Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The fresh and weird Anya Marina

One-time San Diego DJ and coffee-shop-pop singer makes good in the big city

Singer/songwriter/podcaster, and one-time San Diegan, Anya Marina plays a hometown show on Friday at the Loft. - Image by Shervin Lainez
Singer/songwriter/podcaster, and one-time San Diegan, Anya Marina plays a hometown show on Friday at the Loft.

Anya Marina is a singer/songwriter who got her start in San Diego but has moved on. On to releasing four studio albums and opening for national acts such as Chris Isaak, Jason Mraz, and Paolo Nutini, and on to providing music for TV and movie soundtracks, such as Grey’s Anatomy, Vampire Diaries, How I Met Your Mother, and the new Judd Apatow comedy, Love.

Sponsored
Sponsored

But the former local radio DJ who once had to be begged to get up to perform at local open-mics says she owes her career to her local roots.

Video:

Love

...official trailer featuring music by Anya Marina

...official trailer featuring music by Anya Marina

“If it wasn’t for San Diego I never would have gotten into music,” says Marina. “I cut my teeth at my first open mics here at Java Joe’s and Lestat’s. I feel close to San Diego...that it even allowed me to figure out how I could even be a musician.”

Some of Marina’s songs, like “Miss Halfway,” talk about how she didn’t have the self-confidence to get up and perform.

Marina says two locals gave her the career jumpstarts she needed.

“Steve [Poltz] taught me so much. I used to be so full of doubt onstage. He taught me to edit myself between songs and that I shouldn’t talk so much about self-doubt. He told me I should be wild and irreverent and not squelch my natural goofiness. I used to apologize between songs, and he nipped that in the bud.”

And then there was radio boss Michael Halloran who brought her to San Diego by hiring her at two now-defunct stations (92.5 and 92.1) and then at FM 94/9 as one of the original DJ lineup when that station debuted in 2002.

“I was full of doubt. Halloran always told me I was better than I thought I was. I’ll never forget that we were driving on the freeway and he pulled over and he said, ‘God dammit, you just don’t get it. You’re the star.’ He got me to believe in myself and in my high, raspy voice...that no one else around was as fresh and weird as me.”

Past Event

Anya Marina and Panic Is Perfect

  • Friday, February 12, 2016, 8 p.m.
  • Loft, 9500 Gilman Drive, San Diego
  • Free

After leaving San Diego, Marina spent time in L.A. and then Portland; she now lives in New York City.

Missing the broadcast thing, Marina went digital and launched the hourlong podcast We Know Nothing with comics Sam Morril and Phil Hanley. “It’s a fun, silly, everything-under-the-sun podcast about dating. We’ve done over 90 so far.”

Marina just released her fourth album, Paper Plane. She plays Friday at the Loft at UCSD.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Singer/songwriter/podcaster, and one-time San Diegan, Anya Marina plays a hometown show on Friday at the Loft. - Image by Shervin Lainez
Singer/songwriter/podcaster, and one-time San Diegan, Anya Marina plays a hometown show on Friday at the Loft.

Anya Marina is a singer/songwriter who got her start in San Diego but has moved on. On to releasing four studio albums and opening for national acts such as Chris Isaak, Jason Mraz, and Paolo Nutini, and on to providing music for TV and movie soundtracks, such as Grey’s Anatomy, Vampire Diaries, How I Met Your Mother, and the new Judd Apatow comedy, Love.

Sponsored
Sponsored

But the former local radio DJ who once had to be begged to get up to perform at local open-mics says she owes her career to her local roots.

Video:

Love

...official trailer featuring music by Anya Marina

...official trailer featuring music by Anya Marina

“If it wasn’t for San Diego I never would have gotten into music,” says Marina. “I cut my teeth at my first open mics here at Java Joe’s and Lestat’s. I feel close to San Diego...that it even allowed me to figure out how I could even be a musician.”

Some of Marina’s songs, like “Miss Halfway,” talk about how she didn’t have the self-confidence to get up and perform.

Marina says two locals gave her the career jumpstarts she needed.

“Steve [Poltz] taught me so much. I used to be so full of doubt onstage. He taught me to edit myself between songs and that I shouldn’t talk so much about self-doubt. He told me I should be wild and irreverent and not squelch my natural goofiness. I used to apologize between songs, and he nipped that in the bud.”

And then there was radio boss Michael Halloran who brought her to San Diego by hiring her at two now-defunct stations (92.5 and 92.1) and then at FM 94/9 as one of the original DJ lineup when that station debuted in 2002.

“I was full of doubt. Halloran always told me I was better than I thought I was. I’ll never forget that we were driving on the freeway and he pulled over and he said, ‘God dammit, you just don’t get it. You’re the star.’ He got me to believe in myself and in my high, raspy voice...that no one else around was as fresh and weird as me.”

Past Event

Anya Marina and Panic Is Perfect

  • Friday, February 12, 2016, 8 p.m.
  • Loft, 9500 Gilman Drive, San Diego
  • Free

After leaving San Diego, Marina spent time in L.A. and then Portland; she now lives in New York City.

Missing the broadcast thing, Marina went digital and launched the hourlong podcast We Know Nothing with comics Sam Morril and Phil Hanley. “It’s a fun, silly, everything-under-the-sun podcast about dating. We’ve done over 90 so far.”

Marina just released her fourth album, Paper Plane. She plays Friday at the Loft at UCSD.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Next Article

Reader 1st place writing contest winner gets kudos

2nd place winner not so much
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.