Jun Senoue (瀬上 純, Senoue Jun, born August 2, 1970) is a Japanese composer and guitarist. He is a sound director for the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series by Sega and serves as the songwriter of the Japanese-American rock duo Crush 40, which he formed with Johnny Gioeli in 2000. The duo contributed songs to each of the series' major titles until 2010, after which Senoue remained involved in musical production for further Sonic games.
Jun Senoue | |
|---|---|
瀬上 純 | |
.jpg) Senoue in 2011 | |
| Born | August 2, 1970 Matsushima, Miyagi, Japan |
| Alma mater | Aoyama Gakuin University |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Employer | Sega |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instruments |
|
| Labels | Wave Master |
| Member of | Crush 40 |
Biography
editSenoue was born on August 2, 1970, in Matsushima, Miyagi, Japan, and started playing the piano at the age of three. After moving to Panama at the age of 12, he became dedicated to rock music after being exposed to MTV.[1][2] He began to teach himself to play the electric guitar at the age of 15,[3] and made his first original band recording by the age of 17.[3] After graduating from college with a degree in economics from Aoyama Gakuin University in 1993,[2] Senoue sent demo tapes to Namco and Sega, the latter of whom hired him.[1] His first project with the company was on Dark Wizard, where he arranged a medley of the game's music for its staff roll.[4] In 1993, he wrote a few jingles and music tracks for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, his first involvement in the Sonic series.[3] After doing multiple projects in the Sega Worldwide Soccer series in the mid-1990s and other games such as the Sega Genesis version of Sonic 3D Blast, Senoue was selected to be the lead composer and sound director of Sonic Adventure in 1998. The game's success led to him being promoted as series sound director.[1]
Senoue moved to San Francisco in 1999 and began to work on Sonic Team USA games such as NASCAR Arcade, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and Shadow the Hedgehog.[1] In 2005, Senoue released an EP with Japanese voice actress Junko Noda, titled "Ready!".[5] The project went under the name JxJ, and was only available to purchase in Japan. In 2007, Senoue provided three new arrangements for the Japanese console release of OutRun 2 SP, including covers of existing series tracks "Splash Wave" and "Rush a Difficulty", and an original track titled "Lift You Up!". Also in 2007, Senoue arranged and performed "Angel Island Zone" from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for Super Smash Bros. Brawl.[6] In 2010, Senoue performed several gigs in Tokyo with former Magna-Fi guitarist, C.J. Szuter, in a band called Bubblicious Blvd.[1]
In 2009, Senoue announced a compilation album titled The Works. Containing only three Sonic related songs, it mostly features more obscure works he provided for other games. The album was released on October 21, 2009. More recently, Senoue worked as the sound director, composer, and arranger for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I, Episode II, and Sonic Generations.[1] At a Sonic festival at Joypolis in December 2015, Senoue announced a sequel to The Works, titled The Works II, which released two months later.[7]
Crush 40
edit
Crush 40 is a hard rock band originally formed by Senoue in 2000 to perform on NASCAR Arcade. It consists of Senoue on guitars, Johnny Gioeli on vocals, Toru Kawamura on drums, and Takeshi Taneda on bass. Since its inception, the band has created several theme songs for the Sonic the Hedgehog series.[1] In October 2008, Crush 40 took the stage at the Tokyo Game Show to perform some of their most popular Sonic based songs in front of a live audience for the first time. Gioeli and Senoue have since created a YouTube account and uploaded video footage of the event. In 2009, a new Crush 40 album was released titled The Best of Crush 40: Super Sonic Songs. The compilation contained most of the band's Sonic releases, as well as a mixture of old tracks from NASCAR Arcade and brand new songs. Crush 40 performed at the August 2010 Summer of Sonic convention in London, marking their first performance outside of Japan.[8] In 2012, the band performed at two conventions, at the Summer of Sonic in Brighton and at the Sonic Boom event at San Diego Comic-Con.
