Ainjel Emme

Ainjel Emme
Ainjel Emme in her studio
Background information
Occupation(s)	Songwriter, musician, producer
Associated acts	Puscifer
Website	http://ainjelemme.net

Ainjel Emme (born September 28, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and producer.

Born in Martinez, California, Ainjel Emme (pronounced "angel em") spent her early childhood in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, and Venice, California before settling in Austin, Texas in 1991. She currently lives in Los Angeles. Known primarily as a solo performer and recording artist, Emme is also an accomplished songwriter, session vocalist, musician, and producer.

Emme got her start singing back-up on stage with her mother, also a singer-songwriter. She dropped out of school at age 15 and became a street performer, since she was still too young and inexperienced to play in the clubs around her hometown of Austin. She credits her friend Ray Prim, whose band she followed and had regular, all-ages residencies around town, as being "the only one to take a chance and put me on stage." Not long after that, she was discovered busking next to Austin's legendary Black Cat Lounge by the owners of Sweatbox Studios, who invited her on the spot to record a few demos live to 2" tape.

Not long after her first session, Emme left for Los Angeles in hopes of becoming a professional recording artist. She has occasionally recounted stories of this time on social media, during which she struggled with drug abuse, depression, and anxiety. Eventually, she concluded that she wasn't cut out for Hollywood, and returned to Texas. After working an office job during the week and Starbucks on the weekends for nearly a year, hoping to save up enough money to record her own album, Emme was suicidal. The SIMS Foundation stepped in and helped put her on the path to recovery. She sobered up, attended therapy, and returned her focus to music.

Emme's independent debut, Heartache Is Boring, was recorded at Willie Nelson's studio in Pedernales, TX and released in October 2003. The tracks were developed around demos recorded on Emme's Fostex R8 reel-to-reel machine. Some elements of those recordings made it to the album's final mix. Co-produced by Mat Mitchell (Puscifer, Nine Inch Nails) and Kyle Ellison (Meat Puppets, Butthole Surfers), the record received critical acclaim ["Shimmers with art and soul" – BUST Magazine (Spring 2004), "Hits the mark right out of the chute" – The Austin Chronicle, (October 2003)]. Heartache received regular airplay on local radio in Austin and made Top 10 CDs of the Year at KUT 90.5 FM. Only 1000 physical copies of the album were ever manufactured. The CD went out of print in 2006, but it is still available digitally through iTunes and other online retailers.