Anya Marina

Anya Marina emerged in 2005 with her first release as a contemporary polymath who juggled acting, stand-up comedy, radio hosting, and offbeat songcraft. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she relocated to California in pursuit of an acting career. Her appearance in the film 100 Girls, which called for her to remove her eyebrows, prompted a shift away from the screen toward broadcasting. She moved to San Diego and took a DJ post at 92.5 FM, where constant immersion in music sparked her own compositional efforts.

Local recognition soon followed as a tunesmith, and the album Miss Halfway established her as an up-and-coming regional artist. Placement on the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack broadened her reach, leading music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas to sign her to Chop Shop Records and enabling Marina to abandon her radio shifts for full-time music-making. Early 2009 brought the follow-up Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II after she joined the female-only portion of the Hotel Café Tour. The self-produced Spirit School EP surfaced in 2010, succeeded by the 2012 full-length Felony Flats.

For 2016’s Paper Plane she enlisted Leo Sidran, Gary Philips, Eric Hutchinson, and Death Cab for Cutie’s Dave Depper as producers, resulting in a playful set of love songs that included multiple tracks co-authored with Hutchinson. The next year she issued the four-song EP Serious Love, co-written and produced alongside former Hot Chelle Rae member Ian Keaggy.