Jun Senoue
| Jun Senoue | |
|---|---|
 Senoue, left, performing with Johnny Gioeli in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Native name | 瀬上 純 |
| Born |
August 2, 1970 Matsushima, Miyagi, Japan |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Labels | Sega Digital Studio |
| Associated acts | |
| Website |
junsenoue |
Jun Senoue (瀬上 純 Senoue Jun, born August 2, 1970 in Matsushima, Miyagi) is a Japanese video game composer and musician who works for Sega, known for his various contributions in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. He is also the songwriter and lead guitarist for the band Crush 40, which has also contributed to many Sonic games.
Biography
Senoue started playing the piano at the age of three, whilst living in Japan. 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 at 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, with him joining Sega later that same year.[1] His first project with the company was on Dark Wizard, where he arranged a medley of the game's music for the staff roll.[4] After that, he wrote a few pieces of music and jingles for Sonic the Hedgehog 3.[3] After doing multiple projects in the Worldwide Soccer series, amongst other titles including the Mega Drive 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 lead to his name becoming well known, both in and out of the Sonic fanbase.[1]
After the completion of Sonic Adventure, 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 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 choose to arrange and perform Angel Island Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for Super Smash Bros. Brawl.[5]
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 the Sonic Appreciation Festival at Joypolis in December 2015, Senoue announced a sequel to The Works, titled The Works II. The album was released on February 24, 2016.[6]
Crush 40
Crush 40, originally a project created to make music for NASCAR Arcade, consisting of Senoue on guitars, Johnny Gioeli on vocals, Toru Kawamura on drums, and Takeshi Taneda on bass. The band has created several songs from the Sonic the Hedgehog series produced by Sonic Team, such as the theme tune "Sonic Heroes" from the game of the same name, a bright, melodic song and in contrast to "What I'm Made Of...", a distinctly dark, energetic hard rock song with metal sensibilities for the final battle of the game. Also notable are "Open Your Heart", the main theme of Sonic Adventure, "Live and Learn", the main theme of Sonic Adventure 2, "I Am... All Of Me", the main theme of Shadow the Hedgehog, the ending theme "Never Turn Back", and "Knight of the Wind", the main theme of Sonic and the Black Knight, as well as the ending theme "Live Life".[1]
Additionally, the two have produced a cover of "Seven Rings in Hand" from Sonic and the Secret Rings, which was featured exclusively on the Japanese only release True Blue: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog. Gioeli co-wrote the lyrics for the Sonic the Hedgehog theme song "His World", and Crush 40 performed their own version of the song, featured as a bonus track on the game's vocal track soundtrack. They also recorded a cover of "Sonic Boom", the main theme of the North American version of Sonic CD, with Cash Cash in 2011.[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 the Hedgehog releases, as well as a mixture of old tracks from NASCAR Arcade and brand new songs. On August 7, 2010, Crush 40 performed at the 2010 Summer of Sonic convention in London, marking their first full-length performance and first performance outside Japan.[7] In 2012, the band performed at two conventions, at the Summer of Sonic in Brighton and at the Sonic Boom event in San Diego during the Comic Con. The band released their first live album on October 3, 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.[8] For the 25th anniversary of the Sonic series, Crush 40 will perform at an event at the San Diego House of Blues during Comic-Con on July 22, 2016.[9]
JxJ
In 2005, Senoue released an EP with Japanese voice actress Junko Noda, titled "Ready!".[10] The project went under the name JxJ, and was only available to purchase in Japan.
Bubblicious Blvd
In 2010, Senoue performed several gigs in Tokyo with former Magna-Fi guitarist, C.J. Szuter, in a band called Bubblicious Blvd.[1]
Works
| Video games | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Co-worker(s) |
| 1993 | Dark Wizard | Arrangement ("Credits") | |
| 1994 | Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Composition/arrangement | Various others |
| Game no Kanzume | Composition/arrangement | ||
| Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit | Composition/arrangement | Various others | |
| Sonic & Knuckles | Composition/arrangement | Various others | |
| 1995 | J. League Victory Goal | Composition/arrangement | |
| Metal Head | Composition/arrangement | Teruhiko Nakagawa | |
| Sega International Victory Goal | Composition/arrangement | ||
| F1 Challenge | Sound effects | Various others | |
| In the Hunt (Sega Saturn) | Composition/arrangement | Masahiro Ito | |
| 1996 | J. League Victory Goal '96 | Composition/arrangement | |
| Sega Worldwide Soccer 97 | Composition/arrangement | Seirou Okamoto | |
| Sonic 3D Blast (Mega Drive) | Composition/arrangement | Tatsuyuki Maeda, Masaru Setsumaru, and Seirou Okamoto | |
| Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition | Composition/arrangement | Richard Jacques, Kenichi Tokoi, and Tomonori Sawada | |
| 1997 | J. League Victory Goal '97 | Composition/arrangement | |
| Sega Worldwide Soccer 98 | Composition/arrangement | ||
| 1998 | Sega Rally 2 | Composition/arrangement ("Soul on Desert") | |
| Sonic Adventure | Composition/arrangement | Fumie Kumatani, Kenichi Tokoi, and Masaru Setsumaru | |
| 2000 | NASCAR Arcade | Composition/arrangement | |
| 2001 | Sonic Adventure 2 | Composition/arrangement | Tomoya Ohtani, Fumie Kumatani, and Kenichi Tokoi |
| 2002 | Sonic Adventure 2 Battle | Composition/arrangement | |
| 2003 | Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukuro! 2 | Composition/arrangement | |
| Sonic Heroes | Composition/arrangement | Various others | |
| 2005 | Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukuro! 3 | Composition/arrangement | |
| Shadow the Hedgehog | Composition/arrangement | Yutaka Minobe, Mariko Nanba, and Tomoya Ohtani | |
| 2006 | Sega Rally 2006 | Composition/arrangement | Various others |
| Sonic Rivals | Sound supervisor | ||
| 2007 | J. League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou! 5 | Composition/arrangement | |
| OutRun 2 SP | Composition/arrangement | Mitsuhara Fukuyama | |
| Burnout Running | Composition/arrangement | ||
| Sonic Rivals 2 | Sound supervisor | ||
| Nights: Journey of Dreams | Arrangement ("Nights And Reala: Theme of a Tragedic Revenge") | ||
| 2008 | Super Smash Bros. Brawl | Arrangement ("Angel Island Zone") | |
| Sonic Unleashed | Vocal tracks coordinator | ||
| 2009 | Sonic and the Black Knight | Composition/arrangement | |
| Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii) | Arrangement | Teruhiko Nakagawa | |
| 2010 | Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll | Vocal tracks coordinator | |
| Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I | Composition/arrangement | ||
| Sonic Free Riders | Composition/arrangement ("Free") | ||
| 2011 | Sonic Generations | Composition/arrangement | Various others |
| Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games | Composition/arrangement | Various others | |
| 2012 | Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II | Composition/arrangement | |
| 2013 | Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games | Arrangement | Various others |
| 2014 | Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax | Composition/arrangement | Various others |
| Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U | Supervisor | Various others | |
| 2016 | Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games | Composition/arrangement | Various others |
| Solo/other | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Co-worker(s) |
| 2000 | Thrill of the Feel | Composition/arrangement | Sons of Angels |
| 2003 | Crush 40 | Composition/arrangement | Crush 40 |
| 2005 | Ready! | Composition/arrangement | Junko Noda |
| 2009 | Ted Poley's Greatest Hits Vol. 1 | Composition/arrangement ("Takoyaki Rock") | |
| The Works | Composition/arrangement | ||
| The Best of Crush 40: Super Sonic Songs | Composition/arrangement | Crush 40 | |
| 2012 | Rise Again | Composition/arrangement | Crush 40 |
| Live! | Composition/arrangement | Crush 40 | |
| 2015 | 2 Nights 2 Remember | Composition/arrangement | Crush 40 |
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Greening, Chris. "Jun Senoue Profile". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
- 1 2 Parminder Gill (2005-04-10). "Jun Senoue's Biography". Archived from the original on 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
- 1 2 3 "Style Factory interview with Jun Senoue". Archived from the original on 2008-01-03. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
- ↑ Senoue, Jun (9 February 2016). "I didn't compose any. I made a "medley" for its end roll, that was all I did for that.". Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- ↑ "Smash Bros. Dojo Music Update 19". 2007-12-25. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
- ↑ Greening, Chris. "New albums and concerts announced during Sonic fan event". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ↑ "Summer of Sonic ’10: Special Guests Johnny Gioeli & Jun Senoue". Summer of Sonic 10. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ↑ Oliver, Tristan. "Crush 40 Confirmed for Sonic Boom 2013". TSSZ News. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ↑ Makuch, Eddie. "Sonic 25th Anniversary Fan Event Coming in July, Sonic Boom 3DS Release Date Announced". GameSpot. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
- ↑ "Wave Master Entertainment entry for JxJ: Ready!". 2005-03-24. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
External links
- Official website
- Jun Senoue discography at MusicBrainz
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