For six years Kvällsljus played for free drinks. Then a SEK 100,000 grant changed what they dared to dream of.
Text: the Scener.se editors · 8 min read
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Interview · Grant recipient 2026
“At last we could say yes to ourselves”
Kvällsljus, a five-piece band from Kvarnbacken, on the grant that made them stop apologising for their art.
Photo · M. HolmKvällsljus live in Strandängen.
For six years Kvällsljus carried their own gear into basements around southern Strömköping, split two thousand kronor five ways and called it a good night. Then, last spring, an email arrived.
We met singer Tove Lindqvist and bassist Samir Haddad the same week their first proper EP went to mastering – paid for from start to finish by a grant from the Scener.se fund.
First – what did the SEK 100,000 actually make possible?
Tove: Everything we used to do in stolen hours. We booked a real studio for three weeks instead of a weekend. We paid a producer. For the first time none of us had to take unpaid leave to make our own music. It sounds small. It isn’t.
“We stopped making music in the cracks of life. The grant made it the main thing, not a side track.”— Tove Lindqvist, Kvällsljus
What does the support mean beyond the money?
Samir: Honestly? Someone believed in us before we had proved anything. A platform full of strangers in this city decided our songs were worth supporting. You carry that with you on stage. You play differently when you know a whole community is quietly keeping its fingers crossed.
Photo · M. HolmThe EP release night at Gjuteriet.
What would you say to a Scene Friend reading this?
Tove: Your SEK 49 doesn’t vanish into an app. It became drums you can actually hear, a night we played to a packed room, a record that exists now and didn’t before. Thank you. Come and find us – next time it’s on us.
Kvällsljus play Gjuteriet on 21 June. Their EP Lågmält is out this autumn.
This is one of three artists the fund has supported this year.