The Red Bulletin May 2019

B U L L E V A R D
ALMA
“SONGWRITING
IS A FORM OF
THERAPY”
UK pop queen Charli XCX
is a fan of this Finnish
singer-songwriter – and
soon you will be, too
Many of the songs on Have
You Seen Her? are about
self-acceptance and the
pressures of everyday life.
Are they autobiographical?
Definitely. For me, songwriting
is a form of therapy, a way
to turn bad experiences into
glorious fuck-you moments.
Also, I want my fans to feel
liberated when they listen to
my songs. When I was a kid,
I listened to music that made
me feel powerful.
Like what?
Amy Winehouse. I loved how
honest she was in every song.
Even though I didn’t have the
same problems that she did,
I could feel her pain and it
made me feel safe and better.
Do you have any advice on
the best way to get problems
off your chest?
I’d say that people should
write down their thoughts and
worries. Keep a diary, talk to
a friend, let it out. It helps to
figure out why you feel the
way you do. That might feel
weird at first, but for me it has
been the best thing ever.
A LMA seemed to
appear from nowhere. In
2017, the neon-haired singersongwriter
– born Alma-Sofia
Miettinen in the small Finnish
city of Kuopio – released
Chasing Highs, an off-kilter
dance gem that catapulted her
into the Top 20 in the UK and
Germany. The song went on
to score more than 40 million
views on YouTube, and landed
ALMA a place on the BBC’s
Sound of 2018 longlist. Now,
having just released her debut
album, Have You Seen Her?,
the 23-year-old reveals how
she turns bad memories into
fuck-you moments, and why
Scandinavian pop music is so
much in vogue right now.
the red bulletin: After the
success of Chasing Highs,
you went home to record
your debut album. Why
there rather than, say, LA?
alma: When I’m in LA, I have
no worries – it’s sunny, I’m
happy, and the parties are
great – but I don’t feel inspired.
Do worries spark creativity?
I also write about fun stuff, but
struggles and bad memories –
real-life stuff – are what I find
truly inspiring. These are
things I only find at home.
Speaking of Finland, you’re
a fan of the sauna. Is that a
place of inspiration for you?
It’s mainly a place to relax, but
also somewhere I do a lot of
thinking. So I guess it’s fair
to say that some of my song
ideas were born in the sauna.
“I WANT MY
FANS TO FEEL
LIBERATED
WHEN THEY
LISTEN TO
MY SONGS”
ALMA dedicated her
2016 song Karma
to childhood bullies
and “all the people
that ever tried to
push me down”
There’s a wave of young
Scandinavian female
musicians enjoying
international success at
the moment. Why is that?
Sometimes I’ll hear a pop
song from the US and it will
make me want to dance, but
it won’t touch me on a deeper
emotional level. A lot of
people crave honesty in music
these days; you want stories
that feel real. In that sense, I
feel that Scandinavian artists
have an advantage right now.
In what way?
Because Scandinavians
aren’t trying to make their
life look any more exciting
than it is. We’re just very
normal and humble. That
helps if you want to write
no-bullshit songs.
ALMA’s debut album, Have
You Seen Her?, is out now;
cyberalma.com
FLORIAN OBKIRCHER
20 THE RED BULLETIN