Kristoffer Gildenlow

Born July 27, 1978 in Eskilstuna - Sweden, Kristoffer started playing the piano at the age of 8. At the age of 13, his interest became more rock oriented, and he switched to bass guitar and drums while playing in different hard rock bands in school. In 1994 he went on to study bass guitar at the Aesthetic College of Music in Eskilstuna - Sweden.

In November of 1994, at the age of 16, Kristoffer was asked to fill in at a gig of his brother's band - Pain of Salvation. Things went well and he was asked to join the band as a full member early 1995. After a multitude of releases with the band, Kristoffer played in Pain of Salvation until 2005. Early 2006 things didn't work out to well logistically, as Kristoffer had moved down to The Netherlands, and was asked to leave the band.

Kristoffer then went on as a session player for those who wanted him live or in the studio. Playing with bands and artists such as Neal Morse (US), Lana Lane (US), Damian Wilson (UK), Mr. Fastfinger (FIN), Dark Suns (DE), Harmony (S), Omnia (NL), Bert Heerink (NL), Semantic Saturation (US), For All We Know (NL) and many more.

In 2007, Kristoffer released the album Synchronized with the art rock band 'DIAL' that he started together with his wife Lilo. This was the start of Kristoffer writing his own music and would lead up to his own solo career, which would include Behind The Black Veil (2010) with Devon Graves (Psychotic Waltz) as 'The Shadow Theory', debut solo album RUST (2012), The Rain (2016) with an 11-piece band, Homebound (2020), and Let Me Be A Ghost (2021).

In 2017, Kristoffer was asked to join legendary prog band Kayak (NL) as they reunited for another go. He appeared on three of their albums and joined them on two European tours, including their 2022 farewell tour.

Kristoffer has always been keen on finding the right sound and feel to his music. The album RUST had no less than 27 guest musicians and The Rain used an actual 17th century church organ, recorded on location. And though many instruments can easily be played by synthesizers and perfect samples, Kristoffer spent time finding the right sounds and recording as much as possible with analogue instruments and sound effects.

His latest album Empty was meant to be a companion piece to Homebound in 2020. This album is about the world, its inhabitants, its rulers and its creator. It is slated for an 8 February 2024 release.