Darren Wilsey

Darren Wilsey is an award winning composer, song writer, and music producer. He has written and licensed songs and score for numerous independent films, soundtracks, best-selling DVDs, and network and cable television, including Third Watch (NBC), Ghost Whisperer (CBS), Super Group (VH1), The Hills (MTV), Strong Medicine (Lifetime), Tilt (ESPN), Sex and the City (HBO), Dane Cook’s Tourgasm (HBO), Punk’d (MTV), Road Rules (MTV), Everybody’s Doing It (MTV), Laguna Beach (MTV), Queer as Folk (Showtime), Miss Match (20th Century Fox Television), Poor Little Rich Girl (The WB), Freshman Diaries (Showtime), Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (Bravo), Skin (Fox), Ice Wars (CBS), Breaking Bonaduce (VH1), Life With Derek (Disney), Snowboarding World (NBC Sports), Mission: Man Band (VH1), The Kentucky Kid (VH1), World’s Strongest Man (ESPN), True Hollywood Stories: Rock Star Wives (E!), E! News Special: "Life and Death of Anna Nicole Smith" (E!), South of Nowhere (Noggin), Next (MTV), Exposed (MTV), Challenge 14 (MTV), Yo Mamma (MTV), Beverly Hills 90210 – The Complete First Season (Paramount Entertainment), Melrose Place – The Complete First Season (Paramount Entertainment), and Teeth (2007 Sundance Film Festival)

Songs from Wilsey’s music catalog have also appeared in TV commercials, including promotional advertisements for Saturday Night Live and the 2005 British Academy of Film and Television Awards Show, and have been licensed for use in various sporting and entertainment events, including the 2006 Grammy Awards Ceremony (LA), Ralph Lauren’s Fall 2006 Fashion Show (NY) and NFL ON FOX 2007 (Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, etc.). Video game credits include Super PickUps (Playstation 2), and Moto GP 07 (Playstation 2).

Wilsey toured the US as a member of the rock group Vibrolush (V2 records); in support of the band’s debut single, Touch and Go, which entered Billboard Magazine’s Modern Rock Top 40 Chart in August 2000. The following year he began working with Emmy award winning director Thurston Smith, scoring the acclaimed documentary Silicon Alley Stories (awarded Best Documentary at the 2001 New York Independent Film Festival), and Whoa: The Influence of Art Stories (awarded Best Short Film at the 2004 New York Independent Film Festival).

Music from Wilsey’s 2002 compilation series X-treme Drama (Volume 1 & 2) has been extensively licensed by film and television production companies around the world. In 2003, Wilsey was commissioned to score music for ice skating celebrity and Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano, used on tour and the CBS television special Ice Wars. The same year he received an award from ASCAP’s Popular Awards Panel.

Wilsey is a two-time grand prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest (2003 & 2001), and has been featured as a composer and music producer in publications by SONY creative software, Sibelius (music notation software) and Yamaha.

Recent film scoring projects include a documentary-comedy called The Life Coach: The Movie written and produced by Broad Appeal Productions (awarded Best Comedy at the 2005 Queens International Film Festival) and an internationally released thriller film produced by Runaway Productions called Look@Me that is now available at Blockbuster ® video stores nationwide. In 2006, Wilsey teamed up with director Todd Wade and Runaway Productions for a second time, scoring the feature comedy The Wedding Video; while also serving as an executive producer and the movie’s music supervisor.

Wilsey runs a boutique music production and publishing company located in southern California, and recently completed assembling The Darren Wilsey Music Collection ®; over 40 volumes of diverse musical content that is specially formatted for TV, film and video production. 2006 also marked the onset of Darren Wilsey Music (ASCAP) marketing songs by other bands and artists for TV & film song placement opportunities. 15 other artists are represented.

Wilsey is the author of The Musician’s Guide to Licensing Music (Billboard Books/Random House): the first published book to provide musicians with a comprehensive overview the music licensing process. In 2012, Wilsey received the Lauds and Laurels award from UC Irvine; named Distinguished Alumni by UCI Alumni Association and was first graduate from the Clair Trevor School of the Arts to be honored with this distinction. Wilsey has taught college courses in audio production, music theory, rock history and the music business in Southern California since 2008.

Wilsey was a classical guitar major at The Manhattan School of Music, and with advanced academic standing he graduated with a B.M. in 1993. He also studied piano and music composition at The Juilliard School of Music. He holds a B.A. in chemistry from Hunter College, and a M.F.A. from The University of California at Irvine, majoring in music composition and technology on full academic fellowship.