Shawn Kok
Academic & Examination Board member at Hitmaker Global Academy
Also known as “turbochicken”, Shawn Kok is a Singaporean drummer, sound designer, lecturer, and edupreneur. Having marinated in the music and entertainment industries in various capacities for over two decades, and trained in media, Shawn is known as a bilingual, comb-shaped arts practitioner and educator whose expertise maps reliably across music performance and education, music and audio technology, digital media, and higher education.
Shawn began his professional practice as a drummer in 1999, and has performed at numerous high-profile events, including SPOP 2018 finals and Marina Barrage’s 10th anniversary celebration. He has recorded percussion for Mediacorp drama serials and films, including the theme song for “When Ghost Meets Zombie” starring Nathan Hartono. A Tycoon percussion artist, Shawn is the principal pop percussion instructor for LOPSCA Studios (Shanghai, China) and a curriculum consultant for 鹏客音乐 in Zhangzhou, China.
Shawn’s teaching career took off in 2008, when his YouTube videos gained traction. Garnering over millions of views globally for his Western-adapted hand drum methods, Shawn is one of the Internet’s most recognisable contemporary percussion teachers today. In 2018, he started his own contemporary percussion online school in China, teaching over 3,000 people in this format.
Today, Shawn holds numerous positions in education. He is an Academic & Examination Board member and tutor at Hitmaker Global Academy, and teaches at institutions including Lasalle College of the Arts, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Media Academy, and National Institute of Education Singapore.