Mother Soki breaks out of the Minneapolis-St. Paul music scene – Twin Cities

Annie Tammearu needed to be on stage in two minutes. But she was in the basement green room, playing solitaire and trying to calm her nerves.

Tammearu, who makes indie music under the name Mother Soki, was playing alongside Dad Bod and Henry James in July 2025 at the Art House North in St. Paul. It was Tammearu’s first show since the demo of her song “Rivet Gun” had gone viral on social media in April 2025. The song’s success launched Tammearu into a whirlwind year where she signed with a record label, released her first EP and toured across the country.

She’s touring internationally this spring but has a local show April 7 in Minneapolis.

Tammearu, 22, said she has never felt as many emotions as she has this year. But for her St. Paul show, all she felt was the pressure.

“It was probably the most nervous I’d been for a show, just because it was the first show after ‘Rivet Gun,’” she said. “It all happens so fast, and I think a lot of people don’t talk about the expectations that come after that (breakout single).”

Tammearu didn’t know if many people would attend the show, but when she stepped on stage, the St. Paul venue was hot from the packed crowd. Afterward, a fan asked Tammearu for a picture for the first time, and another gave her a bracelet.

“The number of people that showed up was crazy. … It’s just like, whoa, people love that song,” she said. “It was very surreal.”

Tried fashion design

Tammearu grew up in the Minnetonka area, experimenting with various kinds of art as a teenager, including multimedia and fashion. After high school, she decided to study fashion design at Columbia College Chicago.

Before leaving for her freshman year, Tammearu sold her car, thinking she’d never move back to the Twin Cities. But after two years of studying in Chicago, she began producing songs on GarageBand and lost interest in sewing clothes. She wanted to make music, and decided to move back to Minneapolis to “recalibrate.”

“I was so nervous on the drive back,” she said. “I was like, ‘I’m literally giving up my life here in this city that I thought could change everything.’”

However, as Tammearu restarted her life in Minneapolis, she said it was like “seeing the city for the first time” as she connected with local musicians. She met her producer and partner, Jack Pfeffer, on Hinge. Tammearu visited Pfeffer’s studio the first time they hung out, and the two immediately began making music.

“We had a lot of musical chemistry, and we started to just play around with songs,” Tammearu said. “Working with Jack is great, because he knows exactly what I’m going for every time I send him a demo.”

Tammearu also began playing with her guitarist, Elijah Herchert, and roommate and bassist, Mo Todd.

Along with making music, she worked at Bob’s Java Hut in Uptown Minneapolis. During one of her barista shifts in April 2025, she posted a demo of a song she was working on to TikTok without thinking much of it.

The video, “Rivet Gun,” quickly gained thousands of likes and shares. British musician Ellie Goulding posted a video with the song, asking, “What is this sorcery?” TikTok comments wondering when “Rivet Gun” would be released and advising Tammearu to capitalize on its popularity began to roll in.

Pfeffer and Tammearu worked to finish and release “Rivet Gun” as soon as possible. As of this month, the song has more than 14 million streams on Spotify alone.

‘Hard to follow up’

From there, Tammearu said her year moved fast. She started receiving calls from talent scouts at record labels, and signed to the New York-based indie label Mom + Pop Music in May 2025. Then, after her St. Paul show in July, Tammearu packed up her Subaru Forester and toured across the country. She opened for Teethe and POiSON GiRL FRiEND and headlined shows in Los Angeles and New York City.

However, in between shows, she was doing more than just rehearsing. Tammearu and Pfeffer had only been working single to single before “Rivet Gun.” To release an EP in 2025, they had to write, record and produce a song every two weeks while on tour. Pfeffer said he produced the last song of the EP, “Bygones,” in 48 hours on Tammearu’s manager’s couch in Los Angeles.

“It was hell on earth in the moment, but looking back … it’s so rewarding. And I’m happy that it turned out the way it did,” Pfeffer said.

He said he worked with Tammearu to answer the question: Which direction should they go after “Rivet Gun”?

“It’s hard to follow up such a big song that resonated with such a wide audience,” Pfeffer said. “We didn’t want to try to one-up ‘Rivet Gun,’ or … try to manufacture a TikTok hit or something.”

The result of their efforts is Tammearu’s dark, ambient EP “Fantasy,” which blends dream pop sounds and airy, layered vocals with ‘90s influences such as the Sundays and the Cocteau Twins.

What’s next

For her next batch of songs, Tammearu said she’s looking forward to taking a step back and having time to be meticulous about her music. She’s experimenting with ‘80s sounds, inspired by songs from Joni Mitchell and Madonna.

“I’m excited to show more of my music and what lengths I can go to,” she said.

Tammearu said that as a self-discipline practice, she’s been going live on Instagram with a bottle of wine and challenging herself to make a new song on the spot. Pfeffer said she has been sending him increasingly polished demos.