View source for Photek

==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 on Certificate 18, 'Dolphin Tune' under the name Aquarius on [[LTJ Bukem]]'s [[Good Looking Records]] and 'Pulse Of Life' under the name The Sentinel 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" – 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|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>