• Viggo wears

    shirt We two
    trousers Dickies
    dress Baum und Pferdgarten
    shoes Dr. Martens
    rings Sif Jacobs

    Rebecca wears

    shirt Urban outfitters
    skirts Baum und Pferdgarten
    stockings Swedish Stockings
    shoes Dr. Martens
    earrings Clara Fina
    ring Sägen
    photography Sandra Myhrberg
    fashion, hair & makeup Filippa Finn & Emelie Bodén

    Suite Simone: An Electronic Celebration of Nostalgia

    Written by Emil Björnius by Filippa Finn

    One is pretty much a pioneer with over 15 years in the industry. The other one has had a meteoric rise to fame and could be seen playing at Boiler Room in Stockholm two years ago. In their new joint project, Suite Simone, Rebecca Scheja and Viggo Dyst let melancholy take a vital part in their genre-crossing music.

    Suite Simone is probably one of the most exciting things to happen to Swedish electronic music since DJ Seinfeld, and it is easy to understand why. Rebecca and Viggo share a love for vibrant, ambient and emotional melodies, which they successfully combine with merciless breakbeats. They do this with a mature yet playful sound. Rebecca has a lot of experience in the industry. Viggo describes himself as a true nerd who – in his younger years – preferred to produce beats while his friends played computer games.

    We meet digitally, and Rebecca and Viggo are about to start the day in their music studio. With different backgrounds, they complete each other. Rebecca’s career began in 2008 when female DJs were a rare phenomenon on the Swedish club scene. Rebecca & Fiona has been a powerhouse on the Swedish music scene for nearly a decade. On the other hand, Viggo released his first material on Spotify ten years later and has since studied music theory, lived in Berlin and worked with prominent Swedish producer La Fleur.

    How did the two of you meet?

    Rebecca: We met at a writing camp hosted by Vivrant Records. I was there as a producer, lyricist, and songwriter, and meeting Viggo was like love at first sight.

    Viggo: I joined the camp unexpectedly due to a cancellation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rebecca and I connected instantly, especially while creating “Lost in Love.” We decided to form a band after that session.

    You come from different backgrounds but share an equal love for electronic music. Tell me about Suite Simone:

    Rebecca: We share a lot of nostalgic love for the Basshunter era. Viggo comes more from techno, and I am from the house genre. In the project, we strive for a melancholic melodic language but also want to up the tempo. Suite Simone can be a little dark and sad at times.

    Viggo: “Lost in Love” is an excellent example of the spread of genres in a single song. You can find both UK breakbeat and some Italo vibes. I've never really landed on what I wanted to do, so the common thread has never been a genre but a language conveyed through all the songs. The first songs were a bit more 90s, then we've come up in years, so the latter has leaned more towards how Deadmau5 sounded in 2008. We've simply landed in a combination of EDM, trance and techno. don't want to be put in a specific compartment.

    Tell me a little bit about the dynamics in your duo.

    Rebecca: I don’t think we have ever argued about anything. We have chemistry around the melody and in how we do things. It has been very effortless.

    Viggo: I've never been angry with you. We have a very mutual understanding. We are also responsive to each other. The work we do together must be completely open, “if you do this, then I will take responsibility for that.” It has been a satisfactory relationship. I sit at the computer and tweak things, but we try to have an equal relationship. Rebecca is with me when I mix, and I am there when Rebecca writes lyrics.

    Rebecca: I have learned incredibly much when it comes to mixing. I had Viggo's role a lot while working with Fiona, so it has been nice to switch things up. Viggo is incredibly educational.

    When are you going on tour?

    Rebecca: We will aim to run hard this spring. Everything needs to be nailed down. Our album will come out this spring, at the beginning of March, then we’ll probably tour a lot.

    Viggo: You are so invited to our release party.

    If you had to choose, who would be the dream collaboration, and why?

    Rebecca: The only producer that would have been epic to work with is Timbaland.

