Tom Holkenborg
Tom Holkenborg | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Antonius Holkenborg |
Also known as |
|
Born | Lichtenvoorde, Gelderland, Netherlands | 8 December 1967
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | |
Instrument(s) | |
Years active | 1988–present |
Labels |
|
Website | www |
Tom Holkenborg (born 8 December 1967), also known as Junkie XL, is a Dutch composer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer, and engineer.
Originally known for his trance productions, he has moved to producing electronica and big beat music and film scores. His remix of Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation" became a worldwide hit in 2002.
In film scores, he has worked with Hans Zimmer and his company Remote Control Productions on Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as composing the scores for Zack Snyder's Justice League, Divergent, Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool, Tomb Raider, Alita: Battle Angel, Terminator: Dark Fate, Sonic the Hedgehog (and its sequels), Scoob!, Godzilla vs. Kong, Army of the Dead, and Three Thousand Years of Longing.
Early life
Holkenborg was born in
Career
1997–99: Saturday Teenage Kick and Big Sounds of the Drags
In 1997, Holkenborg released Saturday Teenage Kick, his first album under the "Junkie XL" moniker.[3] Featuring singles such as "Billy Club", "Def Beat", and "Dealing with the Roster", the album combined pounding breakbeat rhythms with elements of rock and psychedelia.[3] Much of the album's songs featured lyrics and vocals by Patrick "Rude Boy" Tilon, vocalist for the Dutch rap rock band Urban Dance Squad.[3] After a brief tour with The Prodigy and festival dates at Fuji Rock and Roskilde, Holkenborg made a name for himself in the upcoming U.S. rave scene. His second LP, Big Sounds of the Drags, was released in 1999, once again with Tilon providing vocal work to most of the album's songs, as in "Action Radius", "Power of Big Slacks", "Zerotonine", "Love Like Razorblade", "Legion", and "Next Plateau". "Future in Computer Hell (Part 2)", the last track on the album, was featured prominently on Welsh DJ and producer Sasha's mix album Global Underground 013: Ibiza.
2002: "A Little Less Conversation"
While making inroads as a film composer – contributing to movies like
2003: Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin
The success of "A Little Less Conversation" set the stage for his 2003 double-disc album, Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin. The name "Computer Hell" referred to Holkenborg's Amsterdam studio and headquarters. Loosely based around the concept of a fictitious pirate radio station, the album's 3PM side features collaborations with
2004–08: Today and Booming Back at You
Holkenborg decided to relocate to Los Angeles in 2003, and in April 2006, released his fourth full-length album,
2012: Synthesized
On 27 November 2012, Junkie XL released his sixth full-length album, entitled Synthesized. The album was preceded by a single EP for "Molly's E", which was released on 6 September and features remixes by Azari & III and Canblaster. A second single, "Gloria" (with Fredrik Saroea of Datarock), was released on 23 October. Stylistically, Synthesized strikes a balance between the introspective sound of Today and the club-heavy sound of Booming Back at You, and features collaborations with Isis Salam ("Off The Dancefloor"), Tears for Fears' Curt Smith ("When Enough is Not Enough"), and Tommie Sunshine ("Love Machine"). The album also features a spoken word excerpt from Timothy Leary's The Psychedelic Experience, read by Leary, on the song "Leave Behind Your Ego". A video for "Off the Dancefloor" was created by Japanese electro-pop band Trippple Nippples. The videos for "Gloria" and "Leave Behind Your Ego" were directed by John Christopher Pina for Clean Sweep.
Composing for film
In collaboration with
Composing for video games
To go along with his numerous artist albums and EPs, Holkenborg has been creating original music for video games since the mid-1990s. In addition to composing the soundtrack for Xbox racing games Forza Motorsport and Quantum Redshift, Holkenborg is responsible for the SSX Blur soundtrack. He has also licensed a number of his album tracks for video game use. "Future in Computer Hell (Part 2)", "Synasthesia", and "Dance USA"—all taken from his album Big Sounds of the Drags—were licensed to the racing video game TD Overdrive: The Brotherhood of Speed (2002). The title track for Today is featured on the soundtrack for the video games Burnout Legends and Burnout Revenge, while "More"—taken from his fifth album, Booming Back at You—is featured on the soundtrack to EA Games' Need for Speed: ProStreet, which also includes a full score from Holkenborg. His cover of Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Cities in Dust" is featured on Electronic Arts' Burnout Paradise. He has written additional music for and licensed music to The Matrix: Path of Neo, Destroy All Humans!, The Sims 2: Nightlife, The Sims 3, Need for Speed: High Stakes, Need for Speed: Underground, Need for Speed: Carbon, FIFA 08, and FIFA Street 3, among others. He composed the soundtrack for EA's Darkspore.
