Pieter Bourke is an accomplished Australian musician, composer, recording artist and producer who is highly regarded internationally for his role in a number of successful projects. Among his credits are the Golden Globe Award nominated scores for the films Ali and The Insider, which Pieter co-composed with Lisa Gerrard for acclaimed Amercian Director Michael Mann. ‘Pieter and Lisa throw themselves into projects with total artistic commitment’, Mann said. ‘I listen to their music and I’m transported. It’s been a great experience working with them.’ Most recently Bourke contributed to the score for Mann’s latest film Ferrari.

Bourke originally collaborated with Gerrard on her first solo album The Mirror Pool and its subsequent European and North American tour. Pieter then performed with Gerrard's groundbreaking group Dead Can Dance on their Spiritchaser world tour. These experiences led to Bourke and Gerrard's collaborative album Duality, featuring the majestic composition Sacrifice. This song has been heard in countless films, documentaries, trailers and advertisements since its release. Bourke also co-wrote and performed on several songs from Gerrard's Black Opal album. Together they composed and performed music for Italian Director Ivanna Massetti’s film Nadro.

The evocative nature of Bourke's music and production style is particularly suited to supporting a visual narrative. His organic blend of earthy percussion, symphonics, cinematic soundscapes and deftly textured electronics was starting to form when he began his recording career with the band Eden.

Bourke then teamed up with David Thrussell as songwriting and production partner in his band Snog. Bourke and Thrussell quickly founded the ethno-electronic group SOMA. On albums such as Hollow Earth, The Inner Cinema and Stygian Vistas, the pair combined elements of trip hop, trance, dub and ambient soundscapes to create music described as ‘milestones of modern sonic sculpture’.

Pieter is a self taught musician. Beginning with a couple of synths and drum machines at 15 years of age, Bourke developed his production knowledge in tandem with his performance and songwriting artistry. He incorporates the studio as an instrument in itself, an intrinsic part of the creation process which often blurs the line between engineering and composing.

This philosophy was pioneered in ‘dub music’, a genre of electronic music that grew out of reggae in the 1960s. On the dub/reggae project Secret Masters that he established with Donnie Dub, Bourke gave full expression to his production and songwriting abilities. Their debut album The Lost Dub Tapes was hailed as a ‘landmark Australian release in the dub and roots music genre’. It was the first album to come out of Bourke's 33rd Degree Studio, where the follow up Secret Masters release Words, Power, Sound was also recorded and mixed.

When not working on his own projects Bourke provides music composition, production and mixing services from 33rd Degree Music Studio in Melbourne, Australia. Designed and equipped with a focus on electronic music production, Pieter welcomes the opportunity to share his production experience and expertise with other artists. Lessons in music composition and production are also available upon request.