Saunder Jurriaans

Biography:

Modern film composer Saunder Jurriaans collaborates with Danny Bensi. Jurriaans was born in 1977 in Evanston, Illinois, to Dutch immigrants who moved around the US until settling in Seattle, Washington. Jurriaans then left the Rhode Island School of Design to play in a band after relocating to Providence, Rhode Island, supposedly to attend classes there. He first crossed paths with Danny Bensi about that same period, and the two soon became partners.

The proggy chamber-rock trio Tarantula, later known as Tarantula A.D. and then Priestbird, was created by Jurriaans, Bensi, and drummer Gregory Rogove after they relocated to New York in 2000. The variety of artists they traveled with, such as heavy-metal rockers The Sword, psychedelic pair Cocorosie, freak folk singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart, and avant-jazz-funk trio Medeski Martin & Wood, best captures the breadth of their sound. They served as Pearl Jam’s opening act in Europe.

The 2010 drama Two Gates of Sleep was the first movie for which Jurriaans and Bensi wrote the music. Jurriaans was friends with the director, Alistair Banks Griffin, from the Rhode Island School of Design. The two adapted to the new method of working effortlessly. After receiving positive reviews for their first soundtrack, “Danny and Saunder” was asked to compose the music for the 2011 thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene, which starred Elizabeth Olsen and Sarah Paulson. From there, their career took off. Their music has been included on the soundtracks of more than 100 movies and TV series in the past ten years.

Saunder Jurriaans composes music outside of the movie industry. On September 18, 2020, his debut solo album, “Beasts,” will be made available by Decca Records. In California, Jurriaans resides and works in Los Angeles.