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{{Short description|English composer, producer, and DJ (born 1971)}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name                = Photek
| image               = Photek photo by Faria Raji.jpg
| landscape           = yes
| caption             =
| background          = non_performing_personnel
| birth_name          = Rupert Parkes
| alias               = {{flatlist| 
* Photek 
* Studio Pressure
* The Sentinel
* Aquarius
* Special Forces
* Code of Practice
* The Truper
* System Ex}}
| birth_date          = {{Birth date and age|1971|09|06|df=y}}
| birth_place         = Hatfield, [[Suffolk]], England
| origin              = 
| instrument          =
| genre               = {{flatlist|
* [[Drum and bass]]
* [[downtempo]]
* [[deep house]]
}}
| occupation          = {{flatlist|
* [[Record producer]]
* [[Disc jockey|DJ]]
* [[film score]] composer
}}
| years_active        = 1992–present
| label               = {{flatlist|
* [[Virgin Records|Virgin]]
* Photek
* [[Good Looking Records]]
* [[Sanctuary Records|Sanctuary]]
* [[!K7 Records|!K7]]
* [[Metalheadz]]
* Entity Records
* [[Tectonic (record label)|Tectonic]]
}}
}}

'''Rupert Parkes''' (born 6 September 1971),<ref name="Oxford">{{Cite web |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100324321 |title=Photek |website=Oxford Reference}}</ref> known as '''Photek''', is a Los Angeles-based British [[electronic music]] [[Disc jockey|DJ]]/[[record producer]], and TV and [[film score]] composer. Photek was born and raised in [[Ipswich]], [[Suffolk]], England.<ref name="Oxford"/>

Photek has contributed music to several film, TV and video game productions, such as ''[[Blade (1998 film)|Blade]]'' in 1998. He also scored the show ''[[Gang Related (TV series)|Gang Related]]'' with director [[Hughes brothers|Allen Hughes]].

He received three consecutive [[Grammy Award]] nominations in the category of [[Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical|Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical]] for [[Daft Punk]]'s<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Daft-Punk-Tron-Legacy-Part-3/release/2967849|title=Daft Punk – Tron Legacy Part 3|website=Discogs.com|access-date=16 December 2019}}</ref> "End of Line" from the ''[[Tron: Legacy]]'' [[Tron: Legacy (soundtrack)|movie soundtrack]] in 2012, [[Moby]]'s<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Nine-Inch-Nails-Every-Day-Is-Exactly-The-Same/master/4405|title=Nine Inch Nails – Every Day Is Exactly The Same|website=Discogs.com|access-date=16 December 2019}}</ref> "Lie Down in Darkness" in 2013 and [[One Love (Bob Marley and the Wailers song)|One Love]]/People Get Ready" in 2014.

Photek composed the TV score for the show ''[[How to Get Away with Murder]]''.

==Biography==
===Education===
Initially interested in [[hip hop music|hip hop]], Parkes expanded his style with elements of [[soul music|soul]] and [[jazz]]. His first instrument was a [[tenor saxophone]], 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 [[Drum sequencer (controller)|sequencer]]. 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 music|jungle]]-styled tracks "Jump" under the name Studio Pressure<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Studio-Pressure-Jump/master/476767|title=Studio Pressure – Jump|website=Discogs.com|date=3 September 1993 |access-date=16 December 2019}}</ref> on Certificate 18, 'Dolphin Tune' under the name Aquarius<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://api.discogs.com/artists/2015|title=Aquarius|website=Discogs.com|access-date=16 December 2019}}</ref> on [[LTJ Bukem]]'s [[Good Looking Records]] and 'Pulse Of Life' under the name The Sentinel<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/The-Sentinel-Heavy-Vibes-Pulse-Of-Life/master/30596|title=The Sentinel – Heavy Vibes / Pulse Of Life|website=Discogs.com|date=3 September 1994 |access-date=16 December 2019}}</ref> 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]] EP for [[Goldie]]'s [[Metalheadz]]. In 1996, Photek contributed one track on the ''[[Wipeout 2097]]''/''Wipeout'' XL soundtracks.

Photek's debut album was ''[[Modus Operandi (Photek album)|Modus Operandi]]'' in 1997, through [[Virgin Records]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.factmag.com/2012/07/28/photek-reflects-on-modus-operandi-his-classic-1997-debut-album/|title=Photek reflects on Modus Operandi, his classic 1997 debut album that changed the face of jungle|website=Factmag.com|date=28 July 2012}}</ref> In 1997, Virgin Records released Photek's "Ni Ten Ichi Ryu".<ref name="Larkin90">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music]]|editor-first=Colin|editor-last=Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=2000|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0427-8|page=309}}</ref> A year later, Photek released his second album ''Form & Function''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/form-function-mw0000044223|title=Form & Function - Photek &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=16 December 2019}}</ref> 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]] & Decoder, [[Doc Scott]], and J Majik.