    Viggo: So many good producers do similar things to us, but we can do that ourselves. Timbaland is a little something else. Regarding artists, it would be someone from a completely different world, like Enya, Björk or Rozalia, maybe?

    Listen to Suite Simone's new singel Ajuna!

    coat Remake

    necklace Caroline Svedbom

    Viggo wears
    shirt Sofia Corneskog
    trousers Lee
    shoes Stylist’s own
    bracelet Sif Jacobs

    Rebecca wears
    shirt Hosbjerg
    trousers Baum und Pferdgarten
    shoes Tamaris
    earrings Stylist’s own
    necklace Sif Jacobs

    Viggo wears
    coat Remake
    shoes Dr. Martens

    necklace Caroline Svedbom

    Rebecca wears
    dress Samsoe Samsoe
    coat STHLM MISC

    stockings Swedish Stockings

    shoes Stylist’s own
    earrings Sägen

    Rebecca wears
    veil Sofia Corneskog
    shirt Sofia Corneskog
    stockings Swedish Stockings
    shoes Talent’s own
    rings Sägen

    Viggo wears
    leather jacket Brixtol Textiles
    shirt Ahlvar Gallery
    trousers Stylist’s own
    shoes Stylist’s own
    rings Sägen

    Viggo wears

    leather jacket Replay
    sunglasses Guess
    necklace Sif Jacobs

    Rebecca wears
    coat PelloBello
    sunglasses MaxMara
    necklace Sif Jacobs
    earrings Sägen
    shirt LEVI’S
    earrings Stylist’s own
    photography Sandra Myhrberg
    fashion, hair & makeup Filippa Finn & Emelie Bodén
    photography assistant Rebecka Barlach
    fashion, hair & makeup assistant Vanessa Eriksson Tonelli
  • photography by Wendy Bevan

    Interview With The Musician UMI

    Written by Wendy Bevan by Emelie Bodén

    As I waited for Umi to arrive at my home in Los Angeles I watched the skies, that  had been a little heavy over the last days, darker clouds, heavy light, even some rain but still, golden outlines that held the clouds tightly, out of sight above us. The golden rays of the sun shone low, it was a classic Los Angeles afternoon.
    Earlier that day, I’d listened to some of Umi’s music and was keen to meet this young artist who was bringing a ray of light to the contemporary R&B scene. It was no surprise to me that minutes before she arrived, a huge, brilliant rainbow had arched itself over the Hollywood Hills in the distance, boldly glowing with each of its seven vibrant colours across the Canyons.
    A perfect entrance for Umi, the new musical artist and healer who loves life and feels guided by the elements.

    Who is UMI?

    Umi is a multidimensional artist and healer. Umi is a friend who understands you and seeks to understand you more. Umi loves life

    Tell me about your inspiration behind your EP talking to the wind. You found the motivation to write this whilst meditating. How important is meditation in your songwriting and practising as a musician?

    It's so important, in order to create music that is very authentic to me. It requires the outside noise, so you can create from your centre, versus the centre of others. So, every time I meditate I feel like all the extra clutter disappears and I get a clear inspiration of what I want to do and what I want to create. It's like the healer to writer's block, the healer to self doubt, the healer to confusion, it's like my important centre practice.

    How long have you practised meditation?

    Like 8 years now. I started when I went to college, right when I graduated high school. I had so much anxiety every day, and I got to this point when I thought ‘I cannot live my life like this.” I heard about meditation from my mom who practises Buddhism, so I knew about mediation from her but never really did it growing up. So I tried this ten minute meditation and I had never experienced that much peace and quiet in my mind before. I literally started crying after that. I didn’t know it was possible to have such an empty state, so after that I thought “whatever this is, I’m going to dedicate my life to learning more about it.”

    So do you enjoy Buddhist wisdom?

