Niko was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. Half Japanese, Spanish, Norwiegen, German and Philipino, her parent’s record collection was as rich as their heritage and from a very young age she was obsessed with music, spending hours at the piano every day, singing in a gospel choir and staging musical theatre perfomances in her backyard. By the age of 16 she was singing at prestigious jazz festivals across America with her prize-winning High School Band.