Anna Nalick was born on March 30, 1984, and grew up in Glendora, California, near Pasadena. Early indications of her developing into a future songwriter appeared before she finished grade school, as she would rewrite the lyrics to popular songs she liked during class time. She soon took up the guitar and learned to compose melodies based on others she'd heard, and couple those with the lyrics she had written to create her own slightly sampled songs.

During high school, music began taking up more of Nalick's time. She continued to develop her songwriting craft, which had become increasingly original, and also began performing live with a local rock group. She sang lead in a Rush cover band, and had to be "really angry and do a lot of screaming" with another group that played hard rock and heavy metal tunes. While she gained valuable stage and performance experience, she had her mind set on playing her original