iSound

My name is Aimee Allen. I was born to sing and write songs. I wrote my first song when I was eight years old. I wasn’t interested in school, and I didn’t particularly care about making friends. When a teacher was giving a lecture, I would write very detailed notes—not to pass their tests, but to try and unearth a great lyric. I only cared about bringing songs to the world; everything else was irrelevant. I felt very alone growing up in Catholic school so I created a rad crew of friends that I listened to during lunch or after school. My best friends were Bob Marley, Ani DiFranco, Tom Waits, the Violent Femmes, Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Bad Religion, Bad Brains, Joan Jett, Jeff Buckley, NWA and Rage against the Machine. I had many more friends—then and now, of course—but this was my main crew. I’ve gotta give respect to the ones who got me through such dark days. They understood what I was going through in a way no one I was going to school with ever could. My greatest hope is that I c...