Growing up in Prague, the daughter of a local jazz musician, Maella would often visit the dimly lit, smoke-filled basement jazz bars in the city centre. Watching bands through a glowing haze of cigarette smoke that thickened throughout the night, she found herself feeling like she was listening alone, trapped in the aura of the music. Her time at these bars pushed her to start writing from an early age. On her twentieth birthday, sitting alone reading in a cafe, Maella put down her book and decided to drop out of her university in Prague and move to London to pursue music.