    Mmmm I do! I love it because it's very simple and it doesn’t demand anybody to believe it or to understand or believe; it's just ‘this is what’s been passed down- it just asks if it resonates with you.’ It's also very flexible, there’s many different types of Buddhism. The specific type my mom practices is from Japan, and it talks about the self as the universe and how we in ourselves are our own universe. There’s parts of it I resonate with and parts I don’t resonate with. I appreciate it because it's more of a teaching than a formed belief.

    So, talking to the wind- what is the EP actually about?

    The EP itself is an experience and a journey. The title talking to the wind is about how when I’m confused I’ll sit outside and let the wind and the elements guide me. I think that nature has a very simple way of speaking their words. It's just from the heart, it's very simple like “Just be, it's gonna be ok, trust.” It's very simple. So when I was making this project, I think I was learning about trust; how to trust myself, how to trust my journey. In each song, I remember a different aspect of my life I didn’t trust, so I wrote the song to help me learn to trust more. The whole project really is about trust, so I hope when people listen to it, it gives them the same feeling of meditation, being outside, and that by the end of listening to the project, some type of inspiration clarity will arise through you. That’s the intention behind it.

    Vogue has quoted your r&b style as those spent at the beach and carefree summers in LA- how would you spend your perfect carefree summer?

    Ohhhh I’d wake up whenever I want to wake up, I’d stretch, I’d eat some fruit, and then I would go to the beach with some friends, I’d jump in the water, do mediation, see my friends and listen to some music and let the wind take us from there….

    How influential were the dreams you had as a child in your adult life?

    I feel like they have been a direct translation in a way. Ever since I was little I always saw myself on stage. But when I was playing music pretending to have a show or pretending to record in the studio or pretending to write a song, I knew that that’s just what I enjoy and love doing. I’d dream about it…. So I feel like those dreams remind me that I’m doing exactly what I feel is my purpose and what I’m inspired to do. Why else would I want to do that when I was so little, when I had infinite other things to play with and do… it's cool, too, when I close my eyes I can still see the same dreams as I did when I was little. I can still see myself on stage, or being in the studio… all still on my mind, all stuck with me.

    You embrace love, life but above all feel ok with being lost in the world. When you feel lost, what gives you comfort and what guides you through darker times towards your light?

    That’s such a poetic question! I think back to all the other times I felt lost, and I was kind of okay in the end, and I think why would they be any different- some of those memories are comforting; I think friends and family are comforting. Hearing from outside of you that you’re going to be ok, sometimes you need that. Sometimes you need the outside to help grow the inside. So those two things help you.

    How important are the elements in your work? Do you feel you are guided by the moon?

    Yes!! I totally am. I’m learning to honour my cycle within the month like the moon. When the moon is full, it's my most energetic time, my most outward extroverted time, and when it's the new moon, I feel very to myself and like I want to be in a cave and write in my journal andcreate. By honouring how I feel, it allows me to go with the flow of creativity, whereas sometimes you need to document creativity and sometimes you need to go out and experience to go out and document in a way. So I think the elements are so important. They help me stay organic and natural. An important part of my art and music is, it's not manufactured art. I get it from inside myself first and I think when you look at the moon and you look at the trees, it’s like an inside out creation.

    why don't we go '' is the first track from the new EP. You wrote it whilst falling in love….. Can you describe why that person felt special to you and inspired you to write the song?

    Ohhh! I just tweeted this tweet; saying it reminds me of falling in love and one of the lyrics is ‘When summer left you came’ and I feel like whenever Fall comes round, I always fall in love. Falling in love with something new, someone new, a new part of myself. I don’t know, it's like a very romantic period for me and so I wrote this reflecting back at the more fleeting relationships I had. So, ‘why don't we go’ is all about spontaneity and embracing spontaneity and being ok with not knowing what’s going to happen or what the plan is, but following your heart. I always fall in love with somebody when I do that, so that’s what I thought about when I wrote “why don't we go.” Also, what's cool about it is that I wrote most of the songs in London in the Fall time too, so it reminds me of Europe when I hear that song.

    Where is your favourite place in the world?

