Kristoffer Gildenlöw

History: (1994 - 2006)

Gildenlöw is best known for his eleven-year career (1995-2006) as bass guitarist for Swedish band Pain of Salvation. In 1994, at the age of 16 years, Gildenlöw replaced the original PoS bass player and became a member of the band. This line-up of the Gildenlöw brothers (Kristoffer and Daniel), Johan Langell, and Daniel Magdic recorded a demo called Hereafter, which the band sent out to record companies; they were signed by InsideOut Music record label in 1998. Kristoffer performed on the following Pain of Salvation studio albums: Entropia (1997), One Hour by the Concrete Lake (1998), The Perfect Element, Part I (2000), Remedy Lane (2002), BE (2004). In addition to the studio albums, Kristoffer Gildenlöw performed on the live albums with PoS: 12:5 (2003). and BE Live (2004); as well as the single known as Ashes (2000). There were several demos and unofficial releases of PoS that featured Kristoffer's bass guitar: Hereafter (Demo) 1996, The Painful Chronicles (magazine compilation album), Live in Barcelona (fan club release). In addition to the demos and albums, he also performed on Pain of Salvation DVD called, BE (2004).

Session musician: (2006–present)

In 2006, Gildenlöw left Sweden and PoS to reside in the Netherlands. The next six years were focused on creating his first solo album, but he also remained active in the music scene recording bass for various artists. In addition to studio recordings, Gildenlöw is in high demand for his bass skills as a session musician for live performances and touring. Although all live performances and tours are noteworthy, three highly acclaimed tours that included Gildenlöw in band were: Lana Lane, (2005) Neal Morse (2009)^[5] Damian Wilson (2011)^[6]. There are too many guest performances to list all of them, but among other noteworthy side-projects is the artists short-lived but very popular band, Dial. Dial was founded in late 2003 by Liselotte Hegt, Rommert van der Meer and Kristoffer Gildenlöw. In summer 2006, the band went to Austria to record their debut album Synchronized together with producer Devon Graves (of Deadsoul Tribe and Psychotic Waltz). This album was released in May 2007 through Prog Rock Records (US). Perhaps the most haunting song from Dial, is Seven Degrees Below Zero, the video became a sort of cult status in 2010. As session musician from 1995 til present day, he has performed on over thirty studio recordings of many prominent artists and alongside his solo career, Kristoffer Gildenlöw is still an active session musician. (See discography).

Solo artist: (2012–present)

2012/2013: Gildenlöw's solo career as a singer-songwriter took flight with release of his debut album, RUST (2012), ^[7]which featured a wide range of music and guest musicians. RUST was originally released as a deluxe vinyl album; the CD version of RUST (2013) was released almost a year later both via Glassville Records. "Fragile, dark, melancholic and soothing is the theme as Kristoffer Gildenlöw's RUST takes us on a sentimental journey through memories and dreams. Although this is not a concept album in any way, there is a red line throughout the album, dealing with youth, growing old, death and finding peace in life. The music is a personal emotional journey with a singer songwriter feel, ambient art rock moods and even touches of folk. Gildenlöw had been working on RUST for 6 years. Using whatever he needed to get the feeling right. RUST ended up with 27 guests on the album including Ruud Jolie (Within Temptation), Fredrik Hermansson (ex Pain of Salvation), Ola Hedén (ex Flower Kings)." ^[8][3]

2014/2015: Kristoffer Gildenlöw is also known for his humanitarian efforts surrounding his highly acclaimed single, Pass the Torch, which was written, composed, arranged, produced, mixed and mastered exclusively by Gildenlöw for the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Fund, an organization in Kenya that rescues and cares for orphaned baby elephants.^{[9] [4]} The single is available as a digital download only with the following direct quote from the artist: "I wrote this song exclusively for The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to raise awareness and money to support their great cause of saving orphaned elephants and rhinos in Africa. All money made on this song will go directly to DSWT.org."^[10][5]

2015: October 2015 Kristoffer Gildenlöw struck a multi-project deal with Melodic Revolution Records label.^[11]

2015/2016: Media hype has begun for Gildenlöw's second solo album, 'The Rain' which was scheduled to be released 2016, with a release party set at Cultuur Podium de Boerderij in Zoetermeer, Netherlands on March 25, 2016. ^[12][6] 'The Rain' will feature Fredrik Hermansson (former Pain of Salvation), Lars Erik Asp from the Norwegian band Gazpacho on drums and percussion, Paul Coenradie (Valentine), on guitar, Anne Bakker (Blaze Bayley) on violins and viola, and Maaike Peterse (Ayreon Theater Equation, Kingfisher Sky and Kovacs) on cello. Gildenlöw also said in a recent interview for Headbangers Lifestyle Magazine: "As `RUST' had more of a "theme" of growing older and coming to terms with past and future, the new album does have an actual concept to it. The new album is about the struggles and life of a man with dementia - Alzheimer's disease. Each song will deal with different memories, emotions, and ideas and this creates a good bone structure for the whole concept of the album. Luckily, I don't have first-hand experience with family or friends who suffer from dementia, but I've read and seen many different stories over the years and I have no problem with empathy or placing myself in other people's situations. I am intrigued by walking in other people's shoes and these songs reflect how I think I would feel if I one day had to fight dementia myself." ^[13][7]

1. ↑ http://www.kristoffergildenlow.com/bio.html
2. ↑ http://glassvillerecords.com/kristoffer-gildenlow/
3. ↑ http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=102244
4. ↑ http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kristoffergildenlow13
5. ↑ http://cultuurpodiumboerderij.nl/programma/antimatter-kristoffer-gildenlow/
6. ↑ http://www.headbangerslifestyle.com/interviews/129/kristoffer-gildenl%C3%B6w-shelters-from-the-rain-while-recording-his-second-solo-album

Discography