Stefan Boman on why Dolby Atmos is helping the Swedish music industry thrive

Producer, mixer and engineer Stefan Boman – who’s worked with The Backstreet Boys, Def Leppard, Westlife, Robyn and Emma Bunton – opens up about his connection to ABBA, being recorded by the Backstreet Boys, and on why Dolby Atmos is helping the Swedish music industry thrive.

When did you first become interested in engineering?

I guess I decided pretty early on. I was around 17 or 18 when I started building my own simple home studio, recording some of my own songs and recording friends. Then I started producing them. 

When I was about 20 I said to my mum and dad, ‘I’ve found this course in L.A for audio engineering; I really want to do this’. So that's what I did! From then on, I stayed on that path.

After that, I started knocking on doors in Stockholm for studio work. I’d ask around to see if I could start hanging out in studios and work for free. The third studio I went to was Polar studios, and I managed to run into the boss, who usually wasn't there at reception. 

But I got to speak to him directly and he was like, ‘I think you have the right attitude’. They hired me by the hour a week later because they were so busy in their mastering room. I started working there pretty much every night, six days a week or so, and then I was employed there.

Polar studios was built by ABBA; was that an intimidating prospect to start your career there?

The ABBA thread seems to follow me because right now I'm working at – and am part owner of – Atlantis studios, and ABBA made all their classic recordings at Atlantis. 

When they made it big they wanted to build the best studio in the world, so they built Polar studios. So I've been sort of walking in the footsteps of ABBA, but in the opposite direction!

At first you were helping out with mastering but you quickly moved on to be the main in-house engineer in studio A, working with bands like Def Leppard, Alice Cooper and Backstreet Boys. What are your memories of your time there?

It was excellent because back then the studio wasn't that heavily booked because the music scene was shifting to more programming-style music, so the demand for larger studios – which Polar is – wasn't that high. 

This gave me the opportunity to hang out in the studio and really learn it. I've worked with Backstreet Boys, Westlife and Def Leppard, but then I was booked for a session with a death metal group and that changed a lot for me. 

After that, I got a lot of bookings for rock music because they still needed large studios, and the rock scene back then in Sweden was happening. I’ve done maybe 25 rock albums at Polar studios.

What is one of your favourite memories of working there?

Those years are really special to me, so it's hard to pick a moment. I met some really big names there, and almost all of them were super nice. The Backstreet Boys were really great guys. They were there for maybe a week or two, and with the Backstreet Boys, because they all track their vocals one by one, there was a lot of waiting for the rest of the band. 

So at one point they asked, ‘Can we record something in the smaller studio at the same time just to play around?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, sure, I can take you up there’. We started playing around and they were struggling with tuning a guitar, so I was like, ‘I can tune the guitar for you’. 

Then it also turned out that they could barely play guitar, so they're like, ‘Can you play guitar on this song?’ So I ended up playing the guitar, and they were recording me instead. I was like, ‘This is the Backstreet Boys, and they are recording me’. Very surreal!

Since opening in 1960, Stockholm’s Atlantis Studios (and former cinema) has welcomed everyone from ABBA, to Quincy Jones to Green Day and Elvis Costello and Primal Scream through its doors. What makes the studio special?

Atlantis has this vibe…it has so much history. My mix room is much newer and more technological but the large, main studio is full of history. It's like walking into Abbey Road – you can just feel the history of it.

Are you focusing mainly on Dolby Atmos mixes these days?

I focus mainly on mixing because that just suits my life better and it's what I love to do. I love to finish songs and do the final version of the song. I got involved in Atmos about a year ago thinking that, ‘Yeah, we have to do this’. 

At this point, you could really tell that there was a lot of money and effort going into Atmos from the record labels, and I was really interested in that. I really felt like moving towards Atmos was the right move, and also for me for inspiration and finding new ideas. 

So I took that leap, and so far it's been really inspiring to finally be able to be within the song instead of the song being thrown at you from two speakers. I would say Atmos makes up probably 60% or 70% of my work these days – it is quite a big portion of what I do.

From your experience, what do you think is the best genre of music for mixing in Atmos?

I've heard some good rock music, but it's different genres within rock music that suits Atmos better. I think music that has more information works better in Atmos than if it's just a three piece rock orchestra. 

Rock music that has a lot of overdubs, a lot of things happening and a lot of theatrics works really well in Atmos, but I'd say so far that rock music is a bit behind on the Atmos scene. It seems mainly to be more of the mainstream and the classic catalogue that has been in focus so far.

Atlantis Studios has an Atmos mixing room outfitted with Genelec The Ones Smart Active Monitors; what makes these models perfect for this space and your immersive work?

I've had Genelecs for such a long time, and they just fit my ears. It's going back to the days at Polar because when I started there, I never liked the speakers there, so I was always searching for something new. 

I ended up buying a pair of Genelecs for Polar studios, and they have just always been with me. I've tried different speakers, but they just suit really well. I've changed models when Genelec releases something new, but I’ve had Genelecs for 20 years now. 

I would say to pick a speaker that you'd really like in stereo, so for me the choice [for Atmos mixing] was obvious. I didn't think of any other brand, it was just, ‘What size should I get?’

Is the Swedish music industry booming right now?

Yes, it seems to be quite healthy and Atmos has really made a difference because there is a bigger interest in music and this new format. I think it's good that music evolves into something bigger because during my time in the music industry, music distribution has changed. 

It’s mainly shown how easily you can distribute music, instead of how to make it sound better. Because if you think about all the streaming platforms, it hasn't made the music sound better – in most cases it has made it sound worse. 

But now with Atmos, at least somebody's trying to make the experience for the listener a greater experience. I think it's really good for music that somebody is pushing the limits for the listener, which makes for a better experience.