Anya Marina

All Music Guide:

With the release of her 2005 debut, Anya Marina reinvented herself as a modern-day Renaissance woman: actress, comic, disc jockey, and quirky songwriter. Marina was born in Ann Arbor, MI, a town she eventually left in order to pursue acting in California. After appearing in the film 100 Girls (a role that required her to shave her eyebrows), she replaced her film aspirations with radio. She decamped to San Diego to work as a DJ for 92.5 FM, and the increased presence of music in her everyday life helped fuel her own songs.

Before long, Marina had created a buzz in San Diego as a songwriter. Miss Halfway, her debut album, cemented her status as a promising local musician, and a spot on the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack helped spread her music to a wider audience. Alexandra Patsavas, the music supervisor for Grey's Anatomy, also signed Marina to Chop Shop Records, which prompted Marina to leave her DJ gig and focus on her own music full-time. The sophomore album Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II arrived in early 2009, following Marina's inclusion in the all-female leg of the Hotel Café Tour, and the self-produced Spirit School EP appeared in 2010.

Wikipedia:

Anya Marina (Ann Arbor, September 23, 1976) is a singer-songwriter based in Portland, Oregon. Her music has primarily gained notice after being on a variety of television sitcoms and has been featured on prime time dramas.the ABC television drama Grey's Anatomy as well as CBS's How I Met Your Mother, MTV's The Real World, ABC's Castle, Showtime's United States of Tara, CW's Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, and Supernatural and has a song featured on the Twilight "New Moon" soundtrack.

Early life

Anya Marina Kroth was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and was raised in the Columbus area of Georgia, as the eldest of two sisters. Her parents are both University professors, who teach Psychology and Russian Literature. Marina moved to Los Angeles as an aspiring actress. She attended classes at the British American Drama Academy, taught by Richard Dreyfuss, and Eli Wallach among others, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena, California, Marina also acted in television and film (in 2001, she acted in the feature film, 100 Girls). She moved back home to earn a college degree in English composition at Santa Clara University, where she continued to work in acting, musical theatre, music, improvisation and comedy, working as a DJ on KSCU, the University's radio station.

Career

After graduating in 1997, Anya worked at radio station XHRM-FM in San Diego. She was first hired by Mike Halloran, initially at another studio, Y107 in Los Angeles before they both moved to Premium Radio in San Diego's North San Diego County, California. After leaving KSOQ both disc jockeys worked at FM 94/9.

In San Diego Marina played her first open mic night and began to write her own songs. She developed a live stage act using what she learned as an actress, comic and impressionist. Her recorded debut was a five-song EP called Exercises in Racketeering, which eventually led to a full-length album, Miss Halfway, which was released January 25, 2005. Anya subsequently opened for Jason Mraz and Rhett Miller. She was named one of the "Best Unsigned" acts by the San Diego CityBeat.

The songs on Miss Halfway talk about her upbringing and ex-boyfriends. The album was produced by Scott Russo, the frontman for rockers Unwritten Law, and Peter King from The Surfers. The record eventually earned a San Diego Music Award for Best Recording. The title track also landed on Grey's Anatomy and was featured as the fifth song on the second Grey's Anatomy (soundtrack) disc along with The Fray, KT Tunstall, Gomez and Snow Patrol.

On January 20, 2009, Marina released her second album, Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II. The album was produced by Brian Karscig from Louis XIV and Britt Daniel from Spoon. The music video for the album's first single, "Move You", was directed by Scott Coffey. On June 8, 2009 the video for "All The Same To Me", directed by Josh Forbes, premiered exclusively on Spinner.com.

Anya Marina performed songs from Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II at BETA Records TV studios in Hollywood, California. A video was posted of a personal interview and her small intimate performance of "All The Same To Me" directed by Eric MacIver and produced by Chris Honetschlaeger. (Links included in References)

In the summer of 2009, Anya was nominated for 3 San Diego Music Awards: Artist of the Year, Album of the Year (Slow and Steady Seduction: Phase II), and Song of the Year ("Move You"). On September 10, 2009, "Move You" won the award for Song of the Year, beating out fellow nominees including Jack Tempchin and Jason Mraz.

Her song "Satellite Heart" was featured on the New Moon soundtrack. "Satellite Heart" was released October 8, 2009, with the video (directed by Scott Coffey), released on November 3, 2009. Later that same month, she performed the song at multiple venues on the nationwide 'New Moon Talent Tour'. Marina co-hosted the live MySpace broadcast of the New Moon premiere. Anya was highlighted in an article by CNN.com as an artist poised on the edge of breakout success due to her involvement in the soundtrack.

Marina's cover of "Whatever You Like", originally by rapper T.I., was featured on the November 9, 2009 episode of Gossip Girl, "They Shoot Humphreys, Don't They?".

Marina has toured with Jason Mraz, Chris Isaak, Greg Laswell, Eric Hutchinson, Lissy Trullie, and Joshua Radin.