A Greek-American musician, she was born and raised in Chicago. She learned the Greek language before the English language from her Greek immigrant parents. She obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Chicago, then studied cinema within the US Department of State program and received a Fulbright Fellowship to Madrid. She lived there for two years, and among her songs were "Someday" in 2009, "These Open Roads" in 2011, and "So Easy" in 2012. She performed the soundtracks for several productions, such as American Horror Story (2011), How I Met Your Mother (2010), and Still Alice (2014).