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Tom Holkenborg

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Tom Holkenborg
Holkenborg at the Ultra Music Festival in 2007
Holkenborg at the Ultra Music Festival in 2007
Background information
Birth nameAntonius Holkenborg
Also known as
  • Junkie XL
  • JXL
Born (1967-12-08) 8 December 1967 (age 56)
Lichtenvoorde, Gelderland, Netherlands
Genres
Occupations
Instruments
Years active1988–present
Labels
Websitetomholkenborg.com

Tom Holkenborg (born 8 December 1967), also known as Junkie XL, is a Dutch composer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer, and engineer. Initially recognized for his trance productions, he has transitioned to producing electronica and big beat music, as well as film scores. His remix of Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation" became a global hit in 2002.

In the realm of film scoring, he has collaborated with Hans Zimmer and his company Remote Control Productions on Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Additionally, he has composed the scores for Zack Snyder's Justice League, Divergent, Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool, Tomb Raider,[1] 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

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Holkenborg was born in Lichtenvoorde, Gelderland, Netherlands. Classically trained by his mother—an accredited music teacher—Holkenborg began playing the piano at the age of three, the drums at eight,[2], and the guitar at twelve. Influenced by the psychedelic pop of Pink Floyd and King Crimson, he took up the bass by the age of fourteen. After moving to Leeuwarden at seventeen, he decided to work at a local music store selling keyboards and other digital equipment, where he developed an appreciation for the combination of electronic and organic sounds.[2] Shortly thereafter, he discovered synthesizers and joined the Dutch new wave ensemble Weekend at Waikiki as a multi-instrumentalist and producer. He toured extensively with the band, including through Poland and parts of the Soviet Union, from 1988 to 1991. He also produced and performed on their 1994 album, Sputnik.[3] In 1993, Holkenborg produced Almost a Dance by the Dutch metal band The Gathering, and later that year formed the industrial rock band Nerve with Phil Mills.[4] After signing with the label Play It Again Sam in 1992 and releasing two LPs—Cancer of Choice (1993)[4] and Blood & Gold (1994)—he continued as a producer, working with hardcore punk and metal bands such as Sepultura, Fear Factory, and Dog Eat Dog,[4] while simultaneously licensing some of his instrumental electronic tracks for racing video games like The Need For Speed and Test Drive 5. During this period, he also began scoring the Dutch feature film Siberia, which was released by Warner Bros. Netherlands.[5]

Career

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1997–99: Saturday Teenage Kick and Big Sounds of the Drags

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In 1997, Holkenborg released Saturday Teenage Kick, his debut album under the "Junkie XL" moniker.[4] Featuring singles such as "Billy Club," "Def Beat," and "Dealing with the Roster," the album combined driving breakbeat rhythms with elements of rock and psychedelia.[4] Many of the album's tracks included lyrics and vocals by Patrick "Rude Boy" Tilon, the vocalist for the Dutch rap-rock band Urban Dance Squad.[4] After a brief tour with The Prodigy and festival appearances at Fuji Rock and Roskilde, Holkenborg established himself within the burgeoning U.S. rave scene. His second LP, Big Sounds of the Drags, was released in 1999, once again featuring Tilon's vocal contributions on most of the album's tracks, including "Action Radius," "Power of Big Slacks," "Zerotonine," "Love Like Razorblade," "Legion," and "Next Plateau." The final track on the album, "Future in Computer Hell (Part 2)," was prominently featured on Welsh DJ and producer Sasha's mix album Global Underground 013: Ibiza.

2002: "A Little Less Conversation"

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While making strides as a film composer—contributing to movies such as Blade (1998) and The Beach (2000)—Holkenborg was approached to remix Elvis Presley's 1968 single "A Little Less Conversation" (accompanied by three different music videos) for a 2002 Nike World Cup commercial titled "Secret Tournament." This occasion marked the first time Presley's estate had granted permission for any of his material to be remixed. The song reached No. 1 in 24 countries, including the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, and Mexico, and was released as a single under the name "Elvis vs. JXL." Additionally, the song was featured as the title track for the NBC TV series Las Vegas, as well as in feature films like Shark Tale, Next, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, MegaMind, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

2003: Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin

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The success of "A Little Less Conversation" paved the way for his 2003 double-disc album, Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin. The term "Computer Hell" referred to Holkenborg's studio and headquarters in Amsterdam. Loosely based around the concept of a fictitious pirate radio station, the album's 3PM side features collaborations with The Cure's Robert Smith, Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan, Peter Tosh, Chuck D from Public Enemy, Gary Numan, Solomon Burke, and Saffron, along with the aforementioned Elvis Presley remix. The 3AM side primarily consists of progressive house instrumentals, including "Breezer," a collaboration with Sasha. The album was intended to launch simultaneously with a fully functioning internet radio station at www.RadioJXL.com, featuring exclusive shows and mixes with top EDM producers and DJs. However, the project proved to be too expensive and time-consuming to sustain. Subsequently, two downloadable albums were released from the site: 7AM Ambient and 7AM Dance.

