Simon Viklund facts for kids

Simon Viklund, born Simon Wiklund on December 1, 1979, is a talented Swedish artist. He works as a freelance composer, music producer, sound designer, and game designer for video games. He first became well-known for his work on the 2008 game Bionic Commando Rearmed. For this game, he was both the creative director and the composer. He is also famous for his music in the Payday game series. In these games, he not only composed the music but also voiced the character Bain.

In 2000, Simon joined a company called Grin, which was started by his friend Ulf Andersson. He worked on many of Grin's games, including Bionic Commando: Rearmed. Grin closed down in 2009. After that, Simon, Ulf Andersson, and Ulf's brother Bo started a new company called Overkill Software. Simon left Overkill in 2015 to work on his own projects as a freelancer. In 2016, he joined 10 Chambers Collective, another company founded by Ulf Andersson, while still doing his freelance work.

Early Life and Music

Simon Viklund was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 1, 1979. He started learning music when he was a child. He first played the violin and then took classical piano lessons for about seven years. He also taught himself how to play the guitar and bass guitar. As a teenager, he sang in his local church choir. He was also briefly a singer in a band with his high school friends. Simon studied arts in high school, but he became more interested in music later on. He began writing music in the late 1990s using a computer program called FastTracker 2. He didn't release any of his music back then because he wasn't happy with it himself.

Simon's Career Journey

Starting Out: Grin and Freelance Work (2000–2009)

Simon Viklund joined Grin in 2000. He worked as a composer and sound designer on most of their games. His first project was the game Ballistics. He later changed his last name from Wiklund to Viklund. This was because people outside Sweden often mispronounced his original name. The letters 'W' and 'V' sound similar in Swedish.

Simon also helped develop the PC versions of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (2006) and its sequel (2007). These games were published by Ubisoft. After that, he led the creation of Bionic Commando Rearmed. This was a new version of the 1988 NES game and was requested by Capcom. Simon also created the music for Bionic Commando Rearmed. People really liked his soundtrack because it sounded like the original 8-bit music but with a fresh twist. Parts of his music from Bionic Commando Rearmed were also used in Bionic Commando (2009). For this game, Simon was the sound designer, while Jamie Christopherson mainly composed the music. Besides his work at Grin, Simon also worked on Wasteland Racers 2071 (2006) for Triotech.

In 2009, Simon started working on Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 as its creative director. However, Grin went out of business four months into the game's development. The game's development was then moved to Fatshark. Simon was hired there as a creative advisor and composer. Capcom also asked him to compose music for Final Fight: Double Impact (2010) and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition (2011).

Creating Games at Overkill Software (2009–2015)

In 2009, Simon Viklund, along with the Andersson brothers and other former Grin employees, started Overkill Software. At Overkill, Simon was the creative director and sound designer for their first game, Payday: The Heist. He also composed the game's music, taking inspiration from the 1995 crime movie Heat. Simon also provided the voice for Bain, who is the main narrator and a character who gives missions in the game. Simon continued to compose music and voice Bain in Payday 2, which was released in 2013.

On August 18, 2015, Simon left Overkill to focus on his own music and freelance projects. However, he still continued to voice Bain and create music for Payday 2 as a freelancer.

New Adventures: 10 Chambers Collective (2016–Present)

In 2016, Simon Viklund co-founded a new company called 10 Chambers Collective with Ulf Andersson. He also kept working on his freelance projects. In the same year, he signed a special agreement with BMG to be an exclusive songwriter. In 2017, Simon composed the music for Robonauts. He also worked as a game designer, story director, and composer for 10 Chambers' first big project, GTFO.

Simon's Musical Style

Simon Viklund's music is mostly based on electronic music styles. These include techno, big beat, electro-funk, and dubstep. However, some of his songs also have elements of rock, industrial music, and rap. In 2008, a Swedish magazine called Nöjesguiden described his music as "chip house." Simon himself said his music comes from many different inspirations. He described it as "8-bit-inspired dance music." He also explained that his music style is a mix of what fits the project, what he enjoys, and what he is skilled at making.

For his early games like Ballistics and Bandits: Phoenix Rising, he was inspired by the Quake III soundtrack, Fatboy Slim, and The Chemical Brothers. These influences led to rock, techno, big beat, and industrial sounds. When he worked on the Bionic Commando Rearmed soundtrack, he was influenced by groups like The Crystal Method and Justice.

The music for Payday 2 has a wide variety of styles, especially in its downloadable content. For example, the trailer for "The Big Bank" DLC featured an opera piece that Simon composed. He wrote the lyrics in Swedish and then had them translated into Italian for opera singers to perform.

How Simon Creates Music

For his first two projects, Ballistics and Bandits: Phoenix Rising, Simon used a program called FastTracker 2. For the Bionic Commando series and Payday: The Heist, he used Jeskola Buzz. In 2013, when working on Payday 2, he started using Ableton Live. He also used a Native Instruments Komplete keyboard and the reFX Nexus 2 Synthesizer plug-in to help him create his music.

Simon's Works

Games Simon Worked On

Music Albums and Singles

Simon Viklund has released many of his songs as albums and singles. He has done this both on his own and with Overkill Software.

Albums

Singles