Photek
Encyclopedia
Photek is Rupert Parkes (born 1972, St Albans
, England
), a Los Angeles
-based British
record producer
and DJ
. He joined the drum and bass
scene relatively early (his first release was in 1992, a collaboration with Rob Solomon a.k.a. Lexis), and is still one of its most respected players. In the mid-to-late Nineties he was a very active remix
er, and he has also done some soundtrack
work, most notably for The Animatrix
.
, but already feature the rhythm pattern of his seminal 1997 work Modus Operandi, which embodies most of his mid-nineties style: atmospheric, but at the same time very cold and paranoid, consisting mostly of jazz
-influenced, highly complex drum patterns and sequenced double bass
lines, sometimes with minimalistic synth melodies on top. Photek is also influenced by traditional Japanese music and culture, with song titles as "Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu (2 Swords Technique)" (named after the Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu
technique) and "The Seven Samurai" (named after the movie of the same name).
His 1998 follow up to Modus Operandi was the Form & Function
compilation album, featuring older tracks, in both original and remixed form. His album Solaris (released in 2000) saw Parkes taking his music in a new direction, with gloomy house tracks alongside free-form ambient noise and the usual snare drum
attacks. It included the house single "Mine to Give" (featuring Robert Owens
), which reached the top spot of Billboard
s Hot Dance Club Play
in 2001.
After Solaris, he paid his way out of his contract with Virgin Records
sublabel Science, and continues to release 12-inch singles on his own Photek Productions label. These tracks are more club-oriented and reminiscent of the recent work of Roni Size
. Parkes also worked with Nine Inch Nails
on the album With Teeth
by providing additional programming on "All The Love In The World" and remixing the single "The Hand That Feeds." He's rumored to also have been working with Pharrell.
His most recent compilation album Form & Function Vol. 2
was released on 24 September 2007. He also contributed music to the movie Dreamland
. He continues to be based in L.A. working on new, as yet unreleased music - he tweeted in 2009 that he was making dubstep http://twitter.com/photek. In November 2010, Radio 1 DJ Benji B played a brand new track by Photek titled '101',http://soundcloud.com/photek/101-clip-from-benji-bs-radio-1-show-25-11-2010 sparking rumours of new Photek music to be released in early 2011.http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00w10rj In January 2011 it was announced via Photek's official website that he would in fact, be releasing a new EP, 'Avalanche', in February and that one of its tracks 'Slowburn' is available for free download from the site.http://www.photek.fm
On 28 February 2011, Photek released the 'Avalanche EP' through his own label, 'Photek Productions', featuring four brand new original tracks plus a remix by Boddika. In an interview with online music blog 'Fact Magazine' in March 2011, Photek disclosed his plans to release a new "...series of EPs where the best content can be cherry-picked for an album at the end of that series." Plus, "I’ve got a release coming out on Pinch
's label, Tectonic
called 'Closer'".http://www.factmag.com/2011/03/08/photek-the-last-samurai/2/
Photek released his second EP of 2011 in May, titled the Aviator EP on his own label. He then released the aforementioned single 'Closer' on Tectonic
, which featured a remix by label boss Pinch
. Photek has done a number of remixes himself in 2011, for the likes of Moby
, Distance, Karin Park and Jess Mills.
As Photek:
St Albans
St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
), a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
-based British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
. He joined the drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
scene relatively early (his first release was in 1992, a collaboration with Rob Solomon a.k.a. Lexis), and is still one of its most respected players. In the mid-to-late Nineties he was a very active remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
er, and he has also done some soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
work, most notably for The Animatrix
The Animatrix
is a 2003 direct-to-video anthology film based on The Matrix trilogy. The film is a compilation of nine animated short films.-Production:Development of the Animatrix project began when the film series' writers and directors, the Wachowski brothers, were in Japan promoting the first Matrix film...
.
