Juno Reactor is a multi-national musical and performing group, primarily based in Brighton, UK. Known for their cinematic fusion of electronic, global influences, and orchestral symphonic approach, collaborating with composer Don Davis and composing for the musical score of The Matrix (Reloaded and Revolutions). Central to the project is Ben Watkins and his collaborations with a constantly changing ensemble of musicians from across the world. This ensemble has included Mabi Thobejane, Amampondo, Steve Stevens, Eduardo Niebla, Greg Ellis, Taz Alexander, Sugizo, Budgie and recently Hamsika Iyer and Magi Hikri.
Juno Reactor was formed as an art project in 1990. Ben Watkins wanted to collaborate with other artists, producing exciting projects that were not commercially driven. He wanted to create experimental music and non-musical soundtracks that would work with installations, art pieces, and film projects.[1][2]
The 1997 Blue Room ReleasedBible of Dreams was Juno Reactor's fourth album. It had a very different sound from the group's previous albums, and moved away from the traditional dance beats by implementing tribal influences. Watkins collaborated with Amampondo, a traditional South African percussion act, on the single "Conga Fury". Watkins and Amampondo went on a five-week tour of the US, opening for Moby. In 1998, Juno Reactor played a live set with Amampondo at Glastonbury Festival. The group collaborated with The Creatures on the track "I'm here...Another Planet" for the Lost in Space (1998) soundtrack.[3] They teamed up with The Creatures again in 1999 on the track "Exterminating Angel", featured on that group's album Anima Animus.[4]
Watkins released the fifth Juno Reactor album, Shango, in 2000. It was the first of his albums on Metropolis Records. The first track from the album, "Pistolero", was a collaboration with Billy Idol's guitarist, Steve Stevens. The track was featured during the trailer for the movie Once Upon a Time in Mexico, as well as in the film itself.[5][6] In the fall of 2002, Juno Reactor released a new single titled "Hotaka". It was recorded in a Japanese studio overlooking Mount Fuji. "Hotaka" featured Stevens on guitar, and included traditional Taiko drummers Gocoo. In 2003, the album Odyssey 1992–2002 was released as a compilation of the best Juno Reactor tracks of the decade.[citation needed]
The sixth Juno Reactor album, Labyrinth, was released in October 2004, and featured Watkins' work from the Matrix films. The album once again featured the tribal influences present in their music through tracks like "Conquistador II".[citation needed]
In 2006, Watkins was hired to compose an orchestral score for Brave Story, a Japanese anime feature film. Sony Japan released the soundtrack, which was recorded at the Slovak Radio Concert Hall in Slovakia with the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra. The album was written by "Ben Watkins aka Juno Reactor".[7]
Juno Reactor's album Gods & Monsters was released in March 2008, and featured the introduction of Ghetto Priest and Sugizo into the Juno Reactor fold, along with Eduardo Niebla, Xavier Morel, and Yasmin Levy. In 2009, the band toured with drummer Budgie, of the band Siouxsie and the Banshees.
In August 2018, Juno Reactor performed at the Hacker Conference, DEF CON.[11] Along, on 10 August 2018, the single Dakota was released, written together with the Israeli DJ duo Undercover.[12]
On 22 August 2019, the EP Into Valhalla was released on Metropolis Records (North America) and Blue Tunes Records (worldwide) featuring remixes by GMS and 3 of Life.[13] Ben Watkins remixed the track Nukhta for Indian band Medieval Punditz which subsequently got released on their compilation on 30 August 2019.[14]
Appearances in media
Movies and television
Juno Reactor produced and wrote Traci Lords' hit "Control". As an instrumental it featured on the soundtrack to the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie during the fight between Liu Kang and Reptile. The group also appeared on the soundtrack to the sequel, Mortal Kombat Annihilation, with the track "Conga Fury".
In 1997, while on tour with Moby, Ben Watkins was requested to create the score for the original Japanese horror movie Ring but had to turn it down due to being mid-tour. Instead, two tracks, Guardian Angel and Feel the Universe were used on the soundtrack compilation stating "inspired by".[15]
Juno Reactor also has a song in the game Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 4. The trailer for Secuestro Express includes an excerpt from the song "War Dogs" from the album Labyrinth. Also from Labyrinth, the song "Mutant Message" is featured in the Legion trailer.
Gran Turismo commissioned Juno Reactor to create exclusive GT mixes of Alien and Return of the Pistolero for their global release of Gran Turismo Sport, both tracks appear on the 2018 album.[22][23]
Juno Reactor Live – Audio Visual Experience (2007)
Inside the Reactor (2012)
The Golden Sun – Remixed (2015)
Related Research Articles
The Matrix Reloaded: The Album is a 2003 soundtrack album from the 2003 film The Matrix Reloaded. The two-disc album is unusual among soundtrack releases in that it includes separate discs for the film's songs and the score, whereas most films release the songs and the score as separate single-disc albums.
The Matrix Revolutions: Music from the Motion Picture is a 2003 soundtrack album from the film, The Matrix Revolutions.
1000 Fires is the debut studio album by American singer and actress Traci Lords, released on February 28, 1995, by Radioactive Records. The album remains her only full-length music release to date. Lords started working on the album in April 1994, and collaborated with producers Juno Reactor, Mike Edwards and Babble. Executive produced by Gary Kurfirst, 1000 Fires is predominantly influenced by electronic music with elements of techno, trance and trip hop. Lyrically, it mostly focuses on dark themes, referring to Lords's past in the porn industry, revealing her rape experience on the song "Father's Field" or dealing with thoughts of suicide on "Fallen Angel".
