Clint Mansell facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Clint Mansell
Mansell with the Sonus Quartet, playing at the Union Chapel, London, 20 July 2009
Background information
Birth name	Clinton Darryl Mansell
Born	(1963-11-07) 7 November 1963 (age 61)
Origin	Coventry, Warwickshire, England
Genres	Film score, alternative rock, grebo rock, electronic, industrial rock, classical
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer, composer
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, piano, guitar, bass
Years active	1981–present
Associated acts	Pop Will Eat Itself

Clint Mansell, born on November 7, 1963, is an English musician, singer, and composer. He was the lead singer of the alt-rock band Pop Will Eat Itself. After the band broke up, Clint moved to the United States. There, he started writing music for movies.

Clint worked closely with filmmaker Darren Aronofsky. He wrote music for Aronofsky's films like Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan, and Noah. Clint is most famous for the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack. A song from it, "Lux Aeterna", became very popular. A new version called "Requiem for a Tower" was made for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers trailer. Both songs have been used in many ads, movies, trailers, and video games.

He also created music for films by Ben Wheatley, including High-Rise and Rebecca. Other movies with Clint's music include Sahara and Moon. He has also composed music for TV shows and video games. Clint was nominated for a Golden Globe for The Fountain and for several Grammy Awards for Black Swan.

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Clint Mansell was born in Coventry, England. His father worked for the electricity company. His mother prepared meals for schools.

When he was nine, Clint saw David Bowie perform "Starman" on TV. This inspired him to start playing guitar. Later, punk music, especially the Ramones, influenced him greatly. In 2014, he shared that "the Ramones and punk rock changed my life." While living in Stourbridge, Clint played in rock bands as a teenager. At 19, he joined the band that would become Pop Will Eat Itself.

Music Career Highlights

Alt-Rock Band Years

From 1986 to 1996, Clint Mansell was a member of the alt-rock band Pop Will Eat Itself (PWEI). He was the band's lead singer, guitarist, and a main songwriter. In 1988, the band started using computers for music while working on their album This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This!. Their sound changed to include sampling and electronic music. They brought in sounds from hip hop and dance music. After being dropped by RCA, PWEI signed with Nothing Records in 1994. This label was owned by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.

After PWEI broke up in 1996, Clint moved to New York. He hoped to start a solo career but found it hard to create new music. Trent Reznor invited him to live in an apartment in New Orleans. Clint lived there for three years before moving to Los Angeles. Reznor helped Clint learn about music production tools like Pro Tools. Clint also sang backing vocals on Nine Inch Nails' 1999 album The Fragile.

Clint reunited with PWEI in 2005 for their "Reformation" tour. They performed in cities like Nottingham, Birmingham, and London.

Composing for Films

While in New York, Clint Mansell met director Darren Aronofsky through a friend. Aronofsky did not know about Clint's past with Pop Will Eat Itself. However, they both loved hip hop and felt that "film music at the time was terrible."

Aronofsky asked Clint to write the opening music for Pi, his first feature film. Aronofsky had planned to use existing electronic music. But he did not have enough money to get the rights to the music he wanted. So, Clint was hired to create all the music for the film. Clint's music for Pi won him an award at the Birmingham Film Festival in 2000.

Clint then wrote the music for Aronofsky's next film, Requiem for a Dream. This movie became a huge hit with fans. The main song, "Lux Aeterna", became famous on its own. A new version of the song, called "Requiem for a Tower", was arranged for the trailer of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Both "Lux Aeterna" and "Requiem for a Tower" have been used in many different ways. They appeared in trailers for films like The Da Vinci Code and I Am Legend. They were also in trailers for video games like Assassin's Creed. The songs were used in ads for products like Canon PowerShot cameras. On TV, they were featured in shows like America's Got Talent.

In 2006, Clint Mansell wrote music for the film Smokin' Aces. He also received an award for his work on the film Sahara that same year. The next year, his music for Aronofsky's film The Fountain won Best Original Film Score. It also won the Public Choice Award at the 7th World Soundtrack Awards. The Fountain's music was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 2007.

Clint's music for Aronofsky's Black Swan earned him many nominations and awards. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. He was also nominated for Best Original Soundtrack for Black Swan at the 11th World Soundtrack Awards. The music was not eligible for an Academy Award for Best Original Score because it used original music from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.

Clint created the music for Moon, Duncan Jones' first feature film. Clint won an award for Best Technical Achievement at the British Independent Film Awards for Moons music. In 2011, Clint was hired to score The Iron Lady. However, another composer later took over. Still, Clint's music from Moon was used in The Iron Ladys trailer. It was also used in the 2012 trailer for the video game Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Clint Mansell provided music for the films Stoker and Filth, both released in 2013.

Filmmaker Ben Wheatley liked Clint's music for Requiem for a Dream and Moon. He asked Clint to score his 2015 film High-Rise. Clint also wrote music for Wheatley's later films, Happy New Year, Colin Burstead (2018), Rebecca (2020), and In the Earth (2021).

Clint Mansell's film music has been used by other artists like Lil Jon and Bastille.

Clint did not have formal training in musical notation. He creates his film music like he writes rock music. He starts with drums, bass, guitar, and vocals. Then, he works with an orchestrator to arrange it for an orchestra. Some of his influences include Philip Glass and bands like Mogwai.

Live Performances and Publishing

Clint Mansell has performed some of his film music live with the Sonus Quartet in the US, UK, and Australia. The Kronos Quartet, who played "Lux Aeterna" for the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack, have also performed Clint's work live.

In February 2019, Clint signed a deal with Decca Publishing. This deal brought all his music, including his work with Pop Will Eat Itself, under one company for the first time. He has over 650 original pieces.

Awards and Nominations

Film Scores and Soundtracks

Film Music

Television Music

Video Game Music

Short Film Music

See also

In Spanish: Clint Mansell para niños