. Phantom Moon is a primarily acoustic
project that came out of Duncan's collaboration with New York
playwright Steven Sater. Duncan and Steven both belong to the New York
branch of Soka Gakkai International (SGI) and started working together
when Steven asked Duncan to write the music for a play he was working
on. Steven faxed Duncan lyrics and Duncan wrote the music to them. They
came up with about 17 songs, and Duncan decided to make a record out of
them. He brought it to Ron Shapiro, the General Manager of Atlantic
Records, who suggested that they release it on Atlantic Records'
partner label, Nonesuch.