Junkie XL - Biography

Biography

He discovered music by learning and playing many instruments, including guitar, bass, piano, and drums. Although he was classically trained by his mother (herself an accredited violin teacher), it was not long until he discovered synthesizers and joined the Dutch New Wave group Weekend at Waikiki as a multi-instrumentalist and producer. In 1993, Holkenborg then produced the second metal album Almost a Dance by Dutch band The Gathering. He then expanded his horizon further to form the industrial rock band Nerve with vocalist Phil Mills and released 2 full-length albums in 1994 and 1995. During this period, Holkenborg built his music repertoire by freelance producing and quickly landed projects for bands such as Sepultura, Fear Factory, and Dog Eat Dog, as well as for video games, movies, and TV spots.

Holkenborg’s solo efforts include 1998’s Saturday Teenage Kick, 2000’s Big Sounds of the Drags and 2003’s Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin. The latter counted collaborations with Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan, Gary Numan, Robert Smith from The Cure, and Public Enemy’s Chuck D.. The U.S. release included his breakthrough remix of Elvis Presley's moderately successful 1968 single "A Little Less Conversation" for a 2002 Nike World Cup Commercial. The updated version unexpectedly catapulted Holkenborg into the spotlight. The song became a No. 1 hit in more than twenty countries. Today and Booming Back at You (BB@Y) are his latest solo efforts.

Holkenborg is known as a talented remixer, drawing critical acclaim with remixes of tracks by Britney Spears, Bloc Party, Michael Bublé, Coldplay, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Rammstein, Scissor Sisters, Justin Timberlake, and the aforementioned Fear Factory. With an extraordinary work ethic, which routinely includes fourteen-hour days in his studio, Holkenborg keeps extremely busy creating the music for video games. He has contributed music to Sims theme music for the computer game The Sims 2, the soundtrack for the Xbox racing game Forza Motorsport, and the soundtrack for futuristic Xbox racing game Quantum Redshift. He has also provided music for the films Kingdom of Heaven, Domino, and DOA: Dead or Alive. His song "Today" was featured as one of the tracks on EA's Burnout: Legends, apparently before the album was released. "Today" is also on EA's Burnout: Revenge. He also produced a remix of the God of War II theme. Holkenborg remixed Yonderboi's "People Always Talk About The Weather" in exchange of Yonderboi's remix of Today. His cover of the Siouxsie And The Banshees song "Cities in Dust", which featured Lauren Rocket, is also on EA's Burnout: Paradise.

Holkenborg is responsible for the SSX Blur original soundtrack, along with contributions to many of the other SSX games in the franchise, and EA's Need For Speed: Pro Street.

Currently he is signed to Artwerk, the new Los Angeles-based label formed by Electronic Arts and Nettwerk One Music.

In September 2007, Holkenborg joined the ArtEZ School of Music as its special teacher of Composition & Music Design. He now lives in Malibu, CA.

Holkenborg's single "More" was released in Fall 2007. Both Joost van Bellen and Gerald van der Kaap have been shooting the video for the clip in New York together with female singer Lauren Rocket. "More" is also featured on the soundtrack of Need for Speed: ProStreet.

Tom Holkenborg remixed the Eagles of Death Metal's "Don't Speak" for the 2008 Nike advert "Take it to the Next Level". On August 17, his manager confirmed to a Dutch magazine that Junkie XL has written and produced 3 tracks for Britney Spears' upcoming album. He also added that it is still unknown whether the tracks will be on the record.

His song "Dark Territory" was included on the later generations of the now defunct Zune portable media player.