DIY Spotlight: AINALos Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and producer AINA says that she wrote her first song when she was just nine years old. By the time she reached her teens, she realized that music is what she’s meant to do.“At 15, I taught myself to produce,” she says. “Sometimes it’s hard to explain the exact sound I hear in my head, and there weren’t a lot of people willing to produce a little girl’s songs, so I didn’t wait for anyone to believe in me—I learned to produce myself. Learning to produce gave me the freedom to create songs exactly the way I envisioned them. That’s when it stopped being just a dream and started feeling like my purpose.”According to the musician, she describes her sound as pop but elaborates by saying that it’s her own version of pop.“Sometimes fun and playful, sometimes edgy and moody, and sometimes big and cinematic,” AINA says.MC caught an AINA show last year, when she weirdly opened for hair metal band Heaven’s Edge at the famous Whisky A Go-Go in Hollywood. That wasn’t her crowd, but we were impressed by the manner with which she held her own. Her latest release is the “Dying to See You” track.“[It’s] about that butterfly-in-your-stomach feeling you get when you’re missing someone or about to see someone you love,” she says. “I wrote it, produced it, and designed the cover myself. It’s a fun, feel-good song that works anywhere whether you’re listening alone, sharing it with someone special, or playing it loud at a party.”AINA is still at the start of her career, but she has a great DIY work ethic. “DIY means not waiting around, you have to do it yourself (produce, write, make your own cover art, etc.). For me, it’s about being self-reliant. It’s not asking permission or waiting for someone else to believe in you. It’s making music without a manual, just you, your vision, and the will to figure it out.”Looking ahead, AINA has plenty planned for the coming months. “I have a lot planned,” she says. “I’m releasing a new single every month this year. My next one comes out September 30. I’m excited to keep experimenting, keep creating, and show different sides of me and my music.”Visit instagram.com/aina_xlThe post DIY Spotlight: AINA first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.