Rupert Parkes (born 6 September 1971), known as Photek, is a Los Angeles-based British

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

DJ/

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, and TV and

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

composer. Photek was born and raised in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, England. Photek has contributed music to several film, TV and video game productions, such as ''

Blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Historic ...

'' in 1998. He also scored ''

Gang Related ''Gang Related'', alternatively known as Criminal Intent, is a 1997 American action crime thriller film written and directed by Jim Kouf starring James Belushi, Tupac Shakur, Dennis Quaid, Lela Rochon, David Paymer and James Earl Jones. The film ...

'' with director Allen Hughes. He received three consecutive

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nominations in the category of Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for Daft Punk's "End of Line" from the '' Tron: Legacy''

movie soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of ...

in 2012, Moby's "Lie Down In Darkness" in 2013 and Bob Marley's "One Love/People Get Ready" in 2014. Photek composed the TV score for the show ''

How to Get Away with Murder ''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal thriller television series that premiered on ABC on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk, and produced by Shonda Rhimes and ABC Studios. Th ...

''.

Biography

Education

Initially interested in hip hop, Parkes expanded his style with elements of soul and jazz. His first instrument was a

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

, but when a piano arrived in the family home his focus shifted to composition as opposed to performance. By 1992, he had switched from the saxophone to a

sequencer Sequencer may refer to: Technology * Drum sequencer (controller), an electromechanical system for controlling a sequence of events automatically * DNA sequencer, a machine used to automatically produce a sequence readout from a biological DNA sam ...

. Within the next year he started to perform under the stage name Photek.

Early career 1993–1999

Parkes began his first forays into releasing music in 1993 under a plethora of different names. Some of the early releases include the

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

-styled tracks "Jump" under the name Studio Pressure on Certificate 18, 'Dolphin Tune' under the name Aquarius on LTJ Bukem's

Good Looking Records Good Looking Records is a jungle and drum & bass record label, formed in 1991 by producer LTJ Bukem. The label specializes in jazz-influenced and atmospheric, so-called Intelligent Drum & Bass. Overview The label releases music which includ ...

and 'Pulse Of Life' under the name The Sentinel on Basement Records. The first release under the Photek production name came in 1994 with ''Touching Down... Planet Photek'', released on his own Photek label. Photek's breakthrough release in 1995 was the ''Natural Born Killa''

drum'n'bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

EP for

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in th ...

Metalheadz Metalheadz is a drum and bass record label based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1994 by Kemistry & Storm and Goldie. History Origins Goldie's early experiences of the rave scene, especially the club ''Rage'' had a profound effect on ...

. In 1996, Photek contributed two tracks on the ''

Wipeout 2097 ''Wipeout 2097'' (released as ''Wipeout XL'' in North America and Japan) is a futuristic racing game developed and published by Psygnosis. It is the second installment released in the '' Wipeout series'' and the direct sequel of the original ga ...

''/''Wipeout'' XL soundtracks. Photek's debut album was ''

Modus Operandi A ''modus operandi'' (often shortened to M.O.) is someone's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also more generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode (or manner) of op ...

'' in 1997, through

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

. In 1997, Virgin Records released Photek's "Ni Ten Ichi Ryu". A year later, Photek released his second album ''Form & Function''. The album comprised four tracks that had previously only been available on limited release vinyl in the early 1990s, plus six remixes and versions by Photek himself as well as other contemporaries Digital,

Peshay Paul Pesce, better known as Peshay, is a British drum and bass and electronic music producer and DJ. Early life Peshay is of British and Italian heritage. His first introduction to music was at an early age through his mother who was a wel ...

& Decoder,

Doc Scott Scott McIlroy (born 1971, Coventry, England), better known as Doc Scott or Nasty Habits, is a British drum and bass DJ and producer. Biography He originally started to DJ at clubs and raves such as Amnesia House and The Eclipse in 1989/1990 ...

, and J Majik.

2000–2012

In 2000, Photek released his ''Solaris'' album, turning his attention from drum and bass to

Chicago house Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the first ever house music productions, which were by Chicago-based artists in the 1980s. History and origins Disco ...

and

minimal techno Minimal techno is a subgenre of techno music. It is characterized by a stripped-down aesthetic that exploits the use of repetition and understated development. Minimal techno is thought to have been originally developed in the early 1990s by Detro ...

. On the single "Mine to Give", he cooperated with Robert Owens to create a No. 1 ''Billboard'' single. "One Nation" – the

dubplate A dubplate is an acetate disc usually of 10 inches diameter, traditionally used by Recording studio, studios to test recordings prior to Audio mastering, mastering for the subsequent pressing of a vinyl record, but pioneered by reggae Reggae sound ...

that had been available as a

white label A white label record is a vinyl record with white labels attached. There are several variations each with a different purpose. Variations include test pressings, white label promos, and plain white labels. Test pressings Test pressings, usua ...

for over a decade, saw an official release on ''Form & Function Vol. 2''. The newer productions on the album showed Photek using a broader sound palette, taking influence from his composition and soundtrack work by including orchestrated passages. There are references to a more rock and industrial sound. After a four-year hiatus from releasing music under the Photek moniker, Parkes produced a series of EPs in 2011. He was invited to contribute to BBC Radio 1's '

Essential Mix The ''Essential Mix'' is a weekly radio show on BBC Radio 1 currently broadcast between 0:00 and 2:00 a.m. UK time on Saturday morning. Originally broadcast on 30 October 1993, the ''Essential Mix'' features contemporary DJs and music producer ...

' series in October 2012. In the same year, Parkes released the album ''KU:PALM''.

Grammy nominations

Photek's

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

of Daft Punk's "End of Line" for the Disney movie '' Tron: Legacy'' earned him a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nomination for Best Remix in 2012. He received Grammy nominations in the same category for the following 2 years, with remixes for

Moby Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...

and

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

Recent activities

Now based in Los Angeles, Photek scored the second season of ABC's ''How to Get Away with Murder'' in fall of 2015, and continued recording of the follow up to ''KU:PALM'' and various movie and computer game scoring projects.

Remixes

Photek has remixed many artists in his career such as

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

and

. Additional production work on the

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

album ''

With Teeth ''With Teeth'' (stylized as '' ITH_TEETH') is the fourth studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released by Nothing Records and Interscope Records on May 3, 2005. The album was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Tren ...

'' led to his remix of their track, "

The Hand That Feeds "The Hand That Feeds" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, ''With Teeth'' (2005). The single is the highest-charting Nine Inch Nails song on all charts except for ...

", which got him

KROQ KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The st ...

daytime rotation.

Discography

* ''

'' (1997) * ''

Form & Function ''Form & Function'' is the second album by British drum and bass artist Photek. It was released on 14 September 1998 on the Virgin Records sublabel Science Records in Europe and on Astralwerks in the US. The album is made up of older Photek tra ...

'' (1998) * ''

Solaris Solaris may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...

'' (2000) * '' Form & Function Vol. 2'' (2007) * '' KU:PALM'' (2012)

References

External links

* *
Photek at iTunes

Photek at Last.fm

Photek interview with The Frame

{{Authority control Living people 1971 births Astralwerks artists English drum and bass musicians English DJs English electronic musicians English male film score composers English record producers English expatriates in the United States Electronic dance music DJs Musicians from Suffolk musicians from Ipswich Remixers Virgin Records artists Sanctuary Records artists