Photek

Photek
Birth name	Rupert Parkes
Also known as	Aquarius Code of Practice Phaze 1 The Sentinel Special Forces Studio Pressure Synthetics System X The Truper
Origin	St Albans, England, United Kingdom
Genres	Drum and bass Downtempo Deep house
Occupations	Record producer and DJ Film score composer
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Metalheadz Photek Productions Sanctuary Virgin Tectonic
Associated acts	Baby Boys Origination
Website	http://.photek.fm

Rupert Parkes (born 1972, St Albans, England), known as Photek, is 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 remixer, and he has also done some soundtrack work, most notably for The Animatrix.

Styles

His first releases (1992-1994) were 'hardcore' proto-jungle releases on labels like Basement, Certificate 18 and 3rd Eye under pseudonyms like Sentinel, Synthetics, Studio Pressure, System X and the Truper. Later tracks were somewhat ambient, 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 continued 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 [1]. In November 2010, Radio 1 DJ Benji B played a brand new track by Photek titled '101', sparking rumours of new Photek music to be released in early 2011. In January 2011 it was announced via Photek's official website that he would be releasing a new EP, Avalanche, in February and that one of its tracks "Slowburn" is available for free download from the site.[2]

2011 - 2012

On 28 February 2011, Photek released the Avalanche EP through his own label, Photek Productions, featuring four 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'".

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. In December 2011 he was nominated for the 54th Grammy Awards in the 'Best Remix' category for his rework of Daft Punk's 'End Of Line' for the Tron Legacy soundtrack.

On the 30th July 2012 Altered Natives released a remix of Photek track "Levitation" on !k7 Records.

Photek's long-awaited new artist album, KU:PALM was released on the 23rd October 2012 on his own label, Photek Productions. When talking about the album for an Australian interview in August 2012 Parkes said "It might well be my favorite album to date. To me it feels like a blend between Modus Operandi and Solaris, forged in a 2012 furnace."

Other monikers

• Aquarius
• Baby Boys (with Goldie)
• Code of Practice
• Origination (with Lexis)
• Phaze 1
• The Sentinel
• Special Forces
• Studio Pressure
• Synthetics
• System X
• The Truper

Discography

Albums

• Modus Operandi (1997, Virgin) UK #30
• Form & Function (1998, Virgin) UK #61
• Solaris (2000, Virgin)
• Form & Function Vol. 2 (2007, Sanctuary)
• KU PALM (2012, Photek Productions)

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) UK #39
• "The Third Sequence/Titan" (1996, Virgin)
• "Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu (Two Swords Techniques)" (1997, Virgin) UK #37
• "Risc vs. Reward", issued in the US only (1997, Astralwerks/Caroline)
• "Modus Operandi" (1998, Virgin) UK #66
• "Terminus" (2000, Virgin)
• "Mine to Give" feat. Robert Owens (2001, Virgin) US Dance #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)
• "A New Way to Bleed performed by Evanescence (Photek Remix)" (2012, The Avengers)

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

External links

• Official website
• Photek at Allmusic
• Photek at the Internet Movie Database
• Photek at rolldabeats
• Photek discography at Discogs
• Photek discography at MusicBrainz
• Official Soundcloud
• Photek interview @ Barcode
• Photek interview @ Fact Magazine
• Photek interview @ Knowledge Magazine