You've heard his stuff before, but let's put a face (and voice) to the name Junkie XL who has composed music for films like "Divergent" (2014), "Resident Evil", "300: Rise of an Empire" and of course, the heart thumping adrenaline beats and riffs of "Mad Max: Fury Road". By lending his high powered style composing the original soundtrack for the current Marvel craze, "Deadpool", this Dutch multi-instrumentalist got his first taste of scoring for superhero films thanks to the great Hans Zimmer, with "The Dark Knight Rises". This then led him to more projects with Zimmer in scoring for "Man of Steel", "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", and also the unforgettable bass-heavy score for "Inception". Next, we'll hear Junkie and Zimmer collaborate again for "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice". But before that, as we place Junkie XL amongst the great composers of today like, John Williams, Howard Shore, Thomas Newman, Clint Mansell and Hans Zimmer, we knew great things were happening when the first hip hop beat laced DMX's "X Gon' Give It To Ya" trailer for "Deadpool" was revealed. By providing his Big Beats genre roots towards the score, the pairing of Junkie XL to go along with the "Deadpool" attitude couldn't be any more perfect! Here's an interview with Junkie XL himself, who is the mastermind that came up with equally brilliant song titles for the "Deadpool" soundtrack album like, "Liam Neeson Nightmares", "Going Commando", "A Face I Would Sit On" and "Let's Try to Kill Each Other".
Question: What is your musical formation? What lead you to film music? Junkie XL: I have a classical background and I play Drums, Piano, Guitars, Bass, and Electronics. My artistic career has been ongoing since 1987 and when I watched a movie in 1997 which used my music as a license track. I was so surprised how well it worked that I wanted to pursue this myself. It took around 15 years to get there! How were you contacted to score this picture? I talked directly to the director that had one of my first artist albums from the 90's. How did the collaboration with the "Deadpool" director, Tim Miller, go? He is a very smart and relaxed guy. He totally trusts my instincts and would only suggest things if he felt differently. It was a very smooth working relationship. What type of music did you aim at creating? For me, "Deadpool" is all about fun! He takes pleasure in taking people out and he has swagger. I thought about 80's synth score music like "Miami Vice", but also "Frankie goes to Hollywood!". Also we have "X-Men" characters in this movie too! So they get the noble orchestral approach. When we see "Deadpool", it's more like "F*ck that shit!". And we go back to eighties synths. Also, Wham! is his favorite band. How did the recording go? Most of it was all done at my studio where I keep all those wonderful traditional instruments from the 80's I still owe. The orchestral bits were recorded at Fox Studios. And the usual question: what role does music play in a film, according to you? I like when music becomes an extra character in the film that was well casted. One with a voice, timbre, volume that fits the movie and speaks for itself, while driving the movie forward as a dramatic musical story telling tool. Interview transcript courtesy of Warner Music Malaysia. (Photo Source: Dirk Kikstra | TheCreatorsProject.Vice.Com)