Jun Senoue

2.1. Childhood and education

Jun Senoue was born on August 2, 1970, in Matsushima, Miyagi, Japan. His parents were hobby musicians, fostering an early interest in music within him. At the tender age of three, he began taking Electone lessons at a Yamaha junior course. When he was 12 years old, Senoue moved to Panama due to his parents' work. It was during this period that he was exposed to MTV, which ignited a profound dedication to rock music. In middle school, his interest in Western music grew, leading him to start playing the bass, influenced by John Taylor, the bassist of Duran Duran. By high school, with the rise of the hard rock and heavy metal boom, he was inspired by Night Ranger to take up the guitar. After returning to Japan, Senoue pursued formal education, graduating from Aoyama Gakuin University in 1993 with a degree in Economics.

2.2. Musical development and early band activities

During his university years, Senoue found himself without a clear career goal, primarily spending his time on part-time jobs and band activities. It was a friend's casual remark about the stability of a music career in the game industry that spurred him to consider it. Recognizing the opportunity to combine his passion for music with a stable profession, he decided to pursue a career in the video game industry. Given the burgeoning popularity of the Sonic the Hedgehog series at the time, Senoue sent demo tapes of his own band's original songs to Sega, hoping to contribute to the franchise. This initiative proved successful, and he was subsequently hired by the company.

3.1. Entry into Sega and early works

After joining Sega in 1993, Jun Senoue's first project was for the game Dark Wizard, where he arranged a medley of the game's music for its staff roll. Later in 1993, he made his initial foray into the Sonic series by composing a few jingles and music tracks for Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Throughout the mid-1990s, Senoue continued to work on multiple projects, including games in the Sega Worldwide Soccer series and the Sega Genesis version of Sonic 3D Blast. His early contributions quickly established his talent within the company.

3.2. Role in Sonic the Hedgehog series

In 1998, Jun Senoue was selected to be the lead composer and sound director for Sonic Adventure. The game's main theme song, "Open Your Heart," featured Johnny Gioeli as the vocalist, whose husky voice, combined with Senoue's hard guitar sound, garnered high praise from gamers. The critical and commercial success of Sonic Adventure led to Senoue's promotion as the series sound director. In 1999, he relocated to San Francisco to work with Sonic Team USA, where he contributed to several major titles including NASCAR Arcade, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and Shadow the Hedgehog. He returned to Japan in 2008. The development of Sonic Adventure 2 was particularly impactful for Senoue, considering it his most dedicated work.

His involvement with the Sonic series continued extensively across numerous titles. He was responsible for vocal track production in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and served as sound supervisor for Sonic Rivals 2, contributing the track "Race to Win." For Sonic Unleashed, he coordinated vocal tracks. Senoue returned as lead composer for Sonic and the Black Knight in 2009. He also composed music for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I (2010) and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II (2012), provided the song "Free" for Sonic Free Riders (2010), and coordinated vocal tracks for Sonic Colors (2010). In 2011, he served as lead composer and contributed arrangements for Sonic Generations. More recently, he was involved in audio engineering for Sonic Mania (2017) and played guitars and coordinated recording for Sonic Forces (2017). He was the lead composer for Team Sonic Racing (2019) and served as sound director for Sonic Origins (2022), where he adapted music from Sonic 3, and for Sonic Superstars (2023), for which he also composed music. In 2024, he took on the role of sound director for Shadow Generations.

3.3. Formation and activities of Crush 40

Crush 40 is a hard rock band formed by Jun Senoue in 2000, initially to compose music for the game NASCAR Arcade. The band's core members include Senoue on guitars, Johnny Gioeli on vocals, Toru Kawamura on drums, and Takeshi Taneda on bass. Since its inception, Crush 40 has become renowned for creating several iconic theme songs for the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

The band made their first live stage appearance performing their popular Sonic-based songs in October 2008 at the Tokyo Game Show. Following this successful debut, Gioeli and Senoue uploaded video footage of the event to their YouTube account, allowing a wider audience to experience their performance. In 2009, Crush 40 released a compilation album titled The Best of Crush 40: Super Sonic Songs, which included most of their Sonic contributions, along with earlier tracks from NASCAR Arcade and some new material.

In August 2010, Crush 40 performed at the Summer of Sonic convention in London, marking their first performance outside of Japan. The band continued their live activities, performing at two conventions in 2012: the Summer of Sonic in Brighton and the Sonic Boom event at San Diego Comic-Con. In October 2012, they released their first live album, Live!, featuring recordings from their concerts in Tokyo. Their live engagements extended to the Sonic Boom 2013 event in St. Louis in August 2013, and the Youmacon in Detroit in 2015.

For the 25th anniversary of the Sonic series in 2016, Crush 40 delivered performances at the San Diego House of Blues during Comic-Con in July, and again at the Summer of Sonic in London the following month. In July 2017, Senoue performed various Sonic material with the Video Game Orchestra at Comic-Con. Crush 40 also contributed the main theme, "Green Light Ride," to the 2019 title Team Sonic Racing.

3.4. Other music projects and solo albums

Beyond his work with Crush 40 and the Sonic series, Jun Senoue has engaged in various other music projects and released solo albums. In 2005, he collaborated with Japanese voice actress Junko Noda on an EP titled "Ready!" under the project name JxJ, which was exclusively available in Japan. Senoue contributed three new arrangements for the Japanese console release of OutRun 2 SP in 2007, including covers of classic series tracks "Splash Wave" and "Rush a Difficulty," and an original piece called "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, Senoue performed several gigs in Tokyo as part of a band named Bubblicious Blvd, alongside former Magna-Fi guitarist C.J. Szuter.

In 2009, Senoue released his first compilation album, The Works, which included a few Sonic-related songs but primarily featured more obscure pieces he had composed for other games. This album was released on October 21, 2009. The series continued with The Works II, announced at a Sonic festival at Joypolis in December 2015 and released two months later, and The Works III in 2019. He also played guitars on "Before This" for Hardline's album Leaving the End Open. Senoue also contributes an irregular column titled "Open Your Heart" to the Japanese heavy metal magazine BURRN!.

6.1. Video game works

6.2. Other music works