Annika Catharina isn’t afraid to tackle life’s thornier questions. The B.C. country-pop singer-songwriter’s latest single What If I, for example, poses some crucial romantic queries to a potential suitor. “This song was inspired by a past friendship where we were both too afraid to express our true feelings,” Catharina says. “Our false comfort ultimately stopped us from acting on how we felt and taking a chance together. It can be confusing to know where you stand with someone early on, so this song is about having the confidence to take a risk and believing in all the good things that could come from taking the next big step.” She knows about big steps — her 2021 cover of Sweet Child O’ Mine earned more than a million streams, and more recent singles Better and Broke It have landed on multiple influential playlists. For her next step, Catharina spent some time wading through my silly questions. Let’s see how it went:
Introduce yourself: Name, age (feel free to lie), home base and any other details you’d care to share — height / weight / identifying marks / astrology sign / your choice.
Name: Annika Catharina.
Home Base: Abbotsford, B.C.
What is your musical origin story?
My family has always been very theatrical. We would create plays and performances with each other. But I was drawn to music, dancing and singing.
What’s your latest project?
What if I was recently released! I have another single coming out in April/May; with that release, I will be making a music video, which will be super fun!
What truly sets you apart from other artists?
I have a unique voice, from what I’ve been told. I also didn’t come from a musical background, besides making fun theatrical performances that were super cheesy and fun. My family was into golf. I fell in love with the art of performing and music.
How will my life improve by listening to your music?
My latest single will get you dancing for sure — who doesn’t love dancing? But honestly, when people listen, I want my music to resonate and make them feel all the emotions happy, sad, and excited as music should.
Tell us about the first song you wrote and / or the first gig you played
The first song I wrote was called 2017. It was a rough year for me. My first “gig” was in Grade 5 in an old folks’ home. I sang Somewhere Over The Rainbow.
What is the best / worst / strangest / most memorable performance you have given?
My band and I attempted some Stevie Wonder — For Once In My Life. I skipped a verse (there is no recovery from that). And the rest ended slowly in a train wreck. In some songs, you can get away with improvising/ switching verses. Stevie Wonder is complex, especially the instrumentation.
What is the best / worst / strangest / most memorable performance you’ve seen?
Best: Mumford and Sons and JJ Wilde. I have seen a few bad ones, but I can understand why it might have not been their best, so I’m not going to say!
What living or dead artists would you like to collaborate with?
There are too many: Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, Zach Bryan, Noah Cyrus, P!nk, Chris Stapleton, Kacey Musgraves.
What words do you hope people use when they describe you?
Kind and dang, she is entertaining!
What useful (or useless) skills do you have outside of music?
I can golf and I love organizing events — my wedding was sick!
Who can you do an impression of?
A certain Family Guy character.
Tell us a joke.
I love comedy and watching standup! But I’m terrible at jokes that don’t come off as sarcastic. So I had to Google an appropriate one to answer this: What do lawyers wear to court? Lawsuits.
If money was no object, where would you live?
My family farm.
What would you like to be reincarnated as?
Eagle.
Which historical event do you wish you had witnessed?
I’m not sure about a historical event; there are so many. But I would have loved to have seen Elvis, the band Boston back in the day and Queen.
What’s your idea of perfect happiness / total misery?
Perfect happiness: Being with my family and everyone being healthy.
What are your pet peeves?
People who are rude to those in the service industry
What’s your greatest regret?
I did not start songwriting earlier.
What are you afraid of?
Snakes and spiders.
What would the title of your autobiography be?
The Random Life of Annika Catharina.
Who should play you in the movie of your life?
Ana de Armas. She is gorgeous.
What’s your motto?
“Kindness is free” or “it is what it is.”
What’s always in your refrigerator?
Lemons or whole milk.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
The imposter syndrome. Most people struggle with that, I believe.
What’s the silliest thing you believed as a child?
Santa. But believing in him was magical.
What was your favourite class in school and why?
History. I am very interested in how things are and how they have changed.
What world record would you like to break?
Oldest active performer and entertainer.
What was the worst job you ever had?
Flagging for traffic control. it wasn’t horrible. Just lots of daydreaming.
What’s the best and/or worst advice you were ever given?
Get comfortable with failure. I grew up wanting to be good at everything. When I got older, this perfectionist mentally really held me back from trying things I knew would be good for me, no matter the outcome.
Check out What If I and more of Annika Catharina’s music above and below, and keep up with her on her website, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter.
