Inspired by David Bowie's performance of Starman on the television series Top of the Pops, he started to play guitar at the age of nine.[4] His foray into punk-inspired music was influenced by the Ramones.[5] In 2014 he told Beat Magazine "I heard the Ramones and punk rock changed my life."[5] While living in Stourbridge, Mansell played in rock bands as a youth, and at 19 years of age he joined the band that became Pop Will Eat Itself.[6]
Following PWEI's break-up in 1996, Mansell moved to New York, where he hoped to start a solo career, but struggled creatively.[5] He was invited by Reznor to move to an apartment in New Orleans owned by Reznor, where Mansell lived for three years, prior to settling in Los Angeles.[6][9][10] It was there that Reznor mentored Mansell and introduced him to Pro Tools.[6][9] Mansell also performed backing vocals on Nine Inch Nails' 1999 album The Fragile.[1]
Mansell reunited with PWEI in 2005 for their "Reformation" tour, which included performances in Nottingham, Birmingham and London, England.[11]
Film score career
While still living in New York, Mansell was introduced to director Darren Aronofsky by a mutual friend.[12] Aronofsky was unaware of Mansell's previous work with Pop Will Eat Itself, however the two men bonded over their love of hip hop and their belief that "film music at the time was terrible."[13]
Aronofsky suggested that Mansell write the opening title piece for Pi, Aronfsky's feature film directorial debut.[12] Aronofsky had intended to use pre-existing electronic music in the rest of the film, but due to a lack of funds, he found it difficult to acquire the rights to much of the music that interested him and Mansell was hired to provide music for the entire film.[12] Mansell's score for the film won him the City of Birmingham award at the Birmingham Film Festival in 2000.[3]
In 2006, Mansell provided the score for the film Smokin' Aces and he received a BMI Film & TV Award for his work on the film Sahara that same year.[1][15] The following year, his score for the Aronofsky film The Fountain was awarded Best Original Film Score of the Year and the Public Choice Award at the 7th World Soundtrack Awards.[16]The Fountain's score was also nominated for Best Score in a Motion Picture at the 2007 Golden Globe Awards.[17]
Mansell created the film score for Moon, Duncan Jones's feature film directorial debut. Mansell won Best Technical Achievement at the British Independent Film Awards for Moon's score. In 2011 Mansell was hired to provide the score for The Iron Lady, but he was later replaced by composer Thomas Newman.[18] Nevertheless, Mansell's music from the film Moon was used in the film's trailer and was also used in the 2012 trailer of the computer game Aliens: Colonial Marines.[19][20]
Mansell provided the scores for the films Stoker (also featuring music by Philip Glass) and Filth, which were both released in 2013.[1]
Filmmaker Ben Wheatley, who was a fan of Mansell's music for the films Requiem for a Dream and Moon, approached Mansell about providing the score for his 2015 film High-Rise. Mansell also provided the music for Wheatley's subsequent works Happy New Year, Colin Burstead (2018) and Rebecca (2020) and In the Earth (2021).[6][21]
Mansell has performed some of his film compositions live with the Sonus Quartet in the US, the UK and Australia.[4][10][12] The Kronos Quartet, who performed "Lux Aeterna" for the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack, have also performed some of Mansell's work live.[6][11]
Publishing deal
In February 2019, Mansell signed a publishing deal with Decca Publishing, a division of Decca Records.[22] This deal brought his catalogue of more than 650 original pieces, including his Pop Will Eat Itself work, under a single umbrella for the first time.[22]
^ abcdefghHischak, Thomas S. (2015). The Encyclopedia of Film Composers. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 440. ISBN9781442245501. MANSELL, Clint (b. 1963)...He was born Clinton Darryl Mansell in Coventry, England, and was interested in rock music as a youth, learning the guitar and playing in amateur bands.
^Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. London: Omnibus Press. p. 1988.
