# Jed Kurzel

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 is a film director and screenwriter.

## Life and career

Kurzel was born in c.1976 and, with his older brother Justin Kurzel (born c.1974), grew up in Gawler, South Australia. 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 (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. Their third album Devils Elbow (October 2007) won the Australian Music Prize.
In 2000 Kurzel composed the film score for the short subject, Sammy Blue, at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, 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.
In 2011 Kurzel provided the music score for the directorial debut feature film by Justin, Snowtown. 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 in that same year.
Kurzel also wrote the scores for Son of a Gun, Slow West and the documentary All This Mayhem. In 2015, he worked again with his brother on Macbeth, followed by Assassin's Creed in 2016. He replaced Harry Gregson-Williams as the composer of Alien: Covenant.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Director | Studio(s) | Notes |
| 2011 | Snowtown | Justin Kurzel | Screen Australia Madman Entertainment | First collaboration with Justin Kurzel Soundtrack released by Ivy League Records APRA Music Award for Feature Film Score of the Year Nominated — ARIA Award for Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Original Music Score |
| 2012 | Dead Europe | Tony Krawitz | See-Saw Films | Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Original Music Score |
| 2014 | Son of a Gun | Julius Avery | Screen Australia A24 | First collaboration with Julius Avery Soundtrack released by Milan Records |
| 2014 | The Babadook | Jennifer Kent | Entertainment One Umbrella Entertainment | First collaboration with Jennifer Kent Soundtrack released by Waxwork Records |
| 2015 | Slow West | John Maclean | Film4 Productions Lionsgate Films | Soundtrack released by Sony Classical Records |
| 2015 | Macbeth | Justin Kurzel | StudioCanal The Weinstein Company | Second collaboration with Justin Kurzel Soundtrack released by Decca Records |
| 2016 | Assassin's Creed | Justin Kurzel | Regency Enterprises Ubisoft Motion Pictures 20th Century Fox | Third collaboration with Justin Kurzel Soundtrack released by Decca Records and Verve Records |
| 2016 | Una | Benedict Andrews | Film4 Productions Thunderbird Releasing | |
| 2017 | Alien: Covenant | Ridley Scott | Scott Free Productions TSG Entertainment 20th Century Fox | Replaced Harry Gregson-Williams Themes by Jerry Goldsmith Soundtrack released by Milan Records |
| 2017 | Jupiter's Moon | Kornél Mundruczó | ZDF/Arte Match Factory Productions Pyramide Films | Soundtrack released by Milan Records |
| 2018 | The Nightingale | Jennifer Kent | Bron Studios IFC Films Transmission Films | Second collaboration with Jennifer Kent |
| 2018 | Overlord | Julius Avery | Bad Robot Paramount Pictures | Second collaboration with Julius Avery Soundtrack released by Paramount Music |
| 2019 | The Mustang | Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre | Légende Films Focus Features | Soundtrack released by Back Lot Music |
| 2019 | Seberg | Benedict Andrews | Phreaker Films Amazon Studios | |
| 2019 | True History of the Kelly Gang | Justin Kurzel | Daybreak Pictures Porchlight Films Memento Films | Fourth collaboration with Justin Kurzel |
| 2021 | A Writer's Odyssey | Lu Yang | CMC Productions | |
| 2021 | Nitram | Justin Kurzel | Good Thing Productions | Fifth collaboration with Justin Kurzel |
| 2021 | Encounter | Michael Pearce | Amazon Studios Film4 Productions | |
| 2023 | The Pope's Exorcist | Julius Avery | Screen Gems | Third Collaboration with Julius Avery |
| 2024 | Monkey Man | Dev Patel | Universal Pictures | Replaced Volker Bertelmann |
| 2024 | The Order | Justin Kurzel | Amazon Studios | Sixth collaboration with Justin Kurzel |

### Documentaries

| Year | Title | Director | Studio(s) | Notes |
| 2007 | Naked on the Inside | Kim Farrant | Magic Real Picture Company | |
| 2014 | All This Mayhem | Eddie Martin | Hopscotch Films | AACTA Award for Best Original Music Score in a Documentary |

### Shorts

| Year | Title | Director | Studio(s) |
| 2000 | Sammy Blue | Kim Farrant | AFTRS |
| 2007 | The Rose of Ba Ziz | Aden Young | |
| 2009 | Castor & Pollux | Ben Briand | Benah |
| 2014 | Dook Stole Christmas | Jennifer Kent | Smoking Gun Productions |

## Awards and nominations
### ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony held by the Australian Recording Industry Association. They commenced in 1987.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
| 2011 | Snowtown | Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album | Nominated | |