Photek

Initially interested in hip hop, Parkes expanded his style with elements of 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 sequencer. Within the next year he started to perform under the stage name Photek.

Parkes began his first forays into releasing music in 1993 under a plethora of different names. Some of the early releases include the jungle-styled tracks "Jump" under the name Studio Pressure{{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}} on Certificate 18, 'Dolphin Tune' under the name Aquarius{{Cite web|url=https://api.discogs.com/artists/2015|title=Aquarius|website=Discogs.com|access-date=16 December 2019}} on LTJ Bukem's Good Looking Records and 'Pulse Of Life' under the name The Sentinel{{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}} 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 in 1997, through Virgin Records.{{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}} In 1997, Virgin Records released Photek's "Ni Ten Ichi Ryu".{{cite book|title=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}} A year later, Photek released his second album Form & Function.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/form-function-mw0000044223|title=Form & Function - Photek | Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic|access-date=16 December 2019}} 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.

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 cooperated with Robert Owens to create a No. 1 Billboard single.{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/335613/photek/chart|title=Photek – Chart history | Billboard|website=Billboard.com|access-date=16 December 2019}}

"One Nation"{{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}} – 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.

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

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.{{Cite web |title=Instagram |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CvXxo-wpA_U/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=www.instagram.com}}

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.

{{Main|Photek discography}}

• Modus Operandi (1997)
• Form & Function (1998)
• Solaris (2000)
• Form & Function Vol. 2 (2007)
• KU:PALM (2012)

• ASCAP Film & Television Awards 2015 – Original Score for 2014 Top Television Series for How to Get Away with Murder{{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

}}

• BMI Film & TV Awards 2015 – Network Television Music Awards 2015 for How to Get Away with Murder{{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

}}

• 54th Grammy Awards (2012) – nominated for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for "End of Line" (Photek Remix) by Daft Punk{{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

}}

• 55th Grammy Awards (2013) – nominated for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for "Lie Down in Darkness" (Photek Remix) by Moby{{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

}}

• 56th Grammy Awards (2014) – nominated for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for "One Love/People Get Ready" (Photek Remix) by Bob Marley & The Wailers{{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

}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{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: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 Suffolk

Category:Musicians from Ipswich

Category:English remixers

Category:English record producers

Category:Virgin Records artists

Category:Sanctuary Records artists