Amanda Ava Koci (born February 16, 1994), known professionally as Ava Max, is an American singer and songwriter. Ava first got her start in the music industry in 2008 as Amanda Kay, in which she released her first EP titled “Amanda Kay” that year. The EP featured 6 songs that were co-written and produced by Kevin Rudolf. Ava would then restart her music career under the name AVA in 2013 and release the single, “Take Away the Pain”. A year later, she would meet music producer Cirkut and begin recording songs with him.