Styles
His early tracks are somewhat ambientAmbient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, but already feature the rhythm pattern of his seminal 1997 work Modus Operandi, which embodies most of his mid-nineties style: atmospheric, but at the same time very cold and paranoid, consisting mostly of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
-influenced, highly complex drum patterns and sequenced double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
lines, sometimes with minimalistic synth melodies on top. Photek is also influenced by traditional Japanese music and culture, with song titles as "Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu (2 Swords Technique)" (named after the Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu
Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu
, which can be loosely translated as "the school of the strategy of two heavens as one", is a koryū , transmitting a style of classical Japanese swordsmanship conceived by the warrior Miyamoto Musashi...
technique) and "The Seven Samurai" (named after the movie of the same name).
His 1998 follow up to Modus Operandi was the Form & Function
Form & Function
Form & Function is the second album by British drum and bass artist Photek. It was released on September 14, 1998 on the Virgin Records sublabel Science Records in Europe and on Astralwerks in the US. The album is made up of older Photek tracks that were previously only available on 12" vinyl...
compilation album, featuring older tracks, in both original and remixed form. His album Solaris (released in 2000) saw Parkes taking his music in a new direction, with gloomy house tracks alongside free-form ambient noise and the usual snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
attacks. It included the house single "Mine to Give" (featuring Robert Owens
Robert Owens (musician)
Robert Owens is an American contemporary R&B and house-music vocalist best known for his work with the Chicago house group Fingers Inc. in the mid-1980s...
), which reached the top spot of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Hot Dance Club Play
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
in 2001.
After Solaris, he paid his way out of his contract with Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
sublabel Science, and continues to release 12-inch singles on his own Photek Productions label. These tracks are more club-oriented and reminiscent of the recent work of Roni Size
Roni Size
Roni Size is a British record producer and DJ, who came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and leader of Reprazent, a drum and bass collective...
. Parkes also worked with Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
on the album With Teeth
With Teeth
With Teeth is the fourth studio album by American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released on May 3, 2005, by Interscope Records. The album was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and long-time collaborator Alan Moulder. It was Reznor's first original studio album since The...
by providing additional programming on "All The Love In The World" and remixing the single "The Hand That Feeds." He's rumored to also have been working with Pharrell.
His most recent compilation album Form & Function Vol. 2
Form & Function Vol. 2
Form & Function Vol. 2 is the Photek's 4th official studio album. It is a collection of dubplates and remixes plus some exclusives. It was released September 24, 2007 on the Sanctuary Records label...
was released on 24 September 2007. He also contributed music to the movie Dreamland
Dreamland (film)
Dreamland is an American Drama film that was released on December 19, 2006. The primary plot focuses concern overcoming fear, struggling friend to friend relationships, and overall coming of age in small-town America.- Plot :...
. He continues to be based in L.A. working on new, as yet unreleased music - he tweeted in 2009 that he was making dubstep http://twitter.com/photek. In November 2010, Radio 1 DJ Benji B played a brand new track by Photek titled '101',http://soundcloud.com/photek/101-clip-from-benji-bs-radio-1-show-25-11-2010 sparking rumours of new Photek music to be released in early 2011.http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00w10rj In January 2011 it was announced via Photek's official website that he would in fact, be releasing a new EP, 'Avalanche', in February and that one of its tracks 'Slowburn' is available for free download from the site.http://www.photek.fm
2011 : New Releases
On 28 February 2011, Photek released the 'Avalanche EP' through his own label, 'Photek Productions', featuring four brand new original tracks plus a remix by Boddika. In an interview with online music blog 'Fact Magazine' in March 2011, Photek disclosed his plans to release a new "...series of EPs where the best content can be cherry-picked for an album at the end of that series." Plus, "I’ve got a release coming out on Pinch
Pinch (dubstep musician)
Rob Ellis, better known as Pinch, is a dubstep artist from Bristol, United Kingdom noted for his fusion of styles such as Reggae, World Music, and Dancehall with dubstep. He released his first album, Underwater Dancehall in 2007, on Tectonic records, which he founded...
's label, Tectonic
Tectonic (record label)
Tectonic is a British electronic music label, founded and run by Rob Ellis which focuses primarily on Dubstep and its related genres...
called 'Closer'".http://www.factmag.com/2011/03/08/photek-the-last-samurai/2/
Photek released his second EP of 2011 in May, titled the Aviator EP on his own label. He then released the aforementioned single 'Closer' on Tectonic
Tectonic (record label)
Tectonic is a British electronic music label, founded and run by Rob Ellis which focuses primarily on Dubstep and its related genres...
