Jun Senoue

Biography

Jun Senoue was born in Matsushima, Miyagi, Japan, on August 2, 1970, and started piano lessons at three years old. When he was 12, his family relocated to Panama, where he got into rock music after watching MTV. He picked up the electric guitar on his own at 15 and recorded his first original band track by 17. After earning a degree in economics from Aoyama Gakuin University in 1993, he mailed demo tapes to Namco and Sega; Sega brought him on board. His debut project there was Dark Wizard, for which he created a medley of the game’s music for the credits. That same year, he contributed jingles and music to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, marking his first work on the Sonic series. Through the mid-1990s, he handled multiple projects in the Sega Worldwide Soccer series and other titles like the Sega Genesis version of Sonic 3D Blast. In 1998, he was chosen as lead composer and sound director for Sonic Adventure, and its success earned him a promotion to series sound director. In 1999, Senoue moved to San Francisco and worked on Sonic Team USA games including NASCAR Arcade, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and Shadow the Hedgehog. In 2005, he put out an EP with voice actress Junko Noda called "Ready!" under the name JxJ, sold only in Japan. Two years later, he created three new arrangements for the Japanese console release of OutRun 2 SP: covers of "Splash Wave" and "Rush a Difficulty," plus an original track, "Lift You Up!". Also in 2007, he arranged and performed "Angel Island Zone" from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In 2010, he played several Tokyo shows with former Magna-Fi guitarist C.J. Szuter in a band called Bubblicious Blvd. In 2009, Senoue announced a compilation album, The Works, which came out on October 21. It includes only three Sonic tracks, focusing instead on lesser-known pieces he did for other games. At a Sonic festival at Joypolis in December 2015, he revealed a follow-up, The Works II, which was released two months later.