    My favourite place…. You know, the more nomadic I’ve become in my life, the more my favourite places are where my friends and family are. A couple of days ago I did this meditation show and all my friends, team and family came to support me and I thought “THIS! Is where I want to be in the world: this feeling.” So my favourite place is a feeling - it's that warmth.

    If your music could change anything for your listeners, what would it be?  Is it important to you that your music touches the soul?

    I’ve never been asked this question before!! It's sooo nice. It's very important that my music touches the soul, I think it does. I think that's the difference that people feel when they hear my music; the thing that draws my fans back to my shows and back to me. If there’s one thing I could change for my fans, it would be the relationship with their emotions and them learning that it's ok for them to embrace their emotions.

    What’s your desert island disk? Your one album you would play on your desert island?

    D’angelo- Voodoo. It has range and it's so warm. I listen to that album like it's the only album I have on earth. It's a good one, it's great honestly.

    Last question; perhaps a question that influences the whole of your universe…tell me a little bit about how you grew up?

    I grew up in Seattle, which is rainy and gloomy a lot. I spent a lot of time outdoors and a lot of time indoors. Seattle is also super lushIt feels a little bit like an enchanted forest and I lived pretty deep in the forest versus the city, so I had a lot of childhood memories of bike riding through the forest and finding farms in the middle of the forest and sneaking into people's farms and running in the rain. I grew up with my mom and my dad; they divorced when I was pretty young so that was cool as I almost had two different experiences with my two parents. My mom is Japanese, so I went to Japanese School, watched Japanese TV, listened to Japanese Music, made Japanese friends and all that. Then when I was with my Dad, I was more with my African American family. I would spend weekends with him, we would go to the baptist church and I was in the children’s choir for most of my childhood. He would take me outside a lot to the park, and he was a DJ so he had racks of tapes he would put on. My Dad put me onto a lot of music when I was little. When my Dad wasn’t there, my grandma would take care of me, she would always take me to the library and we would read together a lot, that is a very vivid memory for me. I also grew up around music, so much music. First thing I’d listen to when I woke up; somebody was playing music in the house always. Yeah…I also have two little sisters. The twins. They are very important, also because when I was performing when I was little, my sister would stand and pretend to be my fans. We would play all-sorts of games together!! I was usually always the leader; teaching them songwriting, or math or something as the teacher! I played a lot in my childhood and I dreamed and imagined a lot. It does inform a lot about your universe, especially when it's phrased that way, it's like the memories you pull are different…that’s lovely

    Link to album here!

    photography by Wendy Bevan
  • talent Alba August

    photography Martin Kiessling

    Alba August: “I decided I was going to be the last man standing”

    Written by Natalia Muntean

    Alba August has had a busy few months. Two years after her debut album “I Still Hide,” the artist returned in October with a new EP titled “I Wish I Was Someone Else,” earning her the title “Swedish rock queen” from a music critic. “It was surprising because I didn’t see the EP as rock, but I relate to this idea in a way. I wanted it to be less polished, more raw, and I enjoyed being a badass in the music videos,” says August.

    Besides the developments in her music career, the Danish-Swedish artist graces both big and small screens, starring in “Stockholm Bloodbath,” a new movie by Mikael Håfström, and the Danish series “Bullshit.”

    Born into a family of cinematic royalty, August has been forging her path with a sense of self-assurance, introspection and a pinch of mischievousness. In this conversation, Alba reflects on her artistic evolution, navigating the complexities of creativity, self-discovery, and balancing her music and acting careers.

    Natalia Muntean: This is your second EP after your debut album. How do you see the musical journey that you’ve been on between these two releases?
    Alba August:
    With “I still hide“ I wanted more energy. During production, I was constantly pushing for more—choirs, layers, you name it. But this time around, I remember talking to my producer and saying, “Take away, take away, take away.” I wanted this to be different. The first album was me wanting to be excessive. Now, I craved something stripped down, more raw. These albums are like a showcase of where I am in my personal journey. Back then, I was in a different place, I had a more extroverted lifestyle, with a lot of partying. But now I’ve come to realize how sensitive I am to sounds and people. I’ve always been that way, but I’ve only just realised the source of all the anxiety. I needed to pare things down in my music. I needed to be more direct. It’s, for sure, a way of processing what’s going on in my life and my mind. Even with what I’m working on now, it will have even fewer elements. I always want to do things that I haven’t heard before. And I want to push myself in directions where I’m a bit uncomfortable.