Nicholas Barber, better known by the stage name Doof, is best known as a British, London-based psychedelic trance musician.
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Amampondo is a South African percussion ensemble that was started by Dizu Plaatjies in Langa, Cape Town in 1979. The name in Mpondo means people of Mpondo or Pondoland, a kingdom in the Eastern Cape where most of the band's members grew up. The other founding members were Simpiwe Matole; Michael Ludonga; Mzwandile Qotoyi; Leo Mbizela and Mandla Lande. National Geographic called them "one of the most interesting and experimental groups in South Africa".
Gocoo, or GOCOO (ゴクウ) are originally seven female and four male Taiko drummers from Tokyo (Japan). On stage Gocoo performs with up to 16 artists. Gocoo performed at major Music & Arts, Blues & Roots, Rock & Pop and alternative Rock festivals, in live clubs, classic theatres and concert halls or at techno events. Lead drummer, Kaoly Asano (浅野香), attracts much attention as a female Taiko artist. Whenever not performing with Gocoo on stage, she teaches the art of playing the Taiko at her Tawoo Taiko Dojo in Tokyo.
The Flowerpot Men were a British electronic music group active in the 1980s. This group featured electronic musician Ben Watkins, Paul N. Davies, and cellist Adam Peters.
Bible of Dreams is the fourth album released by the multi-genre trance group Juno Reactor. The song "God Is God" was covered by Laibach for their album Jesus Christ Superstars.
Shango is the fifth album released by the multi-genre trance group Juno Reactor. The tracks "Pistolero" and "Masters of the Universe" were released as singles.
Beyond the Infinite is the third album released by the multi-genre trance group Juno Reactor.
Taz Alexander is a British singer who has toured with Juno Reactor, Alpha-X, and Sin e, among others. She currently resides in London, England.
Gods & Monsters is the seventh album by the electronic/trance band Juno Reactor. The album was released on April 22, 2008, though Metropolis began shipping it in early April.
Deepak Ram is a South African born flautist, composer, keyboard player and producer of Indian origin. Deepak is considered a master of bansuri, an Indian flute of ancient origin made from bamboo. He is a senior disciple of world renowned bansuri maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia under whom he studied Indian classical music. Deepak's versatile playing and breadth of musical repertoire melds classical and improvisational techniques of Indian Raga, Jazz, Blues and Flamenco into a fusion that has garnered critical acclaim internationally. Deepak was awarded a SAMA in 2000 for 'Best Instrumental Album', Searching for Satyam. He has contributed on Shango and Labyrinth albums by the trance group Juno Reactor which was featured as the title soundtrack for The Matrix - Revolutions, Dead Bees on a Cake album by Jazz artist David Sylvian among others.
The Matrix Reloaded: Limited Edition is a score album to the 2003 film The Matrix Reloaded. It was officially released on August 27, 2013. Unlike the first soundtrack, which featured songs from the film, this release includes almost the entire film's score on two discs. Owing to licensing issues, the soundtrack does not include the film versions of two cues, Free Flight and Double Trouble.
The Golden Sun of the Great East is the eighth studio album by the electronic/trance band Juno Reactor. The album was released on April 23, 2013 in the United States on Metropolis Records and on May 20, 2013 in the United Kingdom. The track "Final Frontier" was released in advance as a single on April 2, 2013.
"Mona Lisa Overdrive" is a composition in B-flat minor, featured in the movie The Matrix Reloaded, during the highway chase scene. It is written by Don Davis in collaboration with the electronica act Juno Reactor, representing a blend of film score music and trance. The track is the fifth entry in the second CD in the film soundtrack, released on 15 May 2003. A different version of the song is featured in Juno Reactor's 2004 album, Labyrinth. A remix of the song was produced by Thomas P. Heckmann and was included on the group's remix album Inside the Reactor in 2011.
"Control" is a song recorded by American actress and singer Traci Lords, from her 1995 debut album 1000 Fires. It was released as the lead single from the album by Radioactive Records on December 20, 1994. The song was written by Lords, Wonder Schneider and Ben Watkins. Produced by Juno Reactor, "Control" is a techno song with ambiguous lyrics about a dominant female who nurses a broken heart of her lover. Lords later stated she initially wrote the song about a drug addiction.
"Fallen Angel" is a song by American singer and actress Traci Lords. It was released on August 3, 1995, by Radioactive Records as the second single from her debut studio album, 1000 Fires (1995). The Paul Oakenfold remix of the song was also featured on the soundtrack to the film Virtuosity (1995), in which Lords appeared. Written by Lords The chorus IS IT LOVE. Is questioning the role of Courtney Love in her husband's death. Ben Watkins and Johann Bley, and produced by Juno Reactor, "Fallen Angel" is an electronic dance song with techno and trance influences. It also contains elements of ambient music and features Spanish guitar and castanets. Lyrically, the song deals with suicide and was inspired by the death of Kurt Cobain.
The Mutant Theatre is the ninth studio album by the electronic/trance band Juno Reactor. The album was released on Metropolis Records on June 22, 2018. The tracks "Our World" and "Dakota" were released as singles.
↑ Morgan, David (October 2003). "The Creatures". In Buckley, Peter (ed.). The Rough Guide to Rock (3ed.). London: Rough Guides. ISBN978-1-84353-105-0. The whole album gleamed with ideas and enthusiasm, with standout track 'Exterminating Angel' gaining extra power from its classy Juno Reactor production.
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