Annika Törnqvist by Biggi Vinkeloe

I met Annika a few years ago, when she invited me to join Amazonas, a quartet with two saxophones, drums, and bass. We recorded Deep Talk and a video Snake, released on SODAmusic. Our second project is NAB trio with Nema Vinkeloe Uuskyla, vocalist and violinist. We collaborated with Indian musicians on the album Setuvegalu and with a famous Kurd poet from North Iraq. Annika has a distinctive and beautiful approach to music. Her bass lines support and open up the music at the same time. She performs with rock bands, funk bands, or on tours with pop stars and jazz musicians.

How did you come to music as a child? Did you study music theory? I do not come from a family of musicians. We had a piano at home but nobody played it. My parents played records on the gramophone a few of times a year. Rarely, did I have the opportunity to listen to any music.

When I was five, my grandmother showed me how to play a song on the piano. I loved it and I wanted to learn more, so my parents found a piano teacher for me in the neighborhood. He came weekly for a lesson, until I was 13. I enjoyed playing classical music by Bach though it was difficult. My practice time was limited because I was a figure skater and I had to study for school.

I went to high school at 14. My friends and I started a band and performed at the Masthugget Youth Center in Gothenburg. At first, I played the electric guitar. I was not that good but it was fun. We made up songs and structures by ear and performed in a playful way. Sometimes, a senior student taught us songs. Some members did not stay. Eventually, we were four females performing together.

I picked up the electric bass when our bassist could not come. We had a gig on the first day I played the bass. This was the beginning for me. The gig went well, but some older musicians in the audience noticed that I played with my thumb and showed me how to play with the correct technique. I learned most things that way, by listening, playing, and talking to experienced musicians.

This quartet preformed until I was in my twenties. We got record contracts and toured in Sweden and other European countries. When the band split up, I worked with other bands. I chose live performance rather than studying music at a school. My family did not encourage me or support me because they knew nothing about the music profession and did not understand what music meant to me. At 30, I wanted to learn music theory, so I took classes at several universities in Sweden.

Do you compose music? If so, how many songs have you composed? I composed many songs and registered 50 with STIM, the Swedish BMI. I am an improviser who composes in the moment.

Do you have a publishing company with ASCAP or BMI? My record company is SODAmusic. We release the music of friends, too. It is frustrating to find the right partner or label. When the music is ready, I want to get it out on a record or digitally as soon as possible. It does not matter so much to me how many people end up listening to the music. It is important that I feel good about the project.

Are you aware of the challenges woman face in the maledominated field of music? Yes, I am very aware of the challenges that women face in the music industry. Women get fewer jobs because they are not considered as real musicians but as objects. Women’s skills are underestimated, while male musicians expose women to sexism and objectification. When a musician falls in love with a woman musician, it is hard for him to accept rejection. I lost bookings with organizers when I divorced my firsthusband.Theorganizersdidnotwantanyconflict with my ex-husband, so they cancelled my gigs.

This happened a long time ago, but I will never forget that. Now, I live in an equal and supportive relationship with a musician. But I still feel the strong expectation of society that I should prioritize my life as a wife and mother. I feel incredibly challenged, trapped, and entangled in other people’s expectations of how I should live my life.

I was invited to join the boards of music organizations not based on my skills but on my gender. I accepted and learned a lot. I am a competent musician with more experience than the men around me.

K