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Photek
File:Photek.JPG
Background information
Birth nameRupert Parkes
Also known asSpecial Forces, Studio Pressure, The Sentinel, etc
Born1972 (age 52–53)
OriginSt Albans, England, United Kingdom
GenresDrum and bass, downtempo, deep house
Occupation(s)Record producer, DJ, Film score composer
Years active1992–present
LabelsVirgin, Photek, Sanctuary, !K7 Records, Metalheadz, Tectonic
Websitephotek.fm

Rupert Parkes, known as Photek, an LA-based British record producer, film & TV composer, and electronic music DJ.

Photek is currently the composer on the hit show How to Get Away with Murder (ABC) starring Viola Davis, which premiered as the top-rated broadcast drama of the Fall among adults 18-49. How to Get Away with Murder is created and executive-produced by Pete Nowak. Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers and Bill D'Elia also serve as executive producers.

Photek has contributed music to a long list of film, TV and video game productions as far back as Blade in 1998. He also scored Fox Television's Gang Related (Imagine Entertainment) with director Allen Hughes, making 2014 one of his most prolific years yet.

A game-changer in the UK dance music explosion of the 90's, and after three consecutive Grammy Award nominations,[1] his music has earned universal respect and acclaim. His Grammy nominations in the category of Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical were for Daft Punk[2] "End of Line" from the Tron: Legacy movie soundtrack in 2012, Moby[3] "Lie Down In Darkness" in 2013 and Bob Marley "One Love/People Get Ready" in 2014.

As a composer, Photek has fused his London underground pedigree with a new wave of film and TV music that elevates picture and electrifies audiences today in 2015.

Biography

Early years

At home his parents would play a diverse range of music from Spanish classical guitar to Fleetwood Mac to Gustav Holst.

It was Hip Hop that began his own musical obsession and it started with the purchase of his first 7" single: "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5. As this genre grew through the 80's, it laid the foundation in his mind for the music he would create a decade later.

The sources of Hip Hop led him to another discovery in the form of Soul and Jazz. Artists such John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Roy Ayes not only affected the way he listened to music at the time, but would shape the sound of Photek years later.

Tenor saxophone became his first instrument, but this changed when a piano arrived in the family home and his focus shifted to composition as opposed to performance. Film & Television scores had a huge impact on his music long before the first Photek record was released. Movies like Apocalypse Now, Dirty Harry, Ran, and Lawrence Of Arabia were a major influence on his sonic palette. The scores from Bladerunner and Miami Vice leaving an even more obvious mark on his musical DNA.

Perhaps the biggest shift came when he discovered a whole new landscape of new music through pirate radio and mix tapes. Late in 1988 it was his first experience of a warehouse party (Telepathy, London) that changed his relationship with music permanently.

By 1992 he had traded the saxophone for a sequencer and within the next year the name Photek was born.

1993 – 1995: Early Aliases

Parkes began his first forays into releasing music in 1993 under a plethora of different names. Notably 'Jump' under the name Studio Pressure[4] on Certificate 18, 'Dolphin Tune' under the name Aquarius[5] on LTJ Bukem's Good Looking Records and 'Pulse Of Life' under the name The Sentinel[6] 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.

1994: 'Natural Born Killa'

In 1995 'Natural Born Killa' EP was Photek's first EP release – the still-amazing 'Natural Born Killa' EP for Goldie's Metalheadz. It was a release that transcended the sound of drum'n'bass at the time and his deeper, more intricate take on D'n'B/Jungle went on to form a whole new sub-genre for the scene.

1997: Modus Operandi

A timeless album released in 1997 with tracks like, 'The Hidden Camera', 'Smoke Rings', and 'Minotaur' which chilly abstraction displays an up beat tempo. Echoing with extreme detail, dark twisted and groundbreaking for the drum & bass scene.

Photek defined the genre of drum & bass. A handful of artists that lead the way, only even fewer can be compared. Virgin Records was the birthplace of his ground breaking album 'Modus Operandi'[7]. A demonstration of notably the most accomplished drum programming of all time, layered with shimmering emotive atmospherics, the album bridged the gap between the street and the art sections of broadsheet newspapers.

1997: Ni Ten Ichi Ryu

Virgin Records release of Photek's 'Ni Ten Ichi Ryu' debuted in 1997 with the track A. 'Ni Ten Ichi Ryu' (Two Swords Technique) , AA. 'The Fifth Column.' A sophisticated and cutting edge that deconstructs Drum & Bass showing why his cutting edge sound made him unique as a producer of his time.