The band released their first live album in October 2012, titled Live!, which featured songs from their concerts in Tokyo. In August 2013, the band performed in St. Louis for the Sonic Boom 2013 event,[9] and also performed at the 2015 Youmacon in Detroit.[10] For the 25th anniversary of the Sonic series, Crush 40 performed at the San Diego House of Blues during Comic-Con in July 2016 and at Summer of Sonic in London the following month.[11][12] At the 2017 Comic-Con in July, Senoue performed various Sonic material with the Video Game Orchestra.[13] Crush 40 also contributed to 2019's Team Sonic Racing, performing its main theme "Green Light Ride".[14]
Works
edit| Year | Title | Role(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Dark Wizard | Ending theme |
| 1994 | Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Music with several others |
| Game no Kanzume | Arrangements | |
| Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit | Music with several others | |
| Sonic & Knuckles | Music with several others | |
| 1995 | Victory Goal | Music |
| Metal Head | Music with Teruhiko Nakagawa | |
| Sega International Victory Goal | Music | |
| F1 Challenge | Sound effects | |
| In the Hunt | Music with Masahiro Ito; Sega Saturn version | |
| 1996 | J. League Victory Goal '96 | Music |
| Sega Worldwide Soccer 97 | Music with Seirou Okamoto | |
| Sonic 3D Blast | Music with Tatsuyuki Maeda; Sega Genesis version | |
| Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition | Music with Richard Jacques, Kenichi Tokoi, and Tomonori Sawada | |
| 1997 | Sega Worldwide Soccer '98 | Music with several others |
| 1998 | Sega Rally 2 | "Soul on Desert" |
| Sonic Adventure | Lead composer | |
| 2000 | NASCAR Arcade | Music |
| 2001 | Sonic Adventure 2 | Lead composer |
| 2003 | Let's Make a Pro Baseball Team! 2 | Music |
| Sonic Heroes | Lead composer | |
| 2005 | Let's Make a Pro Baseball Team! 3 | Music |
| Shadow the Hedgehog | Lead composer | |
| 2006 | Sega Rally 2006 | Music with several others |
| Sonic Rivals | Sound supervision | |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | Vocal track production | |
| 2007 | Let's Make a Pro Baseball Team! 5 | Music |
| OutRun 2 SP | Music with Mitsuharu Fukuyama | |
| Burnout Running | Guitars | |
| Sonic Rivals 2 | "Race to Win"; sound supervisor | |
| Nights: Journey of Dreams | "Nights and Reala: Theme of a Tragedic Revenge" | |
| 2008 | Super Smash Bros. Brawl | "Angel Island Zone" |
| Sonic Unleashed | Vocal track coordination | |
| 2009 | Sonic and the Black Knight | Lead composer |
| Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games | Arrangements with Teruhiko Nakagawa; Wii version | |
| 2010 | Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll | Vocal track coordination |
| Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I | Music | |
| Sonic Free Riders | "Free" | |
| Sonic Colors | Vocal track coordination | |
| 2011 | Sonic Generations | Lead composer; arrangements with several others |
| Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games | Music with several others | |
| 2012 | Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II | Music |
| 2013 | Let's Make a Soccer Team! | Music; guitars and keyboards |
| Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games | Arrangements with several others | |
| 2014 | Uta Kumi 575 | Sound; arranged "Spirited Away" |
| Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax | Music with several others | |
| 2015 | Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition | Music with several others |
| 2016 | Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games | Music with several others |
| Yakyuu Tsuku!! | Guitars | |
| Maimai Pink Plus | "Nitrous Fury" | |
| Puyo Puyo Chronicle | Arrangements with Naofumi Hataya, Kenichi Tokoi, and Tomonori Sawada | |
| 2017 | Sonic Mania | Audio engineering |
| Sonic Forces | Guitars; recording coordination | |
| 2018 | Puyo Puyo Champions | Arrangements |
| Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | "Mega Man 4 Medley"[15] | |
| 2019 | Team Sonic Racing | Lead composer |
| Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - The Official Video Game | Music with Kenichi Tokoi and Tomonori Sawada | |
| Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 | Sound editing | |
| 2020 | Sonic at the Olympic Games - Tokyo 2020 | Music with Hidekuni Horita, Kenichi Tokoi, and Tomoya Ohtani |
| 2021 | Sonic Colors: Ultimate | Arrangements with Tomoya Ohtani and Kenichi Tokoi |
| 2022 | Sonic Origins | Sound director; Sonic 3 music adaptations[16] |
| Sonic Frontiers | Recording coordination | |
| 2023 | Sonic Superstars | Sound director; music[17] |
| 2024 | Shadow Generations | Sound director |
| Year | Album | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Thrill of the Feel | With Crush 40 as "Sons of Angels" |
| 2003 | Crush 40 | With Crush 40 |
| 2005 | Ready! | Music with Junko Noda |
| 2009 | Ted Poley's Greatestits Vol. 1 | "Takoyaki Rock" |
| The Best of Crush 40: Super Sonic Songs | Compilation, with Crush 40 | |
| The Works | ||
| Leaving the End Open | Guitars on "Before This" by Hardline | |
| 2011 | Rise Again | EP, with Crush 40 |
| 2012 | Live! | Live album, with Crush 40 |
| 2015 | 2 Nights 2 Remember | Live album, with Crush 40 |
| 2016 | The Works II | |
| 2019 | The Works III | |
| Driving Through Forever | Compilation, with Crush 40 |
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g Greening, Chris (March 17, 2014). "Jun Senoue Profile". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
- ^ a b Parminder Gill (April 10, 2005). "Jun Senoue's Biography". Archived from the original on April 8, 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2008.
- ^ a b c "Style Factory interview with Jun Senoue". Archived from the original on January 3, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2008.
- ^ Senoue, Jun (February 9, 2016). "I didn't compose any. I made a "medley" for its end roll, that was all I did for that". Retrieved February 9, 2016.
- ^ "Wave Master Entertainment entry for JxJ: Ready!". March 24, 2005. Archived from the original on May 8, 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2008.
- ^ "Smash Bros. Dojo Music Update 19". December 25, 2007. Archived from the original on January 16, 2008. Retrieved January 22, 2008.
- ^ Greening, Chris (December 28, 2015). "New albums and concerts announced during Sonic fan event". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
- ^ "Summer of Sonic '10: Special Guests Johnny Gioeli & Jun Senoue". Summer of Sonic 10. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
- ^ Oliver, Tristan. "Crush 40 Confirmed for Sonic Boom 2013". TSSZ News. Archived from the original on July 6, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
- ^ McGonigal, Mike. "Event preview: A look at some of the music on hand at Youmacon". Detroit Metro Times. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
- ^ Makuch, Eddie. "Sonic 25th Anniversary Fan Event Coming in July, Sonic Boom 3DS Release Date Announced". GameSpot. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
- ^ "Event Announcement: Crush 40 Performance & History of SoS Panel – Summer of Sonic". 2016.summerofsonic.com. July 14, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
- ^ "Sonic the Hedgehog Takes Over San Diego Comic-Con 2017". Gamasutra. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
- ^ Wong, Alistair (December 29, 2018). "Team Sonic Racing Theme Song 'Green Light Ride' Short Ver. Now Available". Siliconera. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
- ^ Carter, Chris (July 11, 2018). "Oh man this Mega Man 4 medley from the new Smash Bros. by a Sonic composer is something else". Destructoid. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
- ^ Scullion, Chris (June 9, 2022). "Sonic 3 & Knuckles won't have its original soundtrack in Sonic Origins". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ Kuhnke, Oisin (June 11, 2023). "Balan Wonderworld studio Arzest is the lead developer on Sonic Superstars". VG247. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
External links
edit- Jun Senoue discography at MusicBrainz