    NM: What I understood about “I Wish I Was Someone Else”, the whole EP, is that it has hints of empowerment, self-discovery and living with one’s decisions. You’ve also turned 30 this year, so I wonder if that impacted the stories you tell or the music you put out in the world.
    AA:
    This EP focuses on some things I was struggling with. Trying to understand more about myself is something that I have always liked since I can remember, maybe since I was five years old. I’ve always been super anxious and felt very lonely but I didn’t realise that the feeling I felt was loneliness. Now, as a grown-up, I understand it. And then I realised that I always felt weird. All of these things started to resurface as I was writing this. So “I wish I was someone else” was absolutely a way to allow myself to be the weirdo I am. But it’s also about wishing I was normal. That’s what’s so amazing about being an artist and working with art - only when I am being creative I can fully be myself. It’s the only time when I’m really happy and Zen with being in this world.

    NM: You mentioned that you have social anxiety, however, you are an artist in the public eye and you expose yourself to the world. How does it work then?
    AA:
    In a way, being an artist it’s a bit like a persona. I think in private it’s harder to cope with being me compared to when I’m performing.

    NM: So is there a split between Alba in your personal life, so to speak, and Alba, the artist?
    AA:
    There’s a word in Swedish, hudlös, which means skinless and that’s how I feel in private, like I have no skin, more vulnerable, as if everyone can see inside of my body and I have no protection. But when I’m in character, when I’m acting or on stage, I feel strong and I feel like I have control over the situation.

    NM: Do you feel that on stage you have more freedom to do whatever you would like to do without being judged?
    AA:
    Yes, on stage I feel I have power over the audience. It’s clearer what my role is when I’m performing. Everything is decided: I’m going to be on stage and I’m going to do this and they are going to sit and watch. And in my private life, everything is uncertain, and I have a hard time coping with that.

    NM: In the video for “The Summer of 99” there’s a lot of footage from your childhood. How does it feel to revisit those memories, and how does it impact your music? Does reconnecting with your younger self shape the stories you want to tell?
    AA:
    I have mixed feelings about looking back. In a way, it’s a bit sad watching those videos when I was feeling so free, so unaware of how people perceive me. But I also just love the early 2000s. There’s something about that time. Life was so much about dreaming about what it was going to be when I got older. Looking back I also realised how creative life was. My sister and I were always rehearsing a dance or a play. There was always a project we were working on. And there was so much lightness, silliness and humour in the things we did. And it’s hard to find time and space for that as an adult because adult life is so much about achieving, making money and doing boring things. I feel like there’s not that much energy and time left for fantasy and doing meaningless stuff that could perhaps be meaningful, for your well-being and the world's health.

    NM: You mentioned you were dreaming of all the ways life could be. Did life turn out the way you were dreaming of when you were seven?
    AA:
    In a way, yes. I mean, I dreamt of having a boyfriend, which I then ended up having a couple, but it never felt like I thought it would. It turned out to be much more complicated. Life isn’t what I imagined when I was seven. Inside, I feel the same as I did at that age, but as an adult, I got better at swapping different roles for different situations. I thought I would be content when I got older, and that hasn’t happened yet. I’m still searching but I realised that it’s something you have to find within yourself, unfortunately, you can’t change the surroundings.

