Liam Fox O’Brien

Liam Fox O'Brien is a composer and sound designer based in California. His work includes original score for feature & short films as well as contemporary music and sound design for commercials, podcasts and various other media formats. As a sound designer, Liam has developed an immense library of sounds that have been captured from around the world and artfully processed with his coveted and well-curated production sound kit and recording studio.

With a passion for innovation and creative sound design, Liam has a broad musical vocabulary that he has honed through his work on projects of varying scale, and from his background as a performing musician. He is well regarded by clients and collaborators for his listening and observation skills, technical mastery and creative input.

Liam’s feature film scores include The Tangle (2021), Among Them (2019), With Flying Colours (2021) and Soledad (2017), the latter of which was nominated Best Feature Film for 2016 by NewFilmmakers LA and won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 Dances with Films Festival in Los Angeles. His musical composition has also set the tone for a wide range of creative projects and online content. In particular, his distinctive style has seen him earn a strong reputation in the fashion and beauty industries, creating layered, captivating soundscapes for brands such as Gucci, La Mer, AG Jeans, Lacausa, Opening Ceremony, GQ & Vogue.

As a composer, Liam utilizes a rich palette of custom synthesized sounds and sample-based instruments, as well as guitar, bass, strings and live percussion. He is also highly skilled at composing with traditional sound suites (orchestra, world instruments, pianos, organs etc.)  to produce emotive results and support narrative structure.

Liam studied music production at SAE Institute where he was awarded an Ambassador Scholarship. He has also studied Scoring for Picture at The Julliard School (New York) and completed a mentorship program with the New York Society of Composers and Lyricists in 2018. He cites Terry Riley, Ben Frost, Atticus Ross, Johnny Jewel, Alan Vega, Jon Brion, Angelo Badalamenti, Cliff Martinez, Clint Mansel, Giacinto Scelsi, Mac Quayle and Steve Reich as some of his long-standing creative influences.

Beginning as a self-taught guitarist in his teenage bedroom in Mudjimba Beach, Australia, Liam co-founded Sunshine Coast punk band The Scare at age 16. The Scare signed with EMI Publishing at their median age of 17 and toured extensively in the UK and Europe throughout the remainder of Liam’s teenage years. He collaborated with iconic Australian recording artist Daniel Johns (Silverchair), who produced The Scare’s final album, “Oozevoodoo”. After the disbandment if The Scare in 2011, Liam joined the Australian indie-pop band Faker and played bass on their final album (as yet unreleased) which was recorded and produced by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago in early 2013. Liam also played guitar with Wax Witches in 2014 and was the guitarist and co-soongwriter with the band DL, With Love from 2015 to 2019.

Liam’s most recent work includes sound design and mixing for Matte Projects, various independent short films, advertising music and sound design with Titles Studio, Auberge Hotels and Nöe Associates. Liam spends almost all of his free time either in the studio writing music or out in the world finding and capturing unique sounds to add to his ever growing library.