Jed Danyel Kurzel (born 1976) is an Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist and film composer. He is a founding member of The Mess Hall (from 2001), a blues rock duo. His older brother

Justin Kurzel Justin Dallas Kurzel (; born 1974) is an Australian film director. His films include '' Snowtown'' (2011), ''Macbeth'' (2015), ''Assassin's Creed'' (2016), ''True History of the Kelly Gang'' (2018), '' Nitram'' (2021) and '' The Order'' (2024). ...

is a film director and screenwriter.

Life and career

Kurzel was born in 1976 and, with his older brother

(born 1974), grew up in

Gawler, South Australia Gawler, established in 1839, is the oldest country town in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor of South Australia, Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. ...

. Their father, Zdzislaw Kurzel (1946–2006), was from Poland and had migrated to Australia in 1960, where he became a taxi driver. In the 1990s, Kurzel moved to Sydney, where Justin was studying at the

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, it offers bachelor's, master's and vocational degrees in subjects including acting ...

(NIDA). In 2001 Kurzel on lead vocals and guitar, Anthony Johnsen on drums and a bass guitarist formed a blues-rock group, the Mess Hall in Sydney – the bass guitarist soon left but was not replaced, they continued as a duo. Kurzel recalled "When the clubs asked us where our bass player was, we used to lie and say he was sick." Their debut album '' The Mess Hall'' was released in June 2003. In early 2004 Johnsen was replaced by Cec Condon on drums and vocals.Jed Kurzel
, thebabadook.com, access date 2 November 2015 Their third album '' Devils Elbow'' (October 2007) won the

Australian Music Prize The Australian Music Prize (often shortened to the AMP) is an annual award of $50,000 ($30,000 from 2005 to 2023) given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. The award was ...

. In 2000 Kurzel composed the film score for the short subject, ''Sammy Blue'', at the

Australian Film, Television and Radio School The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), formerly Australian Film and Television School, is Australia's national screen arts and broadcast school. Opened to students in 1973 as Film and Television School (FTS), after accredita ...

, with Kim Farrant directing. He worked for Farrant again: providing the score for ''Naked on the Inside'' (2006), a feature film documentary on body image. In 2009 he composed music for ''Castor & Pollux'', a short film, directed by

Ben Briand Benjamin Briand is an Australian film director. Career In 2007 Briand wrote and directed ''Hammer Bay''. The TV film project featured actress Jackie Weaver and was the result of winning the People's Choice Award at the inaugural Optus ONE80P ...

. In 2011 Kurzel provided the music score for the directorial debut feature film by Justin, ''

Snowtown Snowtown is a town located in the Mid North of South Australia 145 km (90 miles) north of Adelaide and lies on the main road and rail routes between Adelaide and Perth, Western Australia, Perth – the Augusta Highway and Adelaide-Port ...

''.Interview with Jed Kurzel
filmmusicmag.com, access date 2 November 2015 At the APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awards of 2011 Kurzel won Feature Film Score of the Year. It was nominated for Australian Film Institute Award for Best Original Music Score. The related soundtrack album was nominated for

ARIA Award for Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album The ARIA Music Award for Best Original Soundtrack / Cast / Show Album is an award presented within the Fine Arts Awards at the annual ARIA Music Awards. The ARIA Awards recognise "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genre ...

in that same year. Kurzel also wrote the scores for ''

Son of a Gun Son of a gun is an exclamation in American and British English. It can be used encouragingly or to compliment, as in "You son of a gun, you did it!" Definition The ''Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary'' and ''Webster's Dictionary'' both de ...

'', ''

Slow West ''Slow West'' is a 2015 Revisionist Western, revisionist Western film written and directed by John Maclean (film director), John Maclean in his List of directorial debuts, directorial debut. It stars Kodi Smit-McPhee as a young Scotsman searchin ...

'' and the documentary '' All This Mayhem''. In 2015, he worked again with his brother on ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'', followed by ''

Assassin's Creed ''Assassin's Creed'' is a historical fiction, historical action-adventure video game series and media franchise published by Ubisoft and developed mainly by its studio Ubisoft Montreal using the game engine Anvil (game engine), Anvil and its m ...

'' in 2016. He replaced

Harry Gregson-Williams Harry Gregson-Williams (born 13 December 1961) is a British composer, conductor, orchestrator, and record producer. He has composed music for video games, television and films including the ''Metal Gear'' series, '' Spy Game'', '' Phone Booth' ...

as the composer of '' Alien: Covenant''.

Filmography

Film

Documentaries

Shorts

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony held by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, ''Snowtown'' , Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album , , ARIA Award previous winners.

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurzel, Jed 1976 births APRA Award winners Australian film score composers Australian rock musicians Australian people of Polish descent Australian people of Maltese descent Living people Australian male film score composers Musicians from South Australia People from Gawler, South Australia