    NM: It’s been a few years since you’ve combined acting with singing. What are you now, an actress or a singer?
    AA:
    I consider myself an artist (not a singer-artist). It’s empowering because, as an actress, you’re dependent on others to choose you for roles. It’s challenging to take charge and make a movie yourself. I hope that will change, that you will be able to create roles together with a director or you will be able to work with producers or directors on your own projects. As a music artist, I have more freedom to choose what I want to do. I get to decide when I want to go on tour, how I want it to be, and which story I want to tell. I get to be the creator. As an actress, there’s a lot of non-acting work, like travelling and hours spent in makeup. When acting is like 5% of what you do and the rest is stuff that has nothing to do with acting, it can sometimes feel a bit meaningless.

    NM: How do you prioritise between acting and music? Do you see yourself doing more of or dedicating more time to just one of these two avenues?
    AA:
    I like combining those two, but acting has always been my calling. It’s always been what I’m supposed to do in life. Music is more of a hobby. The most important thing is that I get to be creative, and when one of the things starts to feel more like a job, then I need the other one. Always trying to find that balance. I need to do acting to get money because where I am right now with my music career, I need my acting career to survive. l love acting but I’ve been doing it for so long that it takes less time for me now to get frustrated about projects I don’t like. And it’s also hard being a woman in the film industry. You just have to work harder. 

    NM: You come from a family of established figures in the film industry. I wonder how that influenced you? And if you felt the pressure of meeting expectations?
    AA:
    In a way, I felt that I was never going to be good enough. I mean, my dad has every prize in the world that you can win. And the same goes for my mom. I also grew up under the impression that an actress was always someone playing the main character, Growing up looking up to my mum and dad made me work harder, to be as good as them. In that sense, I’m grateful for that pressure.
    On the other hand, growing up in that family also gave me self-confidence. I have a strong feeling that I know what’s good and what’s not. I think it gave me a sense of security. I’ve never felt insecure on a film set or around any big stars. As an actress, I think it's great to be able to direct yourself and follow your gut. But then, of course, you have to be open and collaborate on those things. But also have a strong feeling or belief in what you think is good. I’ve always had that. And I think that comes from my background.

    NM: You mentioned also that you’ve barely ever worked with women in the film industry. Having your mom as a director, did you feel that that was more of an incentive to also be part of this world? Or did she ever advise you against becoming an actress?
    AA:
    I mean, I think I’ve seen both sides of it. I’ve seen how much my mom loves her job and how highly she prioritises it. And her friends as well. So I’m inspired by her. I also struggled at school, and I never felt I would be able to do anything else. Acting seemed the only way for me to succeed in life, so I’ve always known I wanted to be an actress.

    NM: You’ve played such diverse roles. How do you choose them?
    AA:
    I think I’ve been lucky because not every female actress gets to have those kinds of roles. And to be honest, it’s not that often that you, as an actor, choose between roles. It’s more about being realistic, as it takes so much time to shoot. When I choose roles I think mostly about who I get to work with, what kind of character it is, what would the process be like, would I be able to colour this myself. And I’ve had a few of those where it was about bringing home the bacon. And then there are some where you own the project and those count for a whole life.

    NM: What attracted you to the role of Freja in Stockholm Bloodbath?
    AA:
    I worked with Mikael Håfström, the director, before, and loved it. He gives a lot of freedom. He picks people who inspire him. And then the actors get to do their thing and try different things. Which I love. And then Stockholm’s bloodbath is one of the biggest historical moments in Sweden and I knew that it was going to be a big movie because there was also a good budget. Doing an action movie like this was something that I wanted to do and it was fun. When I think of myself being on set, it is just dark and muddy because I started my days at four in the morning during winter and then had to do stunts. But other than that, it was a dream team with all the actors and the crew.

    NM: Did you do your stunts in the movie?
    AA:
    Most of them. We had a week of stunt training with horse riding in the morning and afternoons rehearsing different choreographies with stunts. So I did the fighting scenes myself. My character is mute, so I had to learn some sign language. She stopped talking as a child, and she’s sensitive and a bit weird.

