Composer Tom Holkenborg looked at his sonic palette for “Mad Max: Fury Road” as a massive rock opera. For the prequel, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga ,” he thought it needed a sonic shift. Holkenborg, also known professionally as Junkie XL , lit up a cigarette as he joined Variety from his Amsterdam home and studio to discuss his vision.
“The music is commenting on how Furiosa sees the Wastelands and what is happening to her,” he explained. Not only did Holkenborg want the music to feel like a first-person perspective score, he wanted things to be more restrained. He noted the lack of music for the first six minutes of the film as one example of holding back.
“Furiosa” follows the eponymous heroine, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, who is kidnapped by Chris Hemsworth’s Dementus, a new villain. Dementus and his biker bandits take her across the Wasteland in his quest for dominance. Towards the middle act of the film, Dementus and his bandits look to steal an iconic 12-wheeler known as the War Rig.
“We don’t know Furiosa is in that truck. The moment we start seeing her, that’s when the music comments on that,” Holkenborg said. He continued, “When she’s holding on for dear life under the truck, she’s not going to hear big brass, strings and heavy percussion.
She just has a thumping heartbeat and thinking, ‘What do I need to do to make sure I get out of here?'” The pulse sound was created on an old Buchla synthesizer. “It has such a unique character to i.
