After Miss Li last year and Sara Parkman the year before, Amanda Bergman is now being written into the prize list. The award, along with 30,000 kronor, has been given since 1987 to a female artist, preferably with roots in the folk parks.
It doesn't matter if it's big or small, you get incredibly happy when you receive a scholarship, regardless, she says herself.
This summer, she's not touring the folk parks but instead smaller Swedish stages – a dream setup for her part.
Big gigs are like the worst I know. I like playing in the countryside, and that's what summer is great for.
"Unique voice"
The jury notes that she, with her "both unique and warm voice", also goes down well internationally. Last year's tour would also have continued out into Europe, but when her husband, producer, and fellow musician Petter Winnberg was injured in a cycling accident last fall, Amanda Bergman cancelled. This summer, he's joining her for some of her gigs, and she hopes to pick up the European tour later.
A year ago, she released her first solo album in eight years, the acclaimed and Grammy-winning "Your hand forever checking on my fever", more low-key than the music she's made with the band Amason.
Just a year later, she's in the process of finishing up another solo album – so far somewhat happier – which "hopefully" will be released in the fall.
When I worked on the first album, it felt like a mirage. When it was finally released, I got an incredible energy. It was like standing next to myself and seeing that "now that guy's writing", then I don't let go, now I just go.
Beloved father
Amason has also recorded a new album, which will be released after her new solo album, she reveals.
The previous solo album largely dealt with the loss of a beloved father. Now she's incorporating her experiences of the state of the world – which she also did in the single "We're all carrying the children" where she participated in Singers in Solidarity with Palestine
So far, it's about how you process the enormous information flow that you live with in your privilege. It's much more from that perspective.
Erika Josefsson/TT
Facts: Amanda Bergman
TT
Born: 1987 and grew up in Gagnef.
Background: As a solo artist, she has gone by the names Hajen, Idiot Wind, and Jaw Lesson. She released the album "Docks" in 2016 under her own name and a new one in June 2024: "Your hands forever checking on my fever."
She is also part of the group Amason, along with Pontus Winnberg (Miike Snow), Petter Winnberg (Little Majorette), Nils Törnqvist (Little Majorette), and Gustav Ejstes (Dungen).
Current: Receives this year's Ulla Billquist scholarship from Folkets hus och parker. The scholarship is named after Ulla Billquist, best known for the preparedness song "Min soldat" and who, despite her artistic success, had a life marked by difficulties privately. 38 years old, she took her life in 1946. According to, among others, filmmaker Lasse Zackrisson, she lived a double life in homosexual circles during a time when it was forbidden.
