Calum Bowen

{{Short description|English musician and video game producer (born 1991)}} {{Use British English|date=May 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox musical artist | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1991|2|26}} | birth_place = London, England | genre = {{hlist|Pop|electronic|J-pop}} | occupation = {{hlist|Musician|composer|record producer|livestreamer}} | instrument = Piano | years_active = 2013–present | label = {{hlist|Maltine Records}} | website = {{URL|https://bo-en.info/}} | module = {{infobox youtuber | child = yes | youtube_id = UCf7eD2RJguOWovag4yc5n5Q | youtube_display_name = bo en | youtube_subscribers = 225 thousand | youtube_views = 90 million | stats_update = 21 May 2026 }} }} '''Calum Thomas Bowen''' (born 26 February 1991), also known professionally as '''Bo En''' (stylised as '''bo en'''), is an English musician and video game producer<ref name="The Japan Times">{{cite news |last1=St. Michel |first1=Patrick |title=Britain's bo en finds a musical family in Tokyo's electronic scene|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2015/04/09/music/britains-bo-en-finds-musical-family-tokyos-electronic-scene/ |accessdate=13 February 2020 |work=The Japan Times |date=9 April 2015 |archive-date=27 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227194045/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2015/04/09/music/britains-bo-en-finds-musical-family-tokyos-electronic-scene/ |url-status=live }}</ref> born in London.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-17 |title=bo en - Crescent Ballroom PHX |url=https://www.crescentphx.com/tm-attraction/bo-en/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=Crescent PHX |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Career== Bowen released his debut album titled ''pale machine'' in 2013.<ref name="rising">{{cite news |last1=Powell |first1=Mike |title=bo en |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/rising/9534-bo-en/ |accessdate=12 February 2020 |work=Pitchfork |date=3 November 2014 |archive-date=13 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413023817/https://pitchfork.com/features/rising/9534-bo-en/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2014, he released a physical CD titled '''pale machine'' [EXPANSION PACK]', adding four new tracks composed by Bowen and six remixes of songs from ''pale machine''. Bowen's 2014 remix of "My Party" by Kero Kero Bonito was featured on their ''Bonito Recycling'' EP.<ref name="diy">{{cite news |last1=Lismore |first1=Kate |title=Kero Kero Bonito, Trading MP3s for Sick Beats |url=https://diymag.com/2015/02/13/kero-kero-bonito-trading-mp3s-for-sick-beats |accessdate=13 February 2020 |work=DIY |date=13 February 2015 |archive-date=13 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213090627/https://diymag.com/2015/02/13/kero-kero-bonito-trading-mp3s-for-sick-beats |url-status=live }}</ref> Over the course of the following years he wrote three singles: "''By the Phone''", "''sometimes''" and "''love in a song''". In 2021, Bowen released a satirical remix of "''love in a song''", titled "''love in a song - DJ HEARTBREAK ANNIHILATION MIX''"''.'' In February 2023, Bowen announced that he is writing new songs together with Babymorocco. It is currently unknown how many songs they are producing, however three of them appear to be called "''Love Wont Find U''", "''When We Were Young''" and "''idk_if_i_feel_enough''".

Bowen released a follow up to his debut titled ''Pale Machine 2'' which contained re-imaginings of songs off his ''pale machine'' record as well as original songs featuring a variety of other artists. Two songs originally released in the ''pale machine'' expansion pack, "''I'll Fall''" and "''Money Won't Pay''", were included as tracks 9 and 10 on this release.

For the 10th anniversary of his album ''pale machine'', Bowen, fellow musical artist Kikuo, and Gus Lobban of the band Kero Kero Bonito toured in the United States from 9 January 2024 to 27 January 2024. The tour included 11 venues total across the country.