2004–08: Today and Booming Back at You

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Junkie XL & Kēvens in 2006

Holkenborg decided to relocate to Los Angeles in 2003, and in April 2006, he released his fourth full-length album, Today, which reflected the personal and professional changes occurring in his life. Today features only one guest vocalist, Nathan Mader, and returns to the more guitar-based sound of his first two albums. His fifth album, Booming Back at You, saw Holkenborg cultivate a stronger club sound, highlighted by tracks like "1967 Poem," featuring Steve Aoki. Many of the lyrics on the album were written in collaboration with Electrocute's Nicole Morier, who appears on "Mad Pursuit," "Not Enough," and "New Toy." The album was released on Artwerk Music, a joint venture between Nettwerk Music and video game company Electronic Arts, and peaked at No. 11 on Billboard's Top Electronic Albums chart. It was the first Junkie XL full-length to chart in the U.S. and featured the hit single "More," featuring Lauren Rocket. Rocket also contributed vocals to the Siouxsie and the Banshees' cover of "Cities in Dust".

2012: Synthesized

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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 includes 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 the 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

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In collaboration with Harry Gregson-Williams, he contributed additional music to the Tony Scott film Domino (2005) and served as the composer for the Dutch film Blind[6], which was nominated for Best Original Music Score at the Netherlands Film Festival in 2007 and received the Grand Prix award for Best Original Music Score at the 2008 Aubagne International Film Festival. Holkenborg continues to work in the film and television industry, collaborating with composer Hans Zimmer as a sequencer programmer on Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. The film marks the fourth scoring collaboration between Holkenborg and Zimmer, including Megamind (2010), Inception (2010), and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012). Since moving into Zimmer's Remote Control Productions studio, the two have worked together on many other musical projects, including Man of Steel, the reboot of the Superman franchise, and a remix of that year's Academy Awards theme song. Holkenborg has provided music for the films Kingdom of Heaven, Domino, DOA: Dead or Alive[7], Shark Tale, The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury, The Animatrix, and Resident Evil, and has had his original music featured in several major motion pictures, including Blade ("Dealing with the Roster") and The Beach ("Synaesthesia").

In 2013, he composed the music for the Relativity Media film Paranoia[8]. Shortly after, he was brought in by Zack Snyder, the producer of 300: Rise of an Empire, to create the score for the film.[9] He is credited as the composer for the 2014 film Divergent, with Hans Zimmer credited as "Executive Producer" for the soundtrack.[10] He is a member of the Magnificent Six, a collaborative group of five other musicians, consisting of Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams, Johnny Marr (from The Smiths), Michael Einziger (from Incubus), Andrew Kawczynski, and Steve Mazzaro.[11] The "supergroup" of artists from diverse backgrounds teamed up to compose the score for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. He was the primary composer for the 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road[12] and the 2016 film Deadpool[13]. He was also a co-composer for the film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice[14] along with Zimmer, who wrote all the main themes[15], including the music for Wonder Woman, which was later used in the film of the same name. Holkenborg was set to compose the music for Snyder's 2017 film Justice League, but was replaced by Danny Elfman when director Joss Whedon was brought on to finish the film.[16] Holkenborg composed the scores for the 2018 film Mortal Engines, the 2019 films Alita: Battle Angel[17] and Terminator: Dark Fate[18], the 2020 films Sonic the Hedgehog[19] and Monster Hunter[20]. In 2021, he provided the score for the film Zack Snyder's Justice League[21] and The Batman[22]. His music can also be heard in the 2022 film Uncharted[23] and the 2023 films Cocaine Bear[24] and Fast X[25].

Composing for video games

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To accompany his numerous artist albums and EPs, Holkenborg has been creating original music for video games since the mid-1990s. In addition to composing the soundtracks for Xbox racing games Forza Motorsport and Quantum Redshift, Holkenborg is also responsible for the soundtrack of SSX Blur. He has licensed several of his album tracks for use in video games. "Future in Computer Hell (Part 2)", "Synasthesia", and "Dance USA"—all 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 appears in the soundtracks for the video games Burnout Legends and Burnout Revenge, while "More"—taken from his fifth album, Booming Back at You—is included in the soundtrack for EA Games' Need for Speed: ProStreet, which also features a full score composed by Holkenborg. His cover of Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Cities in Dust" is featured in Electronic Arts' Burnout Paradise. He has written additional music for and licensed tracks 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 also composed the soundtrack for EA's Darkspore.

