Peter Nylander was born in Uppsala, Sweden, in the summer of 1970. However, most of his childhood and early adult years were spent living in USA and Italy.
It was as a young teenager in Rome that his interest in playing music, and particularly the guitar, took shape. Growing up with a wide variety of musical styles and cultures, his musical studies took an equally broad path. While studying classical guitar, he took an interest in composition, which he studied after school hours with composer Roy Zimmerman. Here he delved into analysis of classical composition spanning Palestrina to Schönberg as well as Jazz harmony. All along Peter was listening to bands such as Pink Floyd, the Police, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and Miles Davis, to mention a few. This lead to the inevitable interest in the electric guitar and subsequently improvisation as a means of musical expression.
During high school his interest in Jazz soon took the overhand and he persued private studies with Italian Jazz guitarist Fabio Zeppetella. At this time, Peter befriended bassist and fellow student Matthew Garrison with whom he put together his first working Jazz group.
After his high school graduation in 1989, Peter attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. There he pursued studies in Jazz performance, composition and arranging, culminating in a Bachelor of Music degree in 1995.
In 1996, Peter relocated to Stockholm, Sweden, after many years of absence. He soon started working as a freelance guitarist as well as teaching at the Royal Conservatory in Stockholm. He is now head of the Jazz Guitar Department at the conservatory and teaches other subjects such as ensemble, arranging and improvisation.
Peter is currently a member of the psychedelic rock group Paatos, leads his own projects, works as a sideman in several other bands, and composes filmscores. Touring has brought him to the USA, UK, Scandinavia, France, Italy, Germany, Swizerland, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, Poland, Japan, Canada, and more.