The legendary video for his song 'Ni Ten Ichi Ryu' (Two Swords Technique) seemed more like a Kurosawa movie than the average dance music video. Shot in a ninja village in the mountains of Japan in it showed just how far Photek would go for perfection. Even when Photek turned his attention to house music with his classic single 'Mine To Give,' he of course teamed up with the ultimate vocalist of the genre, Robert Owens, to create a No. 1 Billboard single as well as the BBC Radio One, Essential Mix on December 28, 1997.

1998: Form & Function

A year after the release of 'Ni Ten Ichi Ryu', Photek's album 'Form & Function' is the second album released by British drum'n'base artist Photek. Album includes four original tracks that were previously released on 12" vinyl. The first six tracks of the album are remixes by Photek himself, as well as artists Digital, Pershay & Decoder, Doc Scott, and J Malik.

'Form & Function'[8] is essentially a compilation album of Photek's ultra-rare early single releases, such as 'Seven Samurai' and 'UFO', along with extra mixes of the tracks by D&B's pioneers of the scene; Peshay, Digital, Doc Scott and J Majik. The original single releases, most of which were on Photek's own label of the same name, are the jewel in any serious electronic music fan's record collection. Having these early tracks collected together on 'Form & Function' introduced Photek's leftfield approach to a whole new generation of D&B listeners.

Photek's album explores his past works with a new sound of rhythms and drum'n'bass. "The thing about Photek's production style, though, is that it often blinds you with science instead of catapulting you into orbit. Only "Water Margin" bristles with real excitement; the rest settle for merely impressing you with craftmanship." as said by Spin Magazine.

2000: Solaris

Never one to sit on his laurels, Photek surprised the music industry with his Solaris album, turning his attention from intelligent drum and bass to a new experimental sound in house and techno. On the now classic single 'Mine To Give,' he of course teamed up with the ultimate vocalist of the genre, Robert Owens, to create a No. 1 Billboard single[9]. Solaris' standout instrumental deep house track, 'Glamourama' (a reference to Bret Easton Ellis' novel of the same name), still sets nightclubs on fire today.

A masterpiece of an album, released on Virgin Records, 'Solaris' begins to move away from the drum'n'bass scene into more of house territory with tracks like 'Glamourama.'[10] Standing apart from his earlier works Photek striped back musically as each track emerges from the album as their own.

Photek's sophmore album, 'Solaris'[11] embraced Chicago acid house and minimal techno within a style that as an artist of the drum'n'bass scene, he pioneered making it his own. Distorted drum-machine breaks, tweaking breakbeats. The track 'Infinity' a flirtatious drum'n'bass track that's very reminiscent of Parkes earlier EP works.


2007: Form & Function VOL 2

'One Nation'[12] - the prized dubplate that had been floating around as a white label for over a decade, finally saw an official release on 'Form & Function Vol 2'. Also on the album are some more early and unreleased tracks, as well as various remixes of Photek tracks by other D&B producers. The newer productions on the album show Photek using a broader sound palette, taking influence from his composition and soundtrack work by including orchestrated passages. There are even references to a more rock and industrial sound - something inspired perhaps by his work in the mid-2000s with Trent Reznor[13] of Nine Inch Nails[14].

Photek album, 'Form & Function VOL 2' is said to be "stunning" with lush lyrics, opening tune 'Love & War' is clear that there is something special. A late 90's sound that makes you realize that Photek sound never left as it resonates in tracks like, 'Industry of Noise' and 'Deadly Technology.'

Production is top notch as Photek pairs beautiful vocal tunes with heavy drum'n'base. 'Form & Formula VOL 2' will certainly stand the test of time as it's a classic.

2012: KU: PALM

Fast-forward to 2012 and he's just as well know for his ambient works, cinematic scores and love of house music, and it's this open-minded approach to sound that has revived so much of his passion for the dancefloor. Featured on BBC Radio One, Essential Mix on October 6, 2012 Photek continues to lead the nations drum'n'bass movement across major platforms of dance radio.

Photek has drawn inspiration from both the old and new, delivering an album that is defined by new ideas and superior sonics - not genre classification. He explains, "This album had to be the right listening experience for the headphone listeners as much as on a club soundsystem. That was a new experience for me because we had to make judgement calls to take that into account during the mix. Some stereo elements that sound amazing on headphones simply vanish on a mono soundsystem but I feel we got the right balance in the end."

