Juno Reactor

Juno Reactor is an electronic group from London and Brighton, active since 1990. Its music is associated with electronica, Goa trance, psytrance and trance, and it is often described through its use of world fusion elements. The project is led by Ben Watkins and includes Mike Burton, with other members and contributors across its history including Johann Bley, Stephane Holweck, Paul Jackson, Kris Kylven, Jens Waldebäck and Nick Burton.

Formation and early concept

The group begins as an experimental ambient project formed by Ben Watkins and Stephen Holweck in 1990. It first takes shape to create music for an art installation and performance work called The Missile Project, by sculpture artist Norma Fletcher. The piece centres on a 70-foot decommissioned missile nicknamed Juno Reactor, which is moved around London during performances intended to raise awareness of nuclear war. The display ends after police intervene and arrest the project members. The music from this work is later released as the album Luciana.

Early releases and Goa trance

Juno Reactor’s first single is Laughing Gas, released in 1993 on NovaMute. Its debut album, Transmissions, follows soon after and becomes one of the early albums associated with Goa trance. The later release Luciana appears on Alex Paterson’s Inter-Modo label. After leaving NovaMute and Inter-Modo, the group signs to Blue Room Released for Guardian Angel and then issues Beyond the Infinite in 1996. Bible of Dreams follows in 1997 on Wax Trax! Records and TVT Records, and it moves the sound further towards tribal influences and away from straightforward dance rhythms.

Collaborations and soundtrack work

Ben Watkins collaborates with the South African percussion group Amampondo on Conga Fury, and the two go on to tour in the United States as an opening act for Moby. Juno Reactor performs with Amampondo at Glastonbury Festival in 1998 and later heads Glade Festival each year. On Shango, released in 2000, the track Pistolero features guitarist Steve Stevens. The song is used in the trailer for Once Upon a Time in Mexico and in the film itself. Hotaka, released in 2002, again features Stevens and includes taiko drummer Gocoo. In 2003 the compilation Odyssey 1992–2002 brings together a decade of tracks.

Juno Reactor also works extensively in film, television and games. Its music appears in the Mortal Kombat films, in several Matrix projects through work with Don Davis, and in the soundtracks for the anime series Texhnolyze and the film Drive. Other placements include Eraser, Virtuosity, Lost in Space, the Romeo + Juliet trailer, Beowulf and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. The group also scores the game Mark of Kri in full, and its tracks are used in several other games and sporting events.

Later albums and related projects

Labyrinth is released in 2004 and includes Watkins’ work connected to the Matrix films, alongside tracks that continue the group’s tribal direction such as Conquistador II. Watkins is hired in 2006 to produce the soundtrack for the anime film Brave Story, released by Sony in Japan in a limited edition. The group also plans an EP titled Superman – the immaculate Crucifixion, featuring City of the Sinful, co-written and sung by Ghetto Priest. A concert recorded in Tokyo is later set for release as part of a tour DVD. Gods & Monsters is listed as the next studio album, and an audio-visual DVD is also associated with the project.

Name and identity

The name Juno comes from the Roman goddess, and one of the band’s logos uses a symbol associated with the asteroid Juno. The title Beyond the Infinite is linked to 2001: A Space Odyssey and the phrase “Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite”, reflecting the group’s long-running interest in cinematic and mythic imagery.