How are the reactions to the new album so far?
The reviews are quite good although some are less positive but you learn to deal with that. Something that jumps out as a comment is that some say it is too electronic for the metalfan and too metal for synth lovers but that’s how it goes, you know. Overall I am quite happy with all the comments.

How long did it take to write and record Arcade Dreams?
Writing took some time over a couple of months during lockdown and the whole Covid thing, the recording on the other hand went relatively quick as I played, recorded and produced every instrument myself. So I got to determine the workpace and everything myself.

Looking at the album title and the graphics on your Bandcamp- page it must have been a real trip down memory lane with the arcade game theme? And did you come up with the term ‘djent synthwave crossover’?
No, Tom from the label cae up with that and I think it is quite accurate. It comes closest to what the songs sound like and what I wanted to achieve with combining the eighties with a more modern style of playing. I grew up in the eighties, musically and culturally speaking at least so that is my base. I wanted to combine the past and the present in this new project and I think I accomplished that.

How do you give an instrumental song a fitting title? Or is it the other way around, is their first a title and then music?
It can work both ways, but writing and naming an instrumental song is mainly a game of associating. Like with the song ‘Robot’ and creating a sound that comes close to whatever your associating with that word. In this case I was thinking about the fact that automation takes over on every level in our lives and tried to find the music that fitted that idea. Besides, you never have to justify the title of a song to anyone as opposed to a song with vocals and lyrics.

How did you get in contact with music and especially heavy music?
Well, my mom is classically trained, so we have that to start with. And my dad is an old rocker so I was always in contact with music from all corners of the musical globe. I got in touch with the classical pieces by Mozart etc. but also the Beatles and Stones and stuff.

You are especially known as a vocalist, what made you decide that it was time to start Bioplan and make instrumental music?
I have been playing guitar for many years but never came to recording with it. I wanted to play in bands and guitarists were on every corner of the street but vocalists were harder to find so I went that direction but at some point I wanted to record my guitar playing and make that the focus.

How did you come up with the name Bioplan and what does it stand for?
Funny story and it shows that bandnames can come from everywhere. In 2018 I was in a hotel with a cinema in it and when I was in the elevator I saw the word ‘bioplan’ and that word means cinemalevel in swedish. I just thought that it was a cool name for my project.

The artwork is amazing as well, how did you come up with this?
A guy named Daniel Ignacio came up with the amazing image of me playing guitar on a hill and transcending that into space and there is even an image of a Soyouz missile in the corner. It is with these kind of details that makes the cover so amazing.

What are your musical  influences and especially as a guitarplayer?
I cannot dismiss Yngwie Malmsteen, being from sweden, you cannot go around him, his shadow is everywhere. Reb Beach for his unique style of playing, Kee Marcello, Michael Lee Firkins, left and right. His country style playing like Firkins is even on the EP. Not actually the country music but his style of playing, the picking has been an enormous influence.

Is the 70’s are the best era for music or the 80’s?
You know, every decade has its corporate thing, you had the fashion thing like grunge in 90’s, there was hair metal in the 80’s, it really is the McDonalds method which means that everything is the same but with a small different ingredient. Every era has it good bands and bad bands but music will always evolve and change and have its admirers and haters. If anything, music is so much a personal taste.

I can hear parts Devin Townsend, but also parts eighties guitar shredding from the Varney-label, like Tony Macalpine. Can you relate to that?
Totally, you can hear two sides of me and my historhy. The left channel is totally shredding, on the other side you van hear a more modern sounding playing. It was enorous fun to make this happen in the studio, exploring sounds and stuff.

Are you planning to promote Bioplan live?
No, the music was not written for that kind of setting. I think a lot of backing tracks would be needed and a ton of musicians which makes it financially not viable to bring it on the stage. And it really comes to life with headphones on anyway.

You produced this album yourself I presume, is producing something you would like to do more often, for other bands as well?
Absolutely, producing is one of the favourite aspects of the business. I love tinkering in the studio, making myself and others sound better, trying new stuff, and trying sounds and noises to enhance the overall sound of a song or album. When is a song done? When you say it is done basically, adding and removing parts and putting them back and in the end you have a finished song.

What is progressive music? Well, being progressive means pushing boundaries, in every way. If you  copy a progressive band like Symphony X, you are not automatically progressive yourself. It is only the label that you get that says you are progressive. But you’re not really. Pushing boundaries is being progressive, the musical ones but also the personal ones.