Liam Bates

“Liam is not just a musician or composer; he is a consummate film professional who understands the impact a score can have on a movie” - Justin O'Brien (Writer / Director)

“The Puppet - The moody original soundtrack (by composer Liam Bates) is excellent, setting the pace and increasing the tension of the film” - Bob Baker (LA Times)

“Liam’s orchestrations are sensitive and powerful, creating a truly beautiful work."
– Máiréad Nesbitt (Solo violin suite with the Berne Symphony Orchestra)

“Winner of The Promax World Gold Award for Best Original Music” - RTÉ production Part of Life.

Liam initially generated a buzz on the London music scene with his elegant brush strokes of orchestral colour and quickly gained a reputation as an intrepid orchestrator. Becoming engaged by composers and song-smiths such as Richard Blackford, Glenn Keiles, Dave Stewart and the late Michael Kamen, Liam began working as an orchestrator and conductor.

His own list of credits as composer is now rapidly growing and movie credits include:

Out of the Blue and I Hate Musicals directed by Michael Lavelle, Mr Crocodile in the Cupboard starring Gerard McSorley and Darren Healy, directed by Morgan Bushe, Dick Dickman P.I a comedy starring Patrick Bergin, Brendan O'Carroll, Doreen Keogh, Jon Kenny, June Rogers, Joe Rooney and legend comedian Frank Carson, Ghostwood a horror movie for Maxim Pictures starring Patrick Bergin, Alan Divine and Louise Osbourne, produced by Ned Dowd, An Créatur directed by Peter Foott, Pump Action directed by Frank Reid Beechinor, Revolution 365 animation, The Faeries of Blackheath Woods and The Puppet directed by Ciarán Foy, Mr Crocodile In The Cupboard (Fastnet Films), La Jalousie and Razor Fish starring Brenda Fricker, 1902 and Echo.

Liam also arranged and produced songs for the romantic comedy Leap Year (starring Amy Adams, Matthew Goode and Adam Scott), directed by Anand Tucker for BenderSpink / Spyglass Entertainment.

Further additional music, orchestrator and conductor credits include:

The Shell Seekers starring VanessaRedgrave, Starting Over and Summer Solstice directed by Giles Foster, Prometheus directed by Tony Harrison, The Misadventures of Margaret directed by Brian Skeet,Show Girls directed by Paul Verhovan, Circle of Friends starring Chris O’Donnell, Colin Firth and Minnie Driver and Don Juan De Marco starring Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando.

Liam’s television work includes:

RTÉ1 Station Ident, Fowl (RTÉ), Part Of Life (RTÉ), RTÉ New Season(RTÉ1), Cortéz a drama directed by Andre Grieve (BBC), Food for Kings(Discovery / Atlantic), Secrets of the Holy Land (Discovery / Atlantic), Conquistadors (Discovery / Atlantic), Health in the Air (Discovery / Atlantic), Surviving Hurricanes, Surviving Wild Fires, Surviving Tornadoes, Surviving Floods (Discovery), The Fairyland Bureau of Investigation (Animation Telco Prod./Craig), The Real O’Neill (RTÉ) and Orbis (Discovery), The Road to Nuremberg a 3 part drama documentary (BBC), The Real World of Harry Potter (Atlantic for PBS America and Discovery Europe), King of Kings (Discovery), Space Island a 26 x episode Drama (Sky One), Paul and Helena (Atlantic / Discovery) and A Maybe Day in Kazakhstan directed by Tony Harrison (Channel 4).

Commercials include:

Let It Glow (Dimplex), Cork and Kerry (Falté Ireland), Honey Nut Cheerios Breakfast Cereal, Halmark Cards and Britannia Assurance (Adelphoi).

Away from Liam’s Film and Television work, his well-known skills as arranger and orchestrator has him working for rock and pop legends and gurus including Dave Stewart for the song Secret, Pete Townsend Sister Disco, Greyhound Girl, Alicia’s Attic Alicia Rules the World, Meat Loaf Heaven Can Wait, Luciano Pavarotti Moon River, Texas Black Eyed Boy, Are You Ready, Bon Jovi I Will Always Love You, , Morgan Here Comes the Rain, Swartz, Billy Nicholls Dance With Me, Hope, Crazy Jane, Sonic Vista Everything, Didn’t Mean to Make You Cry, Take Your Time and Salthouse Open Your Sails, Sleep Forever and Lesley Roy (Unbeautiful) Come To Your Senses.

Liam is also a songwriter and has collaborated with composers and writers including Eoin Colfer (author - Artemis Fowl), Brendan Graham (lyricist - You Raised Me Up) and Cyril Murphy (co-composer - Balor of the Evil Eye).

He is regularly engaged as a conductor both in the concert hall and in the recording studio, having worked with Pete Townsend, Nancy Gustavson, Luciano Pavarotti, Meat Loaf and Bryan Adams and as well as other film composers.

Liam’s team includes working closely with Golden Reel Award winner Producer / Engineer James Collins. James has recorded and mixed the scores for over 30 feature films along side a stack of albums and TV scores. His movies include Shall We Dance (starring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez), Magic Roundabout (starring Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue), Little Voice (starring Jane Horrocks) and the award-winning The History Boys.

Some sample music clips below (please click on the play symbol):

For a full length showreel, please contact DNA.

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