===Video game composing=== Under his real name Calum Bowen (stylised as calum bowen), he wrote the soundtrack to ''Up Up Ubie'' and ''Super Ubie Land''. He then continued to write songs for smaller games such as ''Marble Time'', ''Thief Story'' and ''Winnose''. Bowen later composed the soundtrack for the 2014 game ''Lovely Planet'', followed by ''Lovely Planet Arcade'' and ''Lovely Planet 2: April Skies''.<ref name="rising"/>

He also composed the soundtrack for ''Pikuniku'', which was released in 2019, along with three songs for ''Omori'', which was released in late 2020.<ref name="wshu">{{cite news |last1=Remington |first1=Kate |title=Calum Bowen's Funny, Lighthearted Soundtrack For 'Pikuniku' |url=https://www.wshu.org/post/calum-bowens-funny-lighthearted-soundtrack-pikuniku#stream/0 |accessdate=13 February 2020 |work=WSHU |date=7 February 2019 |archive-date=28 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428185130/https://www.wshu.org/post/calum-bowens-funny-lighthearted-soundtrack-pikuniku#stream/0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="gem">{{cite news |last1=Romano |first1=Sal |title=Pikuniku launches January 24, 2019 |url=https://www.gematsu.com/2018/12/pikuniku-launches-january-24-2019 |accessdate=13 February 2020 |work=Gematsu |date=26 December 2018 |archive-date=13 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213083616/https://www.gematsu.com/2018/12/pikuniku-launches-january-24-2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> One of the three songs composed for ''Omori'' was a pitched-up (and shortened in-game) version of "''My Time''", a song which was originally included in ''pale machine''. The Omori soundtrack was expanded in 2022, with the addition of two new songs featured in the console version of the game, which were also composed by Bowen. Bowen composed the music for ''Voyage'', which was released in 2021.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Graham |title=Voyage is a hand-painted cinematic adventure |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/voyage-is-a-hand-painted-cinematic-adventure |website=Rock Paper Shotgun |access-date=11 July 2021 |language=en |date=20 February 2021}}</ref> In addition, he produced the soundtrack for Netflix's ''Poinpy'', a mobile game published by Netflix Games and was released in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-08-04 |title=Poinpy soundtrack by Calum Bowen published through Bandcamp |url=http://theongaku.com/2022-08-04/poinpy-soundtrack-calum-bowen |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=The Ongaku}}</ref> ==Discography==

===Studio albums===

* ''pale machine'' (2013, Maltine) * ''pale machine'' [EXPANSION PACK] (2014, Maltine) * ''pale machine 10 year anniversary re-master'' (2023, Maltine) * ''Pale Machine 2'' (2023)

=== Extended plays ===

* ぼくらのいろとりどり (2016, ft. あきお)

===Singles===

* ''By the Phone'' (2015) * ''sometimes'' (2016) * ''love in a song'' (2018)

===Animation Soundtracks===

* Beetle + Bean (2021)

===Video game soundtracks===

* MOSHIMOSHI (2013)<ref>{{Cite web |title=MOSHIMOSHI (Armel Gibson, Calum Bowen) {{!}} FreeIndieGam.es |url=https://www.freeindiegam.es/2013/05/moshimoshi-armel-gibson-calum-bowen/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240617014702/https://www.freeindiegam.es/2013/05/moshimoshi-armel-gibson-calum-bowen/ |archive-date=2024-06-17 |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=Free Indie Gam.es |language=en-US}}</ref> * ''Marble Time'' (2013) * Up Up Ubi * Super Ubie Land (2013) * Thief Story * Winnose (2014) * ''Lovely Planet'' (2014) * ''Lovely Planet Arcade'' (2016) * Pakka Pets (2016) * ''Snipperclips'' (2017) * ''YIIK: A Post-Modern RPG'' (2019) * ''Pikuniku'' (2019) * ''Lovely Planet 2: April Skies'' (2019) * ''Crossy Road Castle'' (2020) * ''Omori'' (2020) * ''Voyage'' (2021) * ''Poinpy'' (2022) * ''Ooblets'' (2022)

===Video game sound design===

* Valdis Story: Abyssal City (2013) * Dragon: A Game About a Dragon (2015) * Lovely Planet: Arcade (2016) * ''Pikuniku'' (2019) * ''Tangle Tower'' (2019)

===Remixes===

* Candy Flavored Lips (bo en イパネマREMIX) (2013) * My Party (Kero Kero Bonito) (2014) * Veranda (Bo En Megacrazymix) (2018) * NRG (Babymorocco) (2023) * finger frame ft. 鈴木真海子 (PAS TASTA) (2023)

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:1991 births Category:21st-century English composers Category:21st-century English male composers Category:Composers from London Category:English male composers Category:English record producers Category:English video game composers Category:Living people