===2000–2012===
In 2000, Photek released his ''Solaris'' album, turning his attention from drum and bass to [[Chicago house]] and [[minimal techno]]. On the single "Mine to Give", he collaborated with [[Robert Owens (musician)|Robert Owens]] to create a No. 1 ''Billboard'' single.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/335613/photek/chart|title=Photek – Chart history &#124; Billboard|website=Billboard.com|access-date=16 December 2019}}</ref>

"One Nation"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Photek-One-Nation-Say-It/release/202508|title=Photek – One Nation / Say It|website=Discogs.com|date=3 September 1996 |access-date=16 December 2019}}</ref> – the [[dubplate]] that had been available as a [[white label record]] 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]]' series in October 2012. In the same year, Parkes released the album ''KU:PALM''.

===Grammy nominations===
Photek's [[remix]] of Daft Punk's "End of Line" for the Disney movie ''[[Tron: Legacy]]'' earned him a [[Grammy Award|Grammy]] nomination for Best Remix in 2012. He received Grammy nominations in the same category for the following 2 years, with remixes for [[Moby]] and [[Bob Marley]].

===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. More recently in 2023, he composed the Season 5 Music for Call of Duty Modern Warfare II.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Instagram |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CvXxo-wpA_U/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=www.instagram.com}}</ref>

==Remixes==
Photek has remixed many artists in his career such as [[David Bowie]], [[Björk]] and [[Goldie]]. Additional production work on the [[Nine Inch Nails]] album ''[[With Teeth]]'' led to his remix of their track, "[[The Hand That Feeds]]", which got him [[KROQ]] daytime rotation.

== Discography ==
{{Main|Photek discography}}
* ''[[Modus Operandi (Photek album)|Modus Operandi]]'' (1997)
* ''[[Form & Function]]'' (1998)
* ''[[Solaris (Photek album)|Solaris]]'' (2000)
* ''[[Form & Function Vol. 2]]'' (2007)
* ''[[KU PALM|KU:PALM]]'' (2012)

== Awards and nominations ==
*[[American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers|ASCAP Film & Television Awards]] 2015 – Original Score for 2014 Top Television Series for ''[[How to Get Away with Murder]]''<ref>{{cite web
 | title = ASCAP Film & Television Awards 2015
 | url = http://www.ascap.com/press/2015/0309-ascap-honors-top-film-and-television-music-composers.aspx
 | accessdate = 15 June 2015
 }}</ref>
*[[BMI Film & TV Awards]] 2015 – Network Television Music Awards 2015 for ''How to Get Away with Murder''<ref>{{cite web
 | title = BMI Film / TV Awards 2015
 | date = 14 May 2015
 | url = http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/2015_bmi_film_tv_awards
 | accessdate = 15 June 2015
 }}</ref>
*[[54th Annual Grammy Awards|54th Grammy Awards]] (2012) – nominated for [[Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical|Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical]] for "End of Line" (Photek Remix) by Daft Punk<ref>{{cite web
 | title = Grammy Awards 2012: Check Out the Full List of Nominations – ABC7.com
 | url = http://abc7.com/archive/8450580/
 | accessdate = 15 June 2015
 }}</ref>
*[[55th Annual Grammy Awards|55th Grammy Awards]] (2013) – nominated for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for "Lie Down in Darkness" (Photek Remix) by Moby<ref>{{cite web
 | title = Grammys 2013: The complete list of nominees and winners at LATimes.com
 | website = [[Los Angeles Times]]
 | date = 11 February 2013
 | url = https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-grammys-2013-complete-list-of-nominees-and-winners-story.html
 | accessdate = 15 June 2015
 }}</ref>
*[[56th Annual Grammy Awards|56th Grammy Awards]] (2014) – nominated for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for "One Love/People Get Ready" (Photek Remix) by Bob Marley & The Wailers<ref>{{cite web
 | title = Grammys 2014: The complete list of nominees and winners at LATimes.com
 | website = [[Los Angeles Times]]
 | date = 7 December 2013
 | url = https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-grammy-nominations-winners-list-story.html
 | accessdate = 15 June 2015
 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0662743|Photek}}
* {{discogs artist|artist=Photek}}
* [https://music.apple.com/us/artist/photek/418083831 Photek at iTunes]
* [http://www.last.fm/music/Photek Photek at Last.fm]
* [http://www.scpr.org/programs/the-frame/2015/06/03/43116/photek-on-remixing-bob-marley-and-scoring-how-to-g/ Photek interview with The Frame]
* [http://www.musictimes.com/articles/40074/20150602/electronic-music-producer-dj-composer-photek-talks-away-murder-score.htm Photek interview with Music Times]

{{Photek}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Photek| ]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1971 births]]
[[Category:Astralwerks artists]]
[[Category:English drum and bass musicians]]
[[Category:English male film score composers]]
[[Category:English expatriates in the United States]]
[[Category:English electronic dance music DJs]]
[[Category:Musicians from Ipswich]]
[[Category:English remixers]]
[[Category:English record producers]]
[[Category:Virgin Records artists]]
[[Category:Sanctuary Records artists]]