Remixes

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Junkie XL performing live in 2008

Holkenborg has created remixes for both A-list pop superstars and lesser-known artists. Highlights include work for Scissor Sisters ("Mary", "Land of a Thousand Words"), Depeche Mode ("Enjoy the Silence"), U.N.K.L.E. ("Burn My Shadow"), Justin Timberlake ("What Goes Around"), Fatboy Slim ("Weapon of Choice"), Coldplay ("Talk"), Bloc Party ("Sunday"), Michael Bublé ("Sway"), Avril Lavigne ("Girlfriend"), Daft Punk ("The Grid"), Madonna ("4 Minutes"), Fischerspooner ("Emerge"), and Hans Zimmer ("Inception" and "Bombers Over Ibiza"). His remix of Britney Spears' "Outrageous" was used in the 2004 film Catwoman, and his remix of "And Then We Kiss" was featured on Spears' 2005 remix album B in the Mix: The Remixes. In 2008, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for his remix of Madonna's "4 Minutes". His remix of Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation" reached No. 1 in 24 countries.

Commercial work

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Holkenborg's music has also been featured in various 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 in ESPN commercials for Major League Soccer, while "A Little Less Conversation" provided the soundtrack for Nike's 2002 World Cup campaign.[26][27][28]

In 2003, Holkenborg created the musical theme for the Dutch television channel Nederland 3.[29]

Personal life

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Holkenborg is an associate professor at the ArtEZ Conservatorium, one of the major art institutes in the Netherlands, where he teaches producing, remixing, and music composition. He resides in Tarzana, Los Angeles, California.[30]

He uses the name JXL in situations where the term "Junkie" might cause offense. One notable example is his biggest hit, a remix of the song "A Little Less Conversation," performed by Elvis Presley, who was addicted to prescription drugs towards the end of his life and whose death in 1977 at the age of 42 was at least partially attributed to them.[31] Holkenborg explains his name choice: "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."[32]

Discography

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Main article: Junkie XL discography

Studio albums

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Film scores

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Year Title Director(s) Note(s) Ref.
1998 Siberia Robert Jan Westdijk [5]
2006 DOA: Dead or Alive Corey Yuen [7]
2007 Blind Tamar van den Dop [6]
2010 The Happy Housewife Antoinette Beumer [33]
Johan Primero Johan Kramer [34]
New Kids Turbo Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil [35]
2011 Bringing Up Bobby Famke Janssen [36]
The Heineken Kidnapping Maarten Treurniet [37]
2013 Paranoia Robert Luketic [8]
2014 300: Rise of an Empire Noam Murro [9]
Divergent Neil Burger [10]
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Marc Webb with/as a part of Hans Zimmer & The Magnificent Six [11]
2015 Run All Night Jaume Collet-Serra [38]
Mad Max: Fury Road George Miller [12]
Kill Your Friends Owen Harris [39]
Black Mass Scott Cooper [40]
Point Break Ericson Core [41]
2016 Deadpool Tim Miller [13]
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Zack Snyder with Hans Zimmer [14]
Brimstone Martin Koolhoven [42]
The Last Witch Hunter Breck Eisner [43]
2018 Deadpool 2 David Leitch [44]
2023 Rebel Moon Zack Snyder [45]

Video game scores

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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

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Year Title Notes
2003 Nederland 3 Musical score for the channel
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

