Artist profile · Drum & bass
Photek
Deep in the music.
Closer to the artist.
Explore Photek, Rupert Parkes, from the drum and bass detail of Modus Operandi to a wider electronic catalogue and his work scoring films and television.
Behind the music
About Photek.
Photek is Rupert Parkes, a British recording artist and composer based in Los Angeles. His early career in jungle and drum and bass developed into a wider body of electronic music, followed by work scoring films, television, and games.
His 1997 debut album, Modus Operandi, brought his detailed production to a full-length record. Looking back on its creation, Parkes has explained that his record deal gave him the time to work without compromising the music, rather than rushing to follow a particular commercial sound.
The album also deliberately left room for different tempos. Its title track was downtempo, a choice that helped avoid making a single style the permanent definition of his work. That openness offers useful context for the music he made beyond his best-known drum and bass recordings.
His screen credits include the television series How To Get Away With Murder and Into The Night, as well as feature-film scores. He often builds those projects from synthetic sounds, sometimes bringing in live musicians remotely or in person.
Artist styles
Source-reviewed associations with parts of this artist’s work. Individual releases may differ.
Jungle
High confidence · 1990s jungle production and Modus Operandi (1997); excludes his later non-DnB scoring work.