Flower-Powered Artist - March 2007

Anya Marina

Anya Marina is a singer/songwriter, DJ, and actress all rolled into one amazing talent. Anya was born in Michigan but spent most of her time in Silicon Valley in California where she finished High School. Immediately after finishing High School, Anya decided to follow her dreams - to dive into the art of acting. She decided to move to Los Angeles and took acting lessons in various institutions including the British American Drama Academy and American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Mentored by a number of known celebrities (e.g. Richard Dreyfuss), Anya blossomed into a fine young actress herself - landing roles for television (That Show) and movies (Hope & 100 Girls). Determined to continue education, Anya went on to move back home to the Bay Area where she earned a degree in English and Writing at Santa Clara University. Incidentally, the same University gave Anya the opportunity to become a DJ - via the University's College Radio, KSCU.

Moving on to bigger opportunities, Anya decided to try on several radio gigs including: XHRM 92.5 in San Diego, Y107 in Los Angeles, Premium Radio 92.1 in San Diego, and finally settled in FM 94/9 in San Diego. It was in San Diego where Anya played her first open mic and began writing the songs that would comprise her debut, Miss Halfway. All signs pointed to her taking on a musical career path - from the urging of a friend to sing in his band; to being given a guitar by a boyfriend.

Bustling out of San Diego's music scene, Anya made her way into becoming a multifaceted artist. Her foray into recording gave birth to a 5-song EP titled Exercises In Racketeering, which was released via RedRoom Recordings. A subsequent release of a full-length was unleashed to the public in 2004 - titled Miss Halfway, which was released via Good Rope Records. The album is ultimately the result of a whimsical childhood with Russian-Agnostic/ Irish-Catholic parents, a few troublesome boyfriends, and subsequent therapy.

Miss Halfway proved to be a success for Anya, winning both critical acclaim and being awarded Best Recording in San Diego Music Awards. Two of the songs in the record (the title track "Miss Halfway" and "Sociopath") got proper exposure when it got featured in her favorite TV show - Grey's Anatomy. The song Miss Halfway appeared in the show's Season 2 Official Soundtrack, which was nominated for a Grammy - thus indirectly giving her some more exposure.

Update: The new song - Move You (Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II) - recently got featured in the March 15 episode of Grey's Anatomy - making this song the third Anya song to be presented in this hit show. Another new song, titled Not A Through Street, got featured in the CBS show titled Numb3rs. Both tracks were released as a single through iTunes. You can request both new songs in the station through our flowerbox.

KGRL is proud to feature our March Flower-Powered Artist Of The Month, Anya Marina. The feature contains an exclusive interview, CD review of Miss Halfway, and an on-demand unreleased Anya Marina track titled "Try It And Like It." We do hope you would all enjoy this month's feature.

KGRL Anya Marina Interview

KGRL had a chance to have an intimate talk with KGRL's March 2007 Flower Powered Artist, Anya Marina. The interview was held in Hotel Cafe 09.19.06.

Listen to Anya Marina's responses in High Quality MP3 Stream using the player below:




Transcription excerpt from the interview:

KGRL: How did you get your songs into the TV Show Grey's Anatomy?

Anya Marina: I submitted my song through my licensing guys, that are so kind, that helped me and handled me. They told me to send my CD to them, so I did. I didn't ever think anything would come of it. I didn't even know it was going to Grey's Anatomy. I sent it to the Chop Shop. I didn't know who the Chop Shop were. My friend Angela works at the Chop Shop calls me and says "Hey, we're gonna use you on Grey's Anatomy" - and I've just been talking to her about how much I love the show.

I won't swear but I swore and I was like "F U" and she's like "Hello?" And I go "Who is this?" It turned out that it wasn't Angela, it was the woman from the Chop Shop and she's like "I need to speak with Anya Marina, we need to license her song for Grey's Anatomy." I was like "Oh uh! Yes, speaking! Speaking! Right here!" It was such a surprise - and I felt like a jackass but it literally changed my life. My car was breaking down and because of Grey's Anatomy I was able to buy a newer grey car. I bought a grey car and I named my car Meredith.

I'm a true fan, I watched the very first episode. There's nothing better than having your song in the show you like! Remember the recap episode? It was the season finale and then there's a part where they're in the elevator and Meredith goes "I miss you" and he comes right up to her ear and he goes "I can't!" And my song is going "You oughta hear...." (sings).


-> READ the full transcript along with high/low quality mp3 of the Interview by Clicking Here! <-

On-Demand Unreleased Track - Try It And Like It

KGRL proudly presents an exclusive on-demand stream of an unreleased Anya Marina song titled Try It And Like It. Enjoy!



Use the player below to stream the exclusive track:



Try It And Like It

Miss Halfway CD Review

Miss Halfway is the first full length by Anya Marina that was released in 2004 under Good Rope Records and produced by Scott Russo (Unwritten Law) and Peter King (The Surfers, Dakoda Motor Co.). The album starts out with a cutesy catchy upbeat acoustic song titled Clean And Sober. Heartbreak and female indicisiveness run as the theme of this pop-folk track. This opener makes a delightful introduction to the quirky world of Anya Marina.

Miss Halfway, the album title track, follows next. The words flow as smoothly as the melody that accompanies the track. This is the kind of song you can put on continous repeat while relaxing. Anya's soothing vocal work, while surely not of pop idol quality, does work perfectly in these type of songs. Her conversational style in singing is the key in making these songs as interesting and intriguing.

The album continues with a 2 minute long, or I guess I should say short, track titled Lovesick. This is one of those things where the length does not matter, it's just short but it definitely pleases - auralgasmically. While Anya gets to feel sick over being lovesick, we get to feel better listening to Lovesick.

Sadly, three of the songs in the album failed to give us the same feeling, namely: Space Monkey, If It Feels Right and Krikor's Waltz Redux - with the latter sounding more like a 1 minute filler. The problem with these songs is that they failed to launch into a fully constructed composition - like something is missing. It's still not a bad listen either way, and that's because of - once again - Anya's conversational singing style. It's just that once you get into this section of the CD, you're more than likely bound to hit the skip to the next track button.

Fortunately for us, the rest of the tracks are nothing short of stellar. Someday and Fantasy puts us back on the right track - bright, bubbly, cutesy, quirky, and witty folk-pop at its finest. Sociopath follows it up as a wonderfully-crafted melodic folk-pop. The whimsical yet classy form of delivery is highlighted with the masterful acoustic guitar and bass arrangement. It's no wonder this song made it along with Miss Halfway into an episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Anya's version of Disney's Someday My Prince Will Come is a welcome revival. Anya's vocal work suits the melancholic nature of the song, albeit a little pitchy around a few of the notes. Morning's A Peach (Come Back To Bed) is a pretty poetry complemented with the full acoustic jazz band type of sound.

Miss Halfway is quite a success for a first full-length. Some of the songs managed to get proper exposure for Ms Marina. It's a really enjoyable listen sans a few bumps along the way. If you're looking for a quirky, witty, and humor-infused acoustic pop-folk CD that you can pop in the player and relax to, then this CD is a superb recommendation. A quick listen to the new songs point to a hint of change in direction (with the acquisition of her beloved 1968 Gibson) - a heavier, edgier, electric sounding Anya. Now, we wait.

Miss Halfway CD - Buy It Now (Click Here)!

Tracklist:

Clean & Sober
Miss Halfway
Lovesick
Space Monkey
Someday
If It Feels Right
Sociopath
Someday My Prince Will Come
Fantasy
Morning's A Peach (Come Back To Bed)
Krikor's Waltz Redux

Anya Marina Photos

Play Slideshow!