Remixes
Holkenborg had made remixes—for both A-list pop superstars and lesser known artists. Highlights include work for
Commercial work
Holkenborg's music has also been featured in a number of international ad campaigns for major brands like Nike, Adidas, Heineken, and Cadillac. His remix of Eagles of Death Metal's "Don't Speak" was used in the 2008 Nike "Take it to the Next Level" commercial, which was directed by Guy Ritchie. "Today" was featured on ESPN commercials for Major League Soccer, while "A Little Less Conversation" provided the soundtrack to Nike's 2002 World Cup campaign.[7][8][9]
Personal life
Holkenborg is an
He uses the name JXL in cases where the term "Junkie" might cause offense. One example of this was with his biggest hit, a remix of the song "A Little Less Conversation" which was performed by Elvis Presley, a singer who toward the end of his life was addicted to prescription drugs and whose death in 1977 at the age of 42 was at least partially caused by them.[11] Holkenborg says of his name: "I called myself Junkie XL from the point of view that once you're completely overworked, you never want to go there again. The 'XL' stands for expanding limits; broadening up your vision."[12]
Discography
Studio albums
- Saturday Teenage Kick (1997)
- Big Sounds of the Drags (1999)
- Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin (2003)
- Today (2006)
- Booming Back at You (2008)
- Synthesized (2012)
Film scores
Video game scores
Year | Title | Developer(s) | Publisher(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | Quantum Redshift | Curly Monsters | Microsoft Game Studios
|
— |
2003 | Need for Speed: Underground | EA Black Box | Electronic Arts | "Action Radius" |
2005 | Burnout 3: Takedown | Criterion | Electronic Arts | — |
Forza Motorsport | Turn 10 Studios | Microsoft Game Studios
|
— | |
The Sims 2: Nightlife | Maxis | Electronic Arts | Neighborhood Theme remix | |
2006 | Need for Speed: Carbon | EA Black Box | Melody - Feel the Rush (Remix)Yonderboi - People Always Talk About The Weather (Remix) | |
2007 | SSX Blur | EA Montreal | EA Sports BIG | — |
Need for Speed: ProStreet | EA Black Box | Electronic Arts | Composed with Andre Ettema and Sam Estes | |
2008 | Burnout Paradise | Criterion | — | |
2010 | The Sims 3 - Re-Imagined | Maxis | — | |
2011 | Darkspore | Maxis | — | |
2015 | Madden NFL 16 | EA Tiburon
|
EA Sports | — |
2017 | FIFA 18 | EA Vancouver EA Romania |
— | |
2024 | Skull and Bones | Ubisoft Singapore | Ubisoft | — |
Television scores
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
2012 | Lijn 32 | 8 episodes |
2019–present | Love, Death & Robots | 3 episodes |
2019 | Chimerica | 4 episodes Composed with Shigeru Umebayashi |
2020 | White Lines | 10 episodes |
References
- ^ a b Dutch: Roomse Herrie, De digitale pop-encyclopedie van Oost-Gelre, Tom Holkenborg
- ^ Dutch: Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid, Muziekencyclopedie.nl Weekend at Waikiki
- ^ ISBN 0-7535-0257-7.
- ^ "'The Amazing Spider-Man 2′ Soundtrack Update". March 12, 2014. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
- ^ "Hans-Zimmer.com". Hans-zimmer.com. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
- ^ Kit, Borys (June 14, 2017). "'Justice League': Danny Elfman to Compose Score (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
- ^ "Presleys in the Press: Elvis vs JXL - A Little Less Conversation". www.elvicities.com. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
- ^ "ElvisNews.com - Elvis Presley news magazine - By Fans For Fans". ElvisNews.com. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
- ^ "Remembering the Elvis Presley Remix That Somehow Changed Culture". www.vice.com. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
- ^ "Studio Visit: Film Composer JunkieXL". Coolhunting. July 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
- ^ Higginbotham, Alan (August 11, 2002). "Doctor Feelgood". The Observer. Retrieved December 29, 2009.
- ^ "Junkie XL confirmed to score Mortal Engines". mortalenginesmovie.com. 20 June 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ Parlevliet, Mirko (August 25, 2022). "Godzilla vs Kong Sequel Starts Filming". Vital Thrills. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
- ^ "Antonio Di Iorio Joins Tom Holkenborg to Co-Score Adam Wingard's 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire'". Film Music Reporter. 3 December 2023.
- ^ Northrup, Ryan (22 August 2023). "Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon 2 Releases On Netflix Just 5 Months After First Movie". Screen Rant.