SHANE BARBER
Portland, Oregon-based producer Shane Barber has entertained and offered
music services since age 13 when he wrote, produced, and recorded a song released on NPG Records (Prince's label).
As Rush Coil, he created 8-bit Christmas: a Christmas album made in the style of 8-bit Nintendo games. It was used for many years as the Christmas commercial bumper music on the [adult swim] network and has become a holiday classic with over 3 million streams in the first month of its release. Proceeds were donated to charity. 8-bit Christmas has been used in projects as diverse as TV commercials, electronic Christmas card, Christmas-themed video games, and a Los Angeles interactive stage play.
As a teenager, Shane's skills as a drummer, keyboardist, and bassist became apparent. He quickly went from banging on pots and pans to performing with regional touring bands. He was mentored by his brother Dustin Barber - long-time guitarist for Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner Al Green.
He regularly performed at venues such as Walt Disney World, Universal Studios Florida, and in every major Southeastern jazz, blues, Celtic, and Island music festival (and the occasional Parrot Head convention). He has played nearly 1,000 shows, from the Target baby section to a nuclear submarine.
In high school and college, he was a house session musician at Cyprus Records in jacksonville, FL and engineered at Jazzmin Studios (Limp Bizkit, Cold) before managing a private hip-hop studio for a Jacksonville Jaguars player.
In 2005-2006, he toured with a band in South Korea for the MWR program. While touring, he composed music for the TV show Project Runway from his hotel in Seoul.
Back in the US, he became a respected "chiptune" artist known as Rush Coil, using old video game hardware to create new songs and cover versions.
In the 2010s, he began composing original scores for independent films and video games, including several short films by horror director Blair Bathory. He made a number of chiptune songs aired by the [adult swim] network, including a popular version of the "Too Many Cooks" theme.
In the 2020s, he was commissioned to create new music for several podcasts, a commercial for a Dungeons & Dragons expansion, and a celebrity Twitch streamer.
During the pandemic, he kept busy making a number of TikTok keytar videos. Most recently, he created an original score for a horror comedy short film directed by practical effects legend Alec Gillis (Aliens, Predator) called Temporary Insanity shot by Hollywood's Cinema Makeup School.
His favorite film projects are original scores in the style of Danny Elfman (Beetlejuice, Wednesday), John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing), Mark Mothersbaugh (Rushmore, DEVO), and modern horror such as A24 studio films (Midsommar, Hereditary).
He is also an expert at creating video game music in 8-bit (Nintendo Entertainment System) and 16-bit (Super Nintendo, SEGA Genesis) styles.
When not composing and performing, he offers music production and post-production services for independent artists, filmmakers, and content creators.
Shane is currently performing R & B and jazz classics on solo piano at upscale venues in Portland and surrounding areas. He is also working on a live keytar video game cover show and a jazz piano video game music cover act. He is currently compiling his back catalog of music and will soon offer it for no charge to independent filmmakers.
He is always looking for new film and video game scoring opportunities, especially 80s horror, modern horror, or retro video games (especially RPGs).
For licensing or service inquiries, contact shane@shanebarber.com.
Press
Shane's work has been featured by the following outlets: