Jun Senoue

Jun Senoue

Senoue, left, performing with Johnny Gioeli in 2010
Background information
Native name 瀬上 純
Born (1970-08-02) August 2, 1970
Matsushima, Miyagi, Japan
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Composer
  • guitarist
Instruments
Years active 1993–present
Labels Sega Digital Studio
Associated acts
Website junsenoue.com

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. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Greening, Chris. "Jun Senoue Profile". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 Parminder Gill (2005-04-10). "Jun Senoue's Biography". Archived from the original on 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  3. 1 2 3 "Style Factory interview with Jun Senoue". Archived from the original on 2008-01-03. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  4. 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.
  5. "Smash Bros. Dojo Music Update 19". 2007-12-25. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
  6. Greening, Chris. "New albums and concerts announced during Sonic fan event". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  7. "Summer of Sonic ’10: Special Guests Johnny Gioeli & Jun Senoue". Summer of Sonic 10. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  8. Oliver, Tristan. "Crush 40 Confirmed for Sonic Boom 2013". TSSZ News. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  9. Makuch, Eddie. "Sonic 25th Anniversary Fan Event Coming in July, Sonic Boom 3DS Release Date Announced". GameSpot. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  10. "Wave Master Entertainment entry for JxJ: Ready!". 2005-03-24. Retrieved 2008-04-11.

External links

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