, which featured a remix by label boss Pinch
Pinch (dubstep musician)
Rob Ellis, better known as Pinch, is a dubstep artist from Bristol, United Kingdom noted for his fusion of styles such as Reggae, World Music, and Dancehall with dubstep. He released his first album, Underwater Dancehall in 2007, on Tectonic records, which he founded...
. Photek has done a number of remixes himself in 2011, for the likes of Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
, Distance, Karin Park and Jess Mills.
Other monikers
- Aquarius
- Baby Boys (with GoldieGoldieClifford Joseph Price, better known as Goldie is an English electronic music artist, disc jockey, visual artist and actor. He is well known for his innovations in the jungle and drum and bass music genres, having previously gained exposure for his work as a graffiti artist...
) - Code of Practice
- Origination (with Lexis)
- Phaze 1
- The Sentinel
- Special Forces
- Studio Pressure
- Synthetics
- System X
- The Truper
Albums
- Modus Operandi (1997, Virgin) UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#30 - Form & FunctionForm & FunctionForm & Function is the second album by British drum and bass artist Photek. It was released on September 14, 1998 on the Virgin Records sublabel Science Records in Europe and on Astralwerks in the US. The album is made up of older Photek tracks that were previously only available on 12" vinyl...
(1998, Virgin) UK #61 - Solaris (2000, Virgin)
- Form & Function Vol. 2Form & Function Vol. 2Form & Function Vol. 2 is the Photek's 4th official studio album. It is a collection of dubplates and remixes plus some exclusives. It was released September 24, 2007 on the Sanctuary Records label...
(2007, Sanctuary)
Singles and EPs (incomplete)
As Origination:- "Break Down" (1992, Rudeboy Records)
- "Break Down (Remix)" (1992, Rudeboy Records)
- "The 5 Tracker" (1992, Rudeboy Records)
- "Anything You Want (I Got It)" (1992, Rudeboy Records)
- "Sunrise" (1993, Rudeboy Records)
- "Music Takes Control" (1993, Rudeboy Records)
- "Shine On '94" (1994, Rudeboy Records)
As Photek:
- "Natural Born Killa" (1995, Metalheadz)
- "The Seven Samurai/Complex" (1995, Photek)
- "UFO/Rings around Saturn" (1995, Photek)
- "The Water Margin" (1996, Science Records)
- "T'raenon" (1996, Op-ART)
- "The Hidden Camera" (1996, Virgin) UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#39 - "The Third Sequence/Titan" (1996, Virgin)
- "Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu (Two Swords Techniques)Risc vs. RewardRisc vs. Reward is compilation EP from drum and bass artist Photek. It combines tracks from his previous EPs The Hidden Camera and Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu.-Track listing:# "K.J.Z." – 7:47# "The Hidden Camera" – 6:47...
" (1997, Virgin) UK #37 - "Risc vs. RewardRisc vs. RewardRisc vs. Reward is compilation EP from drum and bass artist Photek. It combines tracks from his previous EPs The Hidden Camera and Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu.-Track listing:# "K.J.Z." – 7:47# "The Hidden Camera" – 6:47...
", issued in the US only (1997, Virgin) - "Modus Operandi" (1998, Virgin) UK #66
- "Terminus" (2000, Virgin)
- "Mine to Give" feat. Robert OwensRobert Owens (musician)Robert Owens is an American contemporary R&B and house-music vocalist best known for his work with the Chicago house group Fingers Inc. in the mid-1980s...
(2001, Virgin) US DanceHot Dance Club PlayThe Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
#1, UK #44 - "MDZ.04 Album Sampler" (2004, Metalheadz)
- "Rinsa" (2005, Photek Productions)
- "C Note" (2005, Photek Productions) [Also feat. In PlayStation Portable game such as: WipEout Pure]
- "Quaman" (2005, Photek Productions)
- "Love & War" (2007, Sanctuary)
- "Avalanche EP" (2011, Photek Productions)
- "Aviator EP" (2011, Photek Productions)
- "Closer" (2011, Tectonic)
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart