Behind the Scenes with Joel

As part of NetEnt's 30 Year anniversary we're jumping behind the scenes with some of the people who have made NetEnt what it is today. From sound design to artists, to the people spearheading the products, from the golden ages to the ones bringing on the next chapter.

Today we're having a chat with Joel, Sound Design Lead, who has been with NetEnt for 10 years and is behind some of the iconic game soundtracks.

How long have you been with NetEnt? Was there anything that you still remember from your first day?

10 years ago, I remember the first impression of the packed and simple office space that we had in Gothenburg at the time. The people were heartfully welcoming a newcomer and they put me in one of the closets to create music and sounds.

The team gathered up in the small recording space to sing choirs for the game Wild Wild West which was my first game music assignment.

Whose your favourite artist?

Björks first album Debut which I put in my CD-rom drive while playing Descent on my 386 PC made some strong impressions. I'm more a fan of selected songs than of artists. I like it both when a song has lyrics in focus or are just danceable. All from oldies, modern pop, film scores or techno without vocals.

Which is your own favourite NetEnt slot?

On the RNG side I'd say Divine Fortune. The music combined with the ancient Greek pictures feels like revealing a hidden story and I imagine those tracks would suit in a real symphonic orchestra. I lost count of games that I've composed for over 10 years. All from pop with French vocals to banjo country boot stomp.

The wide range of genres has been both challenging and fun.

Which soundtrack changed your life?

An early game music gem is Metroid for the NES composed by Hirokazu Tanaka. Painting in much more story and feel to the game than the pictures alone. With a limited sound chip, it's all about music in note form. No hiding behind good sounds.

Chrono Trigger (SNES) was my first fantasy music encounter. For film music, how John Williams were able to infuse the feel of ancient wisdom in Yoda's Theme is mind boggling. Danny Elfman’s Batman is cool and Alan Silvestri's Back to the Future is timeless.

What’s a tradition that you have in the team which you always look forward to?

The weekly meetings with the whole sound team is a blast you don't want to miss. We discuss projects, share our music and sounds and dive down into implementation. We're also collaborating to improve our in-house sound engine ECAS. Plus, we have lots of fun together.

What made you want to pursue music?

I had a good hearing by the piano as a kid and my parents kept supporting the music direction. They played records of E.L.O, Black Sabbath and Dylan in the home and I was in my room making tracker music on the Amiga 500. In my late teens I seriously wanted to pursue music and got my first commissions in commercials and game music. I rented some studio space and for 10 years basically all the people I hung around with were into music or records.

There were collaborations, songwriting, and lots of clubbing. Besides commissioned work I made pop house, wrote music for Arashi, a Japanese boy band, released electronic funk as JOL and was part of shaping an electronic music community called Gonkyburg. Later the pop duo The Similou was formed and we had a radio hit called 'All this love'.

Which game soundtrack do you consider to be your greatest achievement?

Battlefield 1942. I wrote the soundtrack back in 2001 and it has kept on living to this day. The music became a trademark for the franchise and keeps appearing in the sequels. The Battlefield Theme (or Vehicle IV as it originally was titled) has been played by orchestras from all corners of the world. I plan to attend an upcoming concert in Vienna later in 2027. It excites me that a song can live its own life, out of my control.

What’s your process? Walk us through what inspires you and how you give life to a game through sound?

I often begin by playing the keys. Trying to find something small and simple to catch on to that sets the right mode. I know if an idea or melody is musically solid which makes me kind of fearless. I don't think that I always hit the exact same vision of a game producer but could get away with it if the music sounds authentic.

I'm working in a studio designed around my own production flow. Several mics in the room to be able to add live piano, guitars, vocals, slam on drums or toot in a melodica. Creating a song is to build something, just like a lego house. It's fun figuring out where to put the pieces. I wish to blow people's minds. It adds fuel to the fire. To try and make something prettier than what they imagined.

You can listen to some of Joel's creations by playing NetEnt games on PlayIn or on NetEnt's Spotify.