Biography
Internationally charting across both electronic releases and motion-picture soundtracks, composer-producer-DJ-multi-instrumentalist Tom Holkenborg, known professionally as Junkie XL, first built a reputation in the late ’90s big-beat scene after earlier stints in the bands Weekend at Waikiki and Nerve. A 2002 cover of Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation,” issued under the billing Elvis vs. JXL, reached the summit in more than a dozen territories. Parallel to that success, occasional video-game and film assignments gradually expanded until, by the middle of the following decade, Holkenborg was scoring major releases such as Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (alongside frequent collaborator Hans Zimmer), and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Subsequent assignments in the 2020s have included entries in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the Godzilla franchise, and additional Mad Max installments.
Born in the Netherlands, Holkenborg began performing at fourteen in local funk and reggae groups before moving into alternative rock. While employed at a record shop he started exploring synthesizers and studio technology, ultimately winning the Grand Prix of the Netherlands for best house-music producer in 1996. After issuing Junkie XL’s debut album, the electronica-rock hybrid Saturday Teenage Kick, in 1997, he assembled a live band featuring rapper Rudeboy (formerly of Urban Dance Squad), DJ Frankie D., drummer Baz Mattie, and guitarist Renee van der Zee. His first feature-film credit arrived the following year with the Dutch picture Siberia, still under the Junkie XL name. Returning to dance material, the expanded lineup released Big Sounds of the Drags in 1999.
More than two years later Holkenborg delivered the first authorized remix of an Elvis Presley recording—“A Little Less Conversation”—for a Nike campaign tied to the 2002 World Cup. The single climbed to number one in Britain by June and placed inside the top ten in over two dozen countries. It later appeared on the 2003 album Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin, which also showcased vocals from Chuck D, Robert Smith, and Gary Numan. Booming Back at You, issued in 2008, included Lauren Rocket’s cover of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Cities in Dust” plus a guest spot from producer Steve Aoki. The 2012 set Synthesized incorporated contributions from Datarock, Tommie Sunshine, and Tears for Fears’ Curt Smith.
Entering the 2010s, Holkenborg increasingly concentrated on film scoring, frequently alongside Hans Zimmer. In 2014 he was listed, together with Pharrell Williams, Johnny Marr, Mike Einziger, Andrew Kawczynski, and Steve Mazzaro, as one of Zimmer’s Magnificent Six on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 soundtrack. That same year he earned sole composer credit for Divergent, which reached the Billboard Soundtracks top twenty. Subsequent box-office successes followed with 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, 2016’s Deadpool, and the Zimmer collaboration Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, also from 2016. Projects closing the decade encompassed the 2017 game FIFA 18, the 2018 film Tomb Raider, and 2019’s Alita: Battle Angel.
Holkenborg entered the Sonic the Hedgehog film series in 2020 and has continued with its sequels. In 2021 his previously unused Justice League score was reinstated for Zack Snyder’s director’s cut on HBO Max; the same year he supplied music for Godzilla vs. Kong and scored Snyder’s Army of the Dead. Further Snyder collaborations arrived with Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire (2023) and Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver (2024). Additional 2024 theatrical releases featuring his work include Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (with Antonio Di Iorio), Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3, while his compositions also appear in the maritime video game Skull and Bones.
Born in the Netherlands, Holkenborg began performing at fourteen in local funk and reggae groups before moving into alternative rock. While employed at a record shop he started exploring synthesizers and studio technology, ultimately winning the Grand Prix of the Netherlands for best house-music producer in 1996. After issuing Junkie XL’s debut album, the electronica-rock hybrid Saturday Teenage Kick, in 1997, he assembled a live band featuring rapper Rudeboy (formerly of Urban Dance Squad), DJ Frankie D., drummer Baz Mattie, and guitarist Renee van der Zee. His first feature-film credit arrived the following year with the Dutch picture Siberia, still under the Junkie XL name. Returning to dance material, the expanded lineup released Big Sounds of the Drags in 1999.
More than two years later Holkenborg delivered the first authorized remix of an Elvis Presley recording—“A Little Less Conversation”—for a Nike campaign tied to the 2002 World Cup. The single climbed to number one in Britain by June and placed inside the top ten in over two dozen countries. It later appeared on the 2003 album Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin, which also showcased vocals from Chuck D, Robert Smith, and Gary Numan. Booming Back at You, issued in 2008, included Lauren Rocket’s cover of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Cities in Dust” plus a guest spot from producer Steve Aoki. The 2012 set Synthesized incorporated contributions from Datarock, Tommie Sunshine, and Tears for Fears’ Curt Smith.
Entering the 2010s, Holkenborg increasingly concentrated on film scoring, frequently alongside Hans Zimmer. In 2014 he was listed, together with Pharrell Williams, Johnny Marr, Mike Einziger, Andrew Kawczynski, and Steve Mazzaro, as one of Zimmer’s Magnificent Six on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 soundtrack. That same year he earned sole composer credit for Divergent, which reached the Billboard Soundtracks top twenty. Subsequent box-office successes followed with 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, 2016’s Deadpool, and the Zimmer collaboration Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, also from 2016. Projects closing the decade encompassed the 2017 game FIFA 18, the 2018 film Tomb Raider, and 2019’s Alita: Battle Angel.
Holkenborg entered the Sonic the Hedgehog film series in 2020 and has continued with its sequels. In 2021 his previously unused Justice League score was reinstated for Zack Snyder’s director’s cut on HBO Max; the same year he supplied music for Godzilla vs. Kong and scored Snyder’s Army of the Dead. Further Snyder collaborations arrived with Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire (2023) and Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver (2024). Additional 2024 theatrical releases featuring his work include Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (with Antonio Di Iorio), Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3, while his compositions also appear in the maritime video game Skull and Bones.
Albums
Singles
