Melody first.
Whether I start with a piano or a synthesizer, I’m always looking for a melody that stays with you.
01 THE PERSON BEHIND THE PIXELS
I’ve spent most of my life
turning ideas into things.
Some become music. Others become games. A surprising number turn into much bigger projects than I intended.
THIS IS WHERE IT USUALLY STARTS. THE CODE COMES LATER.
Hello, I’m Erik.
I’m a Swedish composer and software developer. I love writing melodies, building new things and combining ideas that probably belong in separate projects. It usually works. The schedule is another matter.
My creative journey began in the demoscene. I composed music as Marillion and worked with people from Rebels and The Silents. We had very little memory, limited processing power and no shortage of ambition. Two of those things have improved considerably.
That curiosity eventually led me into professional software development and leadership, but I never stopped making music. When I compose, I usually begin with something specific I want to express. Homage honours both the musicians who inspired me and the people closest to me. For Nautilus Rising, I wrote the story and a synopsis for every track before composing a note. I like knowing where I am going, even if it takes a while to get there.
Today I create albums, games and interactive experiments, including Logic System, Backstage Disaster, Nautilus Rising and the real-time ʻOumuamua film. I have yet to finish one of them within my original time estimate.
I don’t really have a master plan. I have a collection of ideas, a tendency to say “How hard can it be?” and quite a lot of evidence that the answer is “Harder than that.”
SWEDENCOMPOSITIONSOFTWAREGAMESDEMOSCENE
02 THE THREAD THROUGH IT ALL
Technology as a canvas.
To me, programming is another creative instrument. It lets me build things I couldn’t make any other way.
Never quite finished.
If I can make a project a little better, I’ll probably keep working on it. Finishing is a useful concept in theory.
A LITTLE HISTORY, FOR THE CURIOUS
I contributed to the music on Pinball Dreams and composed the music and sound effects for Substation. If you enjoy digging through old credits (a perfectly respectable hobby), you can find more of my early work on MobyGames and Demozoo.