Tom Holkenborg

Tom Holkenborg (born 8 December 1967), also known by his stage name Junkie XL or occasionally JXL, 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, Fallout: The Final Chapter, Tomb Raider, Alita: Battle Angel, Terminator: Dark Fate, Sonic the Hedgehog, Scoob!, Godzilla vs. Kong, Army of the Dead, and Three Thousand Years of Longing.
== Life and career ==
=== Early years ===
Holkenborg was born in Lichtenvoorde, Gelderland, Netherlands. Classically trained by his mother – herself an accredited music teacher – Holkenborg started playing piano when he was three years old, drums when he was eight, and guitar at 12. Influenced by the psychedelic pop of Pink Floyd and King Crimson, he took up the bass by age 14. After moving to Leeuwarden, at the age of 17, he decided to take a job at a local music store selling keyboards and other digital gear, and began to have an appreciation for the combination of electronic and organic sounds. It was shortly after he discovered synthesizers that he joined the Dutch new wave ensemble Weekend at Waikiki as a multi-instrumentalist and producer, touring extensively with the band, including through Poland and parts of the Soviet Union, from 1988 to 1991. He also produced and played on their 1994 album, Sputnik. In 1993, Holkenborg produced Almost a Dance by Dutch metal band The Gathering, and later that year went on to form the industrial rock band Nerve with Phil Mills. After signing with label Play It Again Sam in 1992 and releasing two LPs – Cancer of Choice (1993) and Blood & Gold (1994) – he continued as a producer, working with hardcore punk and metal bands like Sepultura, Fear Factory, and Dog Eat Dog, while simultaneously licensing some of his instrumental electronic tracks for racing video games like The Need For Speed and Test Drive 5. It was during this time that he also began scoring the Dutch feature film Siberia, which would be released by Warner Bros. Netherlands.
=== 1997-99: Saturday Teenage Kick and Big Sound of the Drags ===
In 1997, Holkenborg released Saturday Teenage Kick, his first album under the "Junkie XL" moniker. 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. 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. 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 Blade (1998) and The Beach (2000) – Holkenborg was asked to remix Elvis Presley's 1968 single "A Little Less Conversation" (with three different music videos) for a 2002 Nike World Cup commercial, titled "Secret Tournament". The occasion marked the first time Presley's estate had granted permission for any of Presley's 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". The song was also featured as the title song to the NBC TV series Las Vegas, and 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 ===
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 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 said Elvis Presley remix. The 3AM side consists mostly of progressive house instrumentals, including "Breezer", a collaboration with Sasha. The album was to be launched simultaneously with a fully functioning internet radio station at www.RadioJXL.com, which was to feature exclusive shows and mixes with top EDM producers and DJs, but the undertaking proved to be too expensive and time-consuming to continue. Subsequently, two downloadable albums were released from the site: 7AM Ambient and 7AM Dance.
=== 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, Today, an album that reflected the personal and professional changes that were occurring in his life. Today features only one guest vocalist, Nathan Mader, and reverts 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 punctuated 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 in "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 11 on Billboard's Top Electronic Album chart. It was the first Junkie XL full-length to chart in the U.S., and featured the hit single, "More", with Lauren Rocket. Rocket also contributed vocals to the Siouxsie and the Banshees' cover "Cities in Dust".
=== 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 Harry Gregson-Williams, he contributed additional music to the Tony Scott film Domino (2005), and served as the composer for the Dutch film Blind, 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 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, Shark Tale, The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury, The Animatrix, and Resident Evil, and has had his original music featured in a number of 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. Shortly after, he was brought in by Zack Snyder, the producer of 300: Rise of an Empire, to create the score for the film. He is credited as the composer for the 2014 film Divergent, with Hans Zimmer credited as "Executive Producer" for the soundtrack. 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. The "supergroup" of artists ranging from diverse backgrounds teamed up to compose the score for the Marvel comic reboot's second feature film of the original Spider-Man trilogy The Amazing Spider-Man 2. He was the primary composer for the 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road and the 2016 film Deadpool, and was co-composer for the film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, along with Zimmer (who still wrote all the main themes, including the music for Wonder Woman which was later used in the film of the same name). Zimmer was replaced by Junkie XL to write and compose the music for Justice League released in 2017. Holkenborg was later replaced by Danny Elfman, brought up by Joss Whedon. Holkenborg composed the scores for the 2018 film Mortal Engines, the 2019 films Alita: Battle Angel and Terminator: Dark Fate, the 2020 films Sonic the Hedgehog and Scoob!, the 2021 releases Zack Snyder's Justice League, Godzilla vs. Kong, and Army of the Dead, and the 2022 releases The 355, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and the upcoming Three Thousand Years of Longing.
