Composer Interview: Tom Holkenborg [Junkie XL] (May 13, 2015)

Even though Tom was a guest on Film.Music.Media very recently, we had to have him back to talk about his masterful score to Mad Max: Fury Road. Tom (also known as Junkie XL) shares the fantastic and rare approach he was able to do working with master auteur George Miller as he brought his classic Mad Max universe to a new audience. Tom worked 18 months on this score and was part of George Miller's collaborative process as he went back and forth scoring to picture as well as the picture shaping around his music. Tom shares how he came up with that descending main theme we heard in the trailers, and all the different layers he added to make the music work. Tom has also built a reputation as a mad music scientist by doing some always amazing sonic experiments on his scores. Here is no different as we discuss how he recorded animal noises (including his own dog) to give the bad guys an animalistic and tribal presence. We discuss it all, from Taiko drums to wailing guitars and mathematically precise action arcs. Mad Max: Fury Road is a masterwork of action scoring, and it's always a blast to dig into the process with the fantastic Tom Holkenborg.

Interview Conducted By:
Kaya Savas

Special Thanks:
Tom Holkenborg
Ray Costa
Albert Tello
Asenath Nakayama
Costa Communications