    NM: It sounds like a challenging character to play.
    AA:
    It was. I like to edit my lines, take part in writing the scenes a bit and be very involved. And this time it was hard because I had almost no lines. There’s so much character in speaking so when you don’t have the words, it’s hard to create or find the character. I enjoyed not talking because it suits me. I’m not a very talkative person.

    NM: Did you learn anything new about yourself? Or does it happen to you when you play certain characters?
    AA:
    I guess I use parts of myself to create the character every time. When it came to Freja and her not talking, I used my own experience a bit because when I was around three years old, I drowned and after that incident, I didn’t talk for like three days. I remember feeling so ashamed of the whole situation, and my mom told me that I was very angry afterwards, so I believe it traumatised me. So, I had to understand why this character didn’t talk at the beginning. And then I thought that she must have experienced something traumatic if she didn’t talk, so then we added trauma to her childhood.

    NM: Are there any other genres or roles that you’d like to explore in the future?
    AA:
    I’m longing for really good drama. I feel like back in the day in Sweden and Denmark we were so good at that. But I can’t remember when I last saw a good realistic drama in Sweden or Denmark.

    NM: Would you be open to switching to the other side of the camera and directing?
    AA:
    For sure. When I work as an actress, I can get frustrated that I don’t get to direct because I always want to change things. So I think that I would love to try it. At the moment, there’s no time. And I think that directing a movie would take at least a year to prepare for it, to search for money to develop the project, and I don’t have that patience in me at the moment. But maybe in 10 years.

    NM: How do you find time for yourself? And how do you recharge your batteries?
    AA:
    I’m trying to find routines so there’s a clear separation between when I’m off work and when I’m working. But recharging for me is doing things with my hands: making food, organising my things, and painting. My boyfriend has a house in the countryside and just being there and cooking is just the best.

    NM: You said recently that you’re in a relationship and in love, and I’m curious how this influenced your artistic journey.
    AA:
    I don’t think it has. I think my demons are still there. It’s still quite chaotic and dramatic. So my boring answer is that it didn’t affect my creativity. But my boyfriend is the best producer we have in Sweden. So, of course, that inspires me and it’s nice being able to talk to him because I never liked talking about work with people that I’m close to. I liked to separate things. But with him it’s different.

    NM: How do you handle moments of self-doubt or creative blocks when working?
    AA:
    Being a woman comes with a lot of doubts. I just decided to keep doing it no matter what, also because doubting and then retracting would be so much more embarrassing. I just decided that I was going to be the last man standing. Also, I have so many girlfriends who have so many doubts and are held back by them. And seeing that, I was just like, that’s never going to happen. Of course, it’s difficult to feel like I’m worth the attention, and it’s hard to understand why I should get all that space. And sometimes, I ask myself what I want from my music. Do I want to change the world? What’s the point? But then again, I look at all the male rockstars, and I act like them.

    NM: Very good strategy! What do you hope your audiences take away from your music?
    AA:
    Um, I hope they feel more free within themselves, and I want people to be more open-minded and more who they are, not driven by what’s expected of them. I feel as if the whole society is just like robots walking around. So I want to move people and create a more forgiving and inspiring vibe in the world.

    NM: Looking back, what advice would you give your younger self?
    AA:
    I would tell myself there is nothing to be ashamed of. I was embarrassed by myself growing up, so I would say to be more accepting of myself.

    NM: What do you hope for yourself, the musician and actress, in the near future?
    AA:
    First of all, I want to work with women, and I want to work with my friends, with people I could relate to. I want to have more fun and please people less when it comes to my career. Be more brave in what I’m doing, and I would love to play outside of Sweden. I just like dreaming high.

    NM: And for yourself, Alba the person, what do you hope for?
    AA:
    I hope I will be more present. Usually, when I succeed at something, I never land in that moment or feeling of “Okay, I did this”. I would like not to rush to the next thing and stress about things I can’t do. I would like to be here and now, taking one thing at a time.

    talent Alba August

    photography Martin Kiessling

    text Natalia Muntean

    hair and makeup Linda Hallberg

    photography assistant Brandin Sandén

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