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  1. ^ Chitgood, Adam (21 March 2018). "Tom Holkenborg Reveals How He Crafted the 'Tomb Raider' Score". Collider. Archived from the original on 26 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b Dutch: Roomse Herrie, De digitale pop-encyclopedie van Oost-Gelre, Tom Holkenborg Archived 2019-05-26 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Dutch: Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid, Muziekencyclopedie.nl Weekend at Waikiki Archived 2019-05-26 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b c d e f Colin Larkin, ed. (1999). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 247. ISBN 0-7535-0257-7.
  5. ^ a b Rooney, David (June 15, 1998). "Siberia". Variety. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Junkie XL componeert muziek voor Blind". Trouw (in Dutch). Amsterdam. 3 January 2007. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  7. ^ a b Willis, John; Monush, Barry (2010). "Domestic films". Screen World: the films of 2006. New York: Applause. p. 230. ISBN 9781557837295. Archived from the original on 2024-10-08. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  8. ^ a b "Junkie XL maakt muziek voor Hollywood-thriller". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). 1 August 2013. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  9. ^ a b Elsa Vanden Abeele (21 May 2013). "Junkie XL maakt muziek voor '300: Rise of an Empire'". De Morgen (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Ellie Goulding records new song for Divergent movie soundtrack". Digital Spy. 23 January 2014. Archived from the original on 13 August 2019.
  11. ^ a b "'The Amazing Spider-Man 2′ Soundtrack Update". March 12, 2014. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  12. ^ a b Kellman, Andy. "Mad Max: Fury Road [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]". AllMusic. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015.
  13. ^ a b Furino, Giaco (16 February 2016). "How Junkie XL Brought the 'Deadpool' Soundtrack to Life [Exclusive]". Vice. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020.
  14. ^ a b McFarland, Kevin (24 March 2016). "Thank a Man Named Junkie XL for Batman v Superman's Ominous Sound". Wired (magazine). Archived from the original on 25 March 2016.
  15. ^ "Hans-Zimmer.com". Hans-zimmer.com. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  16. ^ Kit, Borys (June 14, 2017). "'Justice League': Danny Elfman to Compose Score (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 15, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  17. ^ Solis, Jose. "Elimination Leads to Creation: Junkie XL on His Score for 'Alita: Battle Angel'". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023.
  18. ^ Couch, Aaron (22 March 2019). "Junkie XL to Score Terminator: Dark Fate". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019.
  19. ^ Han, Karen (12 February 2020). "Sonic the Hedgehog composer Tom Holkenborg is obsessed with updating vintage sound". Polygon. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020.
  20. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (3 June 2019). "Tom Holkenborg To Score 'Monster Hunter'". Deadline. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019.
  21. ^ "How Junkie XL Came to Score 'Zack Snyder's Justice League'". Variety. March 15, 2021. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  22. ^ "Junkie XL to Score 'The Batman'". Deadline. 23 June 2021. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  23. ^ "How Junkie XL's Music Brings the Uncharted Franchise to Life". Screen Rant. 10 February 2022. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  24. ^ "'Cocaine Bear': Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Album Details". Film Music Reporter. 1 February 2023. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  25. ^ "Junkie XL Scoring 'Fast X'". Film Music Reporter. 13 April 2022. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  26. ^ "Presleys in the Press: Elvis vs JXL - A Little Less Conversation". www.elvicities.com. Archived from the original on 2024-10-08. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  27. ^ "ElvisNews.com - Elvis Presley news magazine - By Fans For Fans". ElvisNews.com. Archived from the original on 2022-05-30. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  28. ^ "Remembering the Elvis Presley Remix That Somehow Changed Culture". www.vice.com. 10 May 2017. Archived from the original on 2024-10-08. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  29. ^ de Rek, Wilma (August 26, 2003). "Nederland 1, 2 en 3 beginnen nieuw seizoen met nieuw logo". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Archived from the original on October 8, 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  30. ^ "Studio Visit: Film Composer JunkieXL". Coolhunting. July 31, 2017. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  31. ^ Higginbotham, Alan (August 11, 2002). "Doctor Feelgood". The Observer. Archived from the original on September 22, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2009.
  32. ^ "Junkie XL confirmed to score Mortal Engines". mortalenginesmovie.com. 20 June 2018. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  33. ^ "Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) componeerde de filmmuziek voor De Gelukkige Huisvrouw". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). 8 April 2010. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  34. ^ "7th Seattle International Film Festival catalog". Seattle International Film Festival. 2011. p. 230. Archived from the original on 2024-07-15. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  35. ^ Boyd Van Hoeij (22 February 2011). "Review: 'New Kids Turbo'". Variety. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  36. ^ "Bringing Up Bobby: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 27 September 2012. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021.
  37. ^ "De Heineken ontvoering". Nederlands Film Festival (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 4 December 2021.
  38. ^ "Junkie XL to Score 'Run All Night'". Film Music Reporter. 4 December 2014. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015.
  39. ^ Lemire, Christy (1 April 2016). "Kill Your Friends". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016.
  40. ^ Minow, Nell (13 October 2015). "Composer Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) on Black Mass". Motion Picture Association. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019.
  41. ^ Sobczynski, Peter (26 December 2015). "Point Break". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2015.
  42. ^ Lund, Carson (17 September 2016). "Review: Brimstone". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 March 2017.
  43. ^ Ewing, Thomas (22 October 2015). "The Last Witch Hunter Review". The Verge. Archived from the original on 25 October 2015.
  44. ^ Harrison, Liam (18 May 2018). "Deadpool 2: Music from the Motion Picture". The Verge. Archived from the original on 21 May 2018.
  45. ^ "Rebel Moon (2023)". ComingSoon.net. 17 December 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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