Last weekend, Melodifestivalen 2021 kicked off with a fantastic first semi final! We saw Arvingarna & Danny Saucedo advance to the final next month whilst Lillayster & Paul Rey heading to Andra Chansen. This weekend, the next seven artists will be hoping to qualify direkt til finale as they take to the stage.

One of those is the 2020 P4 Nästa wildcard — Julia Alfrida!  David had the chance to catch up with her to ask a few questions about how she is feeling ahead of her Melodifestivalen debut.

Welcome to Melodifestivalen! Tell us more about you – you released your first music in 2018, so what inspired you to pursue music and how would you describe yourself as an artist?

Hi, thanks! Yeah I released my first song ever 2018 independently and have kept on releasing a bunch of music since then. My driving force has always been the need for expressing my emotions creatively, and the love for writing music basically.

I would describe myself as very honest & authentic. There’s no difference between me as an artist and the person I am in private. I write about stuff that I’ve experienced on my own and like to keep it real. My music is influenced by many genres but Dark-pop is probably the greatest influence.

You qualified for Melodifestivalen through the P4 Nästa wildcard – how did your participation in that come about? What was the meaning of your song “Dark Doom”?

Last year when I watched the “Mello” final I saw Dotter perform “Bulletproof” and felt very inspired by her. I told myself that I would be standing on that stage next year. I also happen to know Amanda Aasa who was the P4-wildcard last year, so I realized that there would be a chance to participate in Melodifestivalen via the radio competition through her. Then I simply applied to P4 Nästa with the goal and determination to reach Melodifestivalen 2021, and here we are! Law of attraction worked for me. 🙂

Soon you will be participating on the big Melodifestivalen stage! How has the build up to the contest been for you?

It’s been so great this far and I don’t want it to end. I’ve put a lot of heart and effort into writing the perfect song and building a great performance for you to see very soon. I’m super excited and feel extremely proud over the process and result of it all.

For your song “Rich” you also worked with the amazing Jimmy Jansson & Melanie Wehbe, what can we expect from your song and performance? What is the meaning behind the song?

Yeah they both are truly amazing creative individuals. You can expect a mix of all our musicalities in a song, and a lyric writing that we worked on so delicately for 14 hours straight. The three keywords I use to describe the song are inner wealth, self-worth and diversity. The meaning is to reflect and strengthen these values in my performance.

I read that you identify as queer and a lesbian, how has that shaped who you are and the message you want to share when you take to the stage to perform?

Yeah that’s correct. I personally have worked on my self-worth the last 3 to 4 years by “coming out” as an LGBTQplus-person. It has shaped me remarkably since I’ve been suffering from mental illness as a result of me oppressing my identity & sexual orientation.

Today I feel completely comfortable and happy with myself as a person and will let that confidence and inner-security lead the way on stage.

Last year you released your debut album EPISODE23. Do you have any upcoming projects you have on the horizon – is there more music coming?

Yeah I absolutely have! New music is in the making and I’m very excited about a couple of songs that are almost finished. I love the new ways in which I’m writing and hopefully it will hit a radio station near you, rather sooner than later.

If you could release a song with any performer ever, who would be your dream duet and why?

Charli XCX without a doubt. She’s so futuristic in the way she operates I think! Not only does she make all these awesome genre-crossing collaborations with both up and comings and more established artists. She also cherishes the lgbtqplus-community which I love.

Are you a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest? If you are, do you have any favourite songs?

Yes I’m a fan. I’ve watched it as a tradition for almost every year through my entire life. My favorite song is certainly Euphoria with Loreen and another great favorite of mine is Satellite by Lena.

Thank you again for answering our questions! Just to finish, did you have any final message for our readers?

Thank you so much for asking me these questions. Yeah I would like to remind everybody stay safe, take care of yourself and each other under this crazy pandemic. See you soon!

All the love,

Julia

You can watch Julia Alfrida perform “Rich” at Melodifestivalen Semi Final 2 on Saturday night at 20.00 CET, Swedish viewers can watch on tv channel SVT and international audiences will be able to stream the show live from the SVT Play website!