Written By: Mégan Babbitt

Meet Shawn Halim, a multi-Instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter based out of Los Angeles. I got to chat with him for a bit this past February to discuss how he got his start in music with a classical background and how those roots have evolved within his music.  

Shawn’s journey into music started somewhere between the ages of three and four years old. “My parents heard me tinkering on this toy keyboard, sounding out different songs I heard over the TV… and they were like this kid might have some sort of music talent. So, they put me in piano lessons, classical piano.” Despite no other musical influence in his family, Shawn continued to be classically trained and studied music theory growing up. Once he reached the end of middle school and the beginning of high school, the music coordinator at his church took notice of him. This is where he was given his first keyboard. 

“That was my first kind of dive into something that wasn’t classical. This music guy was doing his own music and was touring around Southern California. He would take me, as this freshman in high school, with his band playing the keys. That’s how I got started with my music career.”  

Although Shawn was getting his start as a musician, he never saw music as a career option. “I honestly  didn’t see myself becoming a musician…After doing all the stuff in high school…I didn’t think music  would be a valid career for me. I don’t know part of it is from my culture. Just growing up Asian, my  parents expected me to be a doctor or be an engineer. So I applied to every college as an electrical  engineering major. I was like forget music.” 

It can be difficult to stray away from the status quo, especially in an Asian household, where there is uncertainty in careers such as music. Opting for a more pragmatic path in life Shawn was determined to pursue engineering. However, his choice would soon be met with an unexpected turn. 

“I got rejected from almost every college I applied to. That just wasn’t the path I was supposed to be on. USC was my dream school and I originally wanted to apply for this engineering scholarship. I interviewed for it with the worst interview of my life. I decided to check out the music school for kicks, applied for this major I had never heard of called ‘Popular Music.’ They let in like 20 students a year. I somehow crazily got in, I was one of two keyboardists they let in. I guess that’s where I was like maybe I can do music as a career. Maybe this was where I was supposed to be.”  

Now many years into his career, Shawn has worked on a number of releases for many different artists.  One of his favorite releases he talked about was for a song called ‘Winter Without You’ by Gloria Kim.

“That was a song that blew up internationally, particularly in Asia. It was a song that I was really proud of. Gloria had a really rough demo on it, it was just her playing piano and her vocals. I heard the song and was floored by it. It was such a beautiful song and.… without really receiving her permission I did a  whole orchestral arrangement. It was just something I believed in. She got it and that eventually just  became the real version, the actual studio version that she released. I was really happy to see that it  resonated with a lot of people, especially internationally overseas.”  

Pushing further into Shawn’s personal style when it comes to his work in the studio, I asked if he has a certain signature when it comes to his production work. The question is met with a laugh as he thinks over the many ‘Producer Tags’ that are recognizable among different producers. 

“I feel like my classical background really shows up in a lot of productions. It’s not really a signature sound like “Mike Will made it’, it’s not a producer tag, it’s a subtle thing. My mind tends to ask how can I make this into a grander production, like I could put an orchestra behind it or strings…or a brass section behind it. I tend to think more symphonic apart from the typical pop producer…So anytime I can I love just putting classical elements.” 

One thing you can expect, if Shawn is on the track, there is a high chance that the song will feature some sort of classical element.  

Continuing to take a deeper dive into the behind the scenes world of music, Shawn walks me through what a typical session for him is like with a new artist. 

“I think first and foremost working with a new artist really requires building connection and relationship. I usually put the music to the side. Music can always come later. I just want to make sure that the connection and the relationship is solid first. If the vibes are not there, the music is not gonna be great. It’s not gonna be a hit,” he explains. 

“Usually we start by just talking. Building any sort of friendship. Maybe it's over a meal or coffee or boba. Then we usually go into the music process. I like to ask what artist are you listening to at the moment, what are you vibing with, what’s influencing you, because I want to get a feel and taste for what direction the artist wants to go. Maybe they're listening to the new Bruno Mars album and they're like ‘I really want to make a Bruno Mars type beat that’s really funky’ or ‘I really like this new Olivia Dean album I want to go in that direction, more jazzy.’” 

He continues to explain that there are usually two approaches. One where he tries to craft a track with similar vibes to what the artist is listening to, and another approach where the artist comes in with a vision of their own artistry in mind already.  

Once the initial direction is set, he begins to lay down the track. 

“I usually either have some tracks going in that I can show them, like do you like this type of beat that I’ve made already or we start from scratch. I tinker around the keyboard or guitar or maybe find some drum beats. We’ll start some sort of chord progression or 8-bar/16-bar loop and then we go from there. We start building around lets a say a chorus, what do you want this one to be about now, what are the feelings that it evokes, or maybe use some of the experiences from our initial conversation. Those things can translate into the song.” 

Shawn added that he’s a big note taker, often writing word for word on a doc what the artist says with the  hopes that there are themes or lines that can be taken later to help fuel the songwriting stage. 

“We will sometimes play this game where we just like loop the melody or the progression and just mumble sing  some sort of melody that will fit with that progression. We’ll do a couple of takes of it and whoever gets the best melodies will put them in the track. We kind of Frankenstein it together. So, say I recorded the first line that I really liked and then the artist does something and we like the second part, we kind of glue them together. We come up with some sort of topline for the track and then we go do lyrics. We just keep going with that until the song is done. Production wise everything else is ear candy. As long as we have that foundation we can add in little quirky things to make the track more interesting.”  

As important as it is for an artist to come into a session with inspiration, the same can be said for the  producer. 

“Growing up a big inspiration of mine was this older producer, his name is David Foster. An amazing pianist. He actually came to USC for a guest forum. I got to meet him and play in front of him, which was insane!” 

Of course inspirations change over the years. 

“As I got into production work I definitely have taken notice of a bunch of different producers now. Currently, I am really inspired by producers like Dijon and Mk.gee, they were some of the guys that worked on Bieber's new album. I really admire what Jack Antonoff has done with Sabrina Carpenter's album. The production work on that is crazy on a pop perspective. I loved One Republic growing up and you know constantly look towards Ryan Tedder’s songwriting and his vocal production. I try to be as open of a book as possible, so I don’t limit myself to one genre. I try to look at all these different producers/songwriters and try to see value in all of them.” 

Shawn, proving that he lives up to the idea of not limiting himself to one particular genre, has also  crossed over into the world of K-pop, being credited on a song with superstar K-pop vocalist,  TAEYEON, of legendary girl group Girls’ Generation. 

He shared that although the song “wasn’t originally for Taeyeon,” that it was crafted from a session with his second cousin, who is a huge pop-star herself in Indonesia. The track sat unused and initially forgotten until another producer friend of his, Wat, began to pitch it to different labels. 

“I remember getting a call from Wat and he was like, ‘Yo, I think Taeyeon just picked up the song.’” He laughs remembering the initial excitement and confusion. “I was like what song was that again. I forgot about it because it had been years since we wrote it.” 

This goes to show that even when you initially write for a certain artist, the song can end up not being taken and, even after years, can end up with an artist you never expected to take it.  

What next for Shawn Halim you may ask? He recently dropped two songs. “Love You The Most” by  Gloria Kim. “It’s a very Valentines’ Day ballad. Obviously, you're gonna hear strings on that because that’s  just me!” 

And “fallin’ for you’ by Chloe Wong. “I’ve been working with an artist named Chloe Wong. She’s very young but super talented, a great writer, great artist.” 

In addition to those drops, Shawn’s been working with a faith based company called Alabaster Co., where he’s at the forefront of launching original music. They've dropped some singles but will be releasing an album very soon. 

Interview From February 2026