Marina Lambrini Diamandis was born 10 October 1985 in Brynmawr in Wales, and is known mononymously as Marina (often stylised as MARINA), and previously by the stage name Marina and the Diamonds. Despite not having a musical background, she had a childhood love of writing, and she first began writing music when she was 18 years old. She moved to London to attend dance school, but quit after two months, and then she studied music at the University of East London, and transferred to a classic composition course in Middlesex University the following year, but dropped out after two months. Knowing that the Spice Girls were formed by an advertisement in The Stage, Diamandis applied for auditions listed in that newspaper, travelling to several unsuccessful auditions, including opportunities with the musical for The Lion King and a boy band organized by Virgin Records. It was during this time that she managed to leave her CV with an A&R representative, but was unable to audition at the time of the appointment as she felt sick. In 2005, she created the stage name "Marina And The Diamonds", even though she was a solo artists, and after she came to prominence she considered "The Diamonds" as a reference to her fans instead of her backing band. Inspired by the example of self-produced outsider musician Daniel Johnston, Diamandis decided to compose her own music and stop going to auditions. She taught herself how to play the piano, and self-composed and produced her earlier demos with GarageBand, independently releasing her debut extended play 'Mermaid vs Sailor' through Myspace in 2007. As well as publishing the 'Mermaid vs. Sailor' EP she also posted demos to her MySpace page, and a further twelve tracks which appear to have been recorded at the same time as the tracks for the EP have since surfaced, and have been compiled into a fan-made album entitled 'Give Me The Money!'. As these are very early recordings then don't expect anything that sounds like her later releases, but I'm sure that fans of her work will be pleased to hear these early works from the idiosyncratic singer.
Track listing
01 Starlight
02 The Common Cold
03 Silver Walls
04 Supermodel's Legs
05 Lonely Bones
06 Perfect-Oh
07 Hubba
08 Hot, Cross Bun
09 Katyb
10 Happy Meal
11 Pancake Karma
12 Where Diamonds Grow
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