In working on the KU: PALM album, Photek felt that, "I made a conscious decision not to jump straight in with another album, I wanted to come back with the EP's and get the release flow going again" commented Rupert on his decision to release music as Photek again. "I knew that if I did that, and approached with an open mind, the music and the album would take its course. As it did start to take shape it felt like it was sitting halfway between Modus Operandi and Solaris - which I felt was a good place to be."

Grammys

2012 Grammy nominated Photek stands mercilessly on the edge. A sonic scientist, pushing both his sounds and fans' expectations to the outermost limits since the beginning of electronic music.

Photek's new sound carries all the barbed motifs and icy atmospherics you'll know from seminal cuts, plus a new swagger that is already showing mainstream presence without a single compromise. His take on Ray La Montagne's "This Love" was as deep and murky as it gets and his remix of Daft Punk's score for the Disney movie Tron has earned him a Grammy nomination for best remix in 2012 - a high caliber category loaded with Deadmau5, Skrillex and Afrojack.

The Tower Bridge mix for Swift FM was so highly anticipated that it caused a server failure with 400,000 views on posting. It took an emergency Google SWAT team to get the company back on line.

Currently

Now based in Los Angeles, he embraces the new era of technology. Over the past 20-years Rupert Parkes has been on a sonic-journey that's seen him explore all corners of electronic and muiti media music. The fall of 2015 will see Photek score the second season of ABC's How to Get Away with Murder, continue recording the follow up to Ku: Palm & various Movie and Computer Game Scoring Projects.


Remixes (Bjork, David Bowie, Trent Reznor,etc)

A favorite among tastemakers, Photek was the choice of legendary artists; from "I'm Afraid of Americans" David Bowie to "I Miss You" by Bjork; from "Lie Down in Darkness" Moby to "The Hand that Feeds" Trent Reznor.

Photek's work with Nine Inch Nails on 'With Teeth' led to the remix of 'The Hand That Feeds' which got him KROQ daytime rotation. The Ruff Mix version is one of Photek's personal favorites, in his words "Probably one of the best tracks I've ever made."


BBC Radio 1

In 2011, Photek's series of EP's immediately lit up BBC Radio 1 coverage across the board from electronic, to urban and into the daytime pop shows with full support from all shows including Rob Da Bank, Benji B, Zane Lowe, Nick Grimshaw, Pete Tong. His mini-mix for Annie Mac was an instant hit.


Music Festivals

For Photek, 2011 was also a year of European touring with mega festivals Glade, Exit, Hartera, London's Lovebox and the world famous Glastonbury.


Film / TV Music Composer

Film Music Composer to Dreamland[15] and Invincible, Photek also scored the music for the films Blade, The Animatrix[16] and Stealth.

Later scoring the music of FOX tv show, Gang Related[17] which debuted in the May 2014 stars Ramon Rodriguez, Cliff Curtis, Terry O'Quinn, Emilio Rivera and RZA. Created by Chris Morgan (Fast Five, Wanted) the series follows an Elite Gang Task Force as they take on Los Angeles' most dangerous gangs. Photek scored all episodes of the show, as well as the Main & End Title Theme Song for FOXs Gang Related[18]. In 2014 he began composing for ABC's How to Get Away with Murder starring Viola Davis, created and executive-produced by Pete Nowak, Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers and Bill D'Elia. How to Get Away with Murder will be returning for a second season on ABC in the Fall 2015.

Discography

Albums

As Photek

[19]

References

  1. ^ "Photek.fm". Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Discogs.com". Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  3. ^ "Discogs.com". Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Discogs.com". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  5. ^ "Discogs.com". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  6. ^ "Discogs.com". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  7. ^ "factmag.com". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  8. ^ "allmusic.com". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  9. ^ "billboard.com". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  10. ^ "barnesandnoble.com". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  11. ^ "allmusic.com". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  12. ^ "discogs.com". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  13. ^ "thedolab.com". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  14. ^ "en.wikipedia.org". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  15. ^ "Wikipedia: Dreamland (2006 film)". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  16. ^ "Wikipedia:The Animatrix". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  17. ^ "Wikipedia: Gang Related (TV series)". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  18. ^ "Gang Related Theme Song on YouTube". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  19. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 425/426. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.


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