Ainjel was dubbed a ‘musical prodigy’ at the age of three. In preschool, teachers donated a classroom piano to her household after she toddled up to it, having never seen a piano before, and began to peck out “The Brown Sugar Rag” from memory. Within months, she was banging out all of the classics (Bach, Stevie Wonder, and of course, the popular Theme From Star Wars) without ever having received so much as a word of instruction. Her ability to mimic and improvise was, and remains, remarkable. With the exception of a few guitar lessons from her mother, she is entirely self-taught.

It seemed apparent from early on that Ainjel was destined to make records. By the age of seven, the crafty youngster was using a handheld recorder and stereo to create multi-track recordings. Her hands were too small to play a regular guitar, so she taught herself to play the bass. She would often join her mother, also a singer/songwriter, on stage to sing in clubs and cafes along the west coast.

In 1991, she was transplanted to Austin, Texas. She finally began playing guitar and joined her first garage band. She then forged a musical partnership with a pal who was the daughter of a bass player for many music legends, including Willie Nelson. The girls’ regular gigs (at ages 14 and 15, respectively) took place at a seedy bar across from the Air Force base on the outskirts of town.

Ainjel dropped out of school and left home at sixteen. That year she co-wrote and recorded a song with members of Austin rock outfit Nogood Boyo, on which played bass and sang backup, and cut her first solo recordings live to tape at Austin’s Sweatbox Studio. At seventeen, she packed her things and headed for Los Angeles to pursue a career as a professional recording artist. There she worked on different projects with various producers, experimenting with everything from indie rock to hip hop. To supplement her meager income, she performed on the Venice Beach boardwalk nearly every weekend; sometimes blocking pedestrian traffic with the crowds her smoky, four octave voice would command. This started a longtime tradition of “busking” for Ainjel, who has gone on to perform on street corners and in subways across the country.

At eighteen, Ainjel began to hone her skills as a songwriter and frontwoman. Her band, The Usual Tragedy, garnered a loyal following around Hollywood. They flirted with label and publishing interest, but Ainjel - already well on her way to becoming an uncompromising visionary - turned them all down flat. “I haven't been offered anything worthwhile yet',” she says about shying away from industry attention. “If I want to be eye deep in debt and told what to do by a bunch of suits, I'll run up a few credit cards and get an office job."

It is this unapologetic, thoroughly committed attitude that drives Ainjel forward. After her band’s breakup in 1999, she moved back to Texas. She learned to play the drums and started playing solo shows around Austin. In 2000, she met and joined forces with bassist Gabe Garza. Within months the two were headed back to Los Angeles to form power trio Gasper with former Usual Tragedy drummer Rich Sherwood. The band completed a little over half of a record before falling apart in 2001. Frustrated but increasingly determined, Ainjel acquired an eight track reel to reel and vowed that she was going to make her own darn record; band or no band, studio or home studio. She headed back to Texas yet again, with all of her gear and a few articles of clothing stuffed into her tiny Honda Civic.

Ainjel began working on HEARTACHE IS BORING while sleeping on her best friend’s couch and working part time as a video store clerk. Her fierce dedication to the project inspired a handful of friends and fans to invest some of their hard-earned money into it. In the summer of 2002, she met Kyle Ellison (Meat Puppets, Butthole Surfers) and Mat Mitchell (Skatenigs). She recruited the duo to oversee the album's formal recording sessions, most of which were to take place at Willie Nelson’s Perdenales studio. Former Gasper bassist Garza returned to contribute to this project, and for additional drums she called upon friend Kyle Schneider (Schatzi, Abra Moore). Ainjel was active in the process; covering the majority of the instrumental duties and taking music home with her to continue tracking long after wrapping the day at the studio. The sessions took place over the span of two weeks, but it took nearly a year after the final mix was finished to finally put the record out. Longtime pal and gifted mastering engineer Jim Wilson (Bob Mould, The Flatlanders) eventually stepped in and helped expedite the process and, in October of 2003, HEARTACHE IS BORING was at last ready for commercial release.

Since the release of HEARTACHE IS BORING, Ainjel has established a worldwide following and a reputation as one of the most promising independent female artists coming out of Texas today. She has matured into a gifted songwriter, formidable musician, and captivating performer. Her skills as an accompanist have been enlisted by such established artists as Shandon Sahm (son of Texas legend “Sir” Doug Sahm), Johnny Goudie, and Tony Scalzo (Fastball). She is currently working on a follow up, SONGS TO PASS THE QUIET HOURS, set to be released early next year.