Tom Holkenborg, or as many of you know him, Junkie XL is one of the busiest and most sought-after composers in Hollywood. Before taking the plunge into feature-length film scoring, he already had a successful and prominent career as a Grammy-nominated and multi-platinum producer who famously remixed Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation.”
Having scored such films as “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “300: Rise of an Empire,” “Deadpool,” “Batman vs. Superman” and even parts of “Man of Steel,” Tom has quickly risen to the ranks of one of the most exciting composers working today.
Being no stranger to creating the sound of post-apocalyptic worlds, just look at ‘Fury Road,’ Holkenborg was tasked with establishing the sound of “Mortal Engines”— a challenge the composer rose to with great eagerness. Drawing from the instrumentation of London’s past to create the music of the great city on wheels in the film, Holkenborg’s score for “Mortal Engines “offers up a more traditional orchestral arrangement, something much different from anything he’s done in recent years.
“Mortal Engines” depicts a dystopian, steampunk version of our world where once great cities now operate as giant predator machines on wheels. Narrowing in on London, the story focuses on a mysterious young woman named Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar) as she joins forces with a dangerous outlaw and an outcast to lead a rebellion against the evil Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving).
During our conversation, we discussed not only his work on “Mortal Engines,” but how he developed his iconic drum sound, working with Hans Zimmer, a brief mention of his original plans for the “Justice League” score and his Studio Time YouTube series where he gives in-depth tutorials on film scoring.
The Peter Jackson produced fantasy film is in theaters December 14th, and you can listen to Tom’s score digitally now. Be sure to check out our previous “Mortal Engines” interviews with Hugo Weaving and Peter Jackson.
Check out the track “Windflower” from Tom’s “Mortal Engines” score below.