=== 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: 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 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 ("Sundays"), Michael Bublé ("Sway"), Avril Lavigne ("Girlfriend"), Daft Punk ("The Grid"), Madonna ("4 Minutes"), and Hans Zimmer ("Inception" and "Bombers Over Ibiza"). His remix for 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" has gone to No. 1 in 24 countries.
=== 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.
== Personal life ==
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.
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. 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."
== 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 ===
Year	Title 	Director(s) 	Note(s)
1998	Siberia 	Robert Jan Westdijk 	
1999	The Delivery 	Roel Reiné 	
2006	DOA: Dead or Alive 	Corey Yuen 	
2007	Blind 	Tamar van den Dop 	
2010	The Happy Housewife 	Antoinette Beumer 	
2010	Johan Primero 	Johan Kramer 	
2010	New Kids Turbo 	Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil	
2011	Bringing Up Bobby 	Famke Janssen 	
2011	The Heineken Kidnapping 	Maarten Treurniet 	
2013	Paranoia 	Robert Luketic 	
2014	300: Rise of an Empire 	Noam Murro 	
2014	Divergent 	Neil Burger 	
2014	The Amazing Spider-Man 2 	Marc Webb 	with/as a part of Hans Zimmer & The Magnificent Six
2015	Run All Night 	Jaume Collet-Serra 	
2015	Mad Max: Fury Road 	George Miller 	
2015	Kill Your Friends 	Owen Harris 	
2015	Black Mass 	Scott Cooper 	
2015	Point Break 	Ericson Core 	
2016	Deadpool 	Tim Miller 	
2016	Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice 	Zack Snyder 	with Hans Zimmer
2016	Brimstone 	Martin Koolhoven 	
2016	Distance Between Dreams 	Rob Bruce 	
2016	Spectral 	Nic Mathieu 	
2017	Fallout: The Final Chapter 	Nora Twomey 	
2017	The Dark Tower 	Nikolaj Arcel 	
2018	Tomb Raider 	Roar Uthaug 	
2018	Mortal Engines 	Christian Rivers 	
2019	Alita: Battle Angel 	Robert Rodriguez 	
2019	Terminator: Dark Fate 	Tim Miller 	
2020	Sonic the Hedgehog 	Jeff Fowler 	
2020	Scoob! 	Tony Cervone 	
2021	Zack Snyder's Justice League 	Zack Snyder 	
2021	Godzilla vs. Kong 	Adam Wingard 	
2021	Army of the Dead 	Zack Snyder 	
2022	The 355 	Simon Kinberg 	
2022	Sonic the Hedgehog 2 	Jeff Fowler 	
2022	Three Thousand Years of Longing 	George Miller 	
2022	FoxnQ: Love and Thunder 	Tomm Moore 	
2022	Harlem Boys 	George Miller 	
2023	Motorcity: Earth Deluxe 	Chris Prynoski 	
2023	Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire	Zack Snyder 	
2024	Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire 	Adam Wingard 	with Antonio Di Iorio
2024	Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver 	Zack Snyder 	
2024	Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 	George Miller 	
2024	Sonic the Hedgehog 3 	Jeff Fowler 	
2027	Amphibia 	Ruben Fleischer 	
=== 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 	
2005	Forza Motorsport 	Turn 10 Studios	Microsoft Game Studios	
2005	The Sims 2: Nightlife 	Maxis 	Electronic Arts 	Neighborhood Theme remix
2006	Need for Speed: Carbon 	EA Black Box 	Electronic Arts 	Melody - Feel the Rush (Remix)
2007	SSX Blur 	EA Montreal 	EA Sports BIG 	
2007	Need for Speed: ProStreet 	EA Black Box 	Electronic Arts 	
2008	Burnout: Paradise 	Criterion 	Electronic Arts 	Composed with Andre Ettema and Sam Estes
2010	The Sims 3: Re-Imagined 	Maxis 	Electronic Arts 	
2011	Darkspore 	Maxis 	Electronic Arts 	
2015	Madden NFL 16 	EA Tiburon 	EA Sports 	
2018	FIFA 18 	EA Vancouver
EA Romania	EA Sports 	
=== 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
Category:1967 births
Category:20th-century composers
Category:21st-century composers
Category:Male film score composers
Category:Video game composers
Category:20th-century Dutch composers
Category:20th-century Dutch musicians
Category:20th-century male musicians
Category:21st-century Dutch composers
Category:21st-century Dutch musicians
Category:21st-century male musicians
Category:Ableton Live users
Category:Dutch dance musicians
Category:Dutch DJs
Category:Dutch electronic musicians
Category:Dutch film score composers
Category:Dutch record producers
Category:Electronic dance music DJs
Category:Entertainment One Music artists
Category:Living people
Category:Musicians from Oost Gelre
Category:People from Lichtenvoorde
Category:Remixers
Category:Animation composers