Berg’s emotional journey from Sweden to Ronnie Scott’s
ANTONIA FILMER
Alexandra Berglof, aka Berg, is half Swedish and half American, she calls Sweden home and remembers being the only girl in her class at school with brown eyes. Her adolescence was peripatetic, when she was 14 her family moved to Washington DC where she went to the local state school. Then at Edinburgh University in Scotland she got a “First” for her study into History, War and Genocide, Berg is interested in identity and how people choose or unwittingly divide themselves. Berg says “cultural differences make you learn a lot”, as a result she can talk to and engage with anyone as she believes she has no perspective.
After her adored uncle passed away the family moved to the States, her grief got excluded in the transition from Scandinavia and her feelings of loss went unprocessed, then came the move to London and post-university a decision had to be made between a PHD or a career in music.
Putting all the academic success behind her Berg has returned to her musical beginnings. From the age of 5 years she studied classical piano with a Rumanian tutorwho wanted her to become a concert pianist, but the young Alexandra felt that six hours of practice every day was too intense. Since Edinburgh Berg began by writing dance music as this was thought to be an easier entry into the music business, but she found this unrewarding as her heart was not in it. Then she started giving singing lessons which helped her personally, creatively and develop her amazingly pure and haunting voice. Simultaneously her younger sister wrote a play about their adored uncle’s death and on seeing this all her feelings of grief and loss surfaced, Berg was overwhelmed by the emotions. Now she has come to terms with the sadness and feels that life is divided by social highs and introspective lows, these extremes are explored in her songwriting. The words of her first song ‘What if ’ reflect one of the lows, it is a reflection on a relationship that never matured, she says it is not a regret and it does not need resolution, it is just a moment of nostalgia. Berg is releasing one song a week as EP’S on Youtube/itunes/spotify and Deezer, this week’s song “Take of your disguise” will be released on 16th, it is about being more open, questioning how you feel and if you feel like stepping out from the crowd.
Berg writes the music and the lyrics, her producer is Faris Badwan the lead vocalist of The Horrors, in total 8 songs are in the pipeline for her album called Fake Love with the video promo to be released at the end of the month. Berg is learning on the hoof as she has no connections in the music industry; on Tuesday 15th Berg makes her debut performance upstairs at Ronnie Scott’s, with her band of drums, base, guitar and a synchronizer. Hopefully, there will be a talent spotter in the audience.