Birth Date: September 15, 1985
Weight: 50kg/102lbs
Height: 165cm/5' 6"
Languages Spoken: English, Thai, and a little Spanish
Joined MTV: January 2008
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Music Videos: All Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson videos, a big handful of Madonna videos, Amel Laurrieux - "Get Up", Jamiroquai - "Virtual Insanity", RJD2 - "Work It Out", Gwen Stefani - "Cool", D'Angelo - "Untitled", Guns N' Roses- "November Rain", Bjork - "It's So Quiet", Fiona Apple - "Criminal", REM - "Everybody Hurts", Tori Amos - "Silent All These Years"
Actors: Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Ryan Gosling, Al Pacino, Robert Deniro, James McAvoy
Actresses: Angelina Jolie, Rachel McAdams, Ellen Page, Lucy Liu, Kate Beckinsale, Kiera Knightly, Natalie Portman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Charlotte Gainsbourg
Movies: Aladdin, Moulin Rouge, Love Actually, Dirty Dancing, The Neverending Story, Breakfast At Tiffanys, Gigi, Juno, Sleeping Beauty, Hitch, Princess Bride, Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, Lucky Number Slevin, City Of God, Gone With The Wind, Love & Basketball, 300, Pan's Labyrinth, In Her Shoes, The Secret Garden, Little Princess, My Best Friend's Wedding, Star Wars, Apocalypto, Troy, Running With Scissors, V For Vendetta, Fight Club, The Pursuit Of Happyness, Se7en, American History X, The Departed, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Hotel Rwanda, Marie Antoinette, Ratatouille, Back To The Future, Kill Bill, Indiana Jones, The Green Mile, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Children Of Men, Crash, Letters From Iwo Jima, Perfume, Stand By Me, The Sandlot, Toy Story, Roman Holiday, La Bamba, Crazy/Beautiful, Little Miss Sunshine, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Romeo & Juliet, 50 First Dates, Love Me If You Dare, Stardust and so many more.
TV Shows: MTV! I'm also a huge Food Network addict. I love Will & Grace, Friends, Sex & The City, M*A*S*H, Entourage
Cartoon: Family Guy
Books: The Alchemist, Eleven Minutes, I Sat Down By The River Piedra And Wept, The Secret Garden, Memoirs Of A Geisha, Island Of The Blue Dolphins, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Life Of Pi, Truth, A Wrinkle In Time, Molokai'i, Siddhartha, Tuesdays With Morrie, The Island, The Time Traveler's Wife, The Life Of A Wallflower, One Thousand Years Of Solitude, It's Not How Good You Are It's How Good You Want To Be, The Secrets Of A Fire King, Blink, The Memory Keepers Daughter, Alice In Wonderland, Whatever You Think Think The Opposite, A Prayer For Owen Meany, Catch 22, The Giving Tree, Bum Rush The Page, anything by E.E. Cummings, Pablo Neruda, Bukowski and Agatha Christie
Countries/Cities Visited: I love Italy, Japan, Australia. But I can't wait to discover the rest of the world.
Food: I LOVE food and I'll never turn it down! It's impossible to pick just one dish but I love Italian, Japanese, Hawaiian, Thai, and of course junk foods and all things sweet!
Color: Turquoise. I like jewel tones.
Activities: Beach days are my favorite because I can lay on the beach and listen to music, picnic with friends, surf, play volleyball, read a book, and completely enjoy being alive.
Mobile Ring Tone: I'm in between phones right now but my last ring tone was "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison (Love that song!)
February 2008
VJ TAYA
By Lennat Mak
After dabbling in so many aspects of the industry, what attracted you to be a MTV VJ?
The channel. No matter where in the world I am, there's always MTV. I actually watched it in the morning when I was getting ready for school. You can put on MTV and still do your own thing and be watching it at the same time. I did a research report in school about Viacom and MTV, their campaigns and social impact. There's always something about the channel that I really respect and admire. And I like the channel in general for delivering the music and I'm really into music as well, so it's perfect.
What kind of music do you listen to?
Everything! I grew up listening to old rock 'n' roll like Elvis and Buddy Holly, courtesy of my dad. My mum raised me on soft rock, '80s stuff like Madonna and Paula Abdul, and reggae like Bob Marley. I grew up in a house that always had music going on. I discovered hip-hop when I was in third or fourth grade with TLC, Common and all these rap groups were coming out. One of my best friends is really into pop-punk and punk rock. If you go through my iPod, you will find everything in there, even country and classic music. It's all different kinds of music for all different kinds of moods.
What are your current favorite albums or bands?
I like Kanye West's new album, Graduation, as well as Alicia Keys' new album, As I Am, a lot. I listen to a lot of acoustic stuff too, so I've been waiting for the new Jack Johnson album. There's a band called Tomorrow's Bad Seeds that I'm really a big fan of. There's so much new music out there. Especially since I've joined MTV now, I've heard so much about other bands and new music that's coming out. It's quite exciting to be a part of it. Right now, I'm more into hip-hop than anything else because I DJ. When I DJ, I'm usually spinning underground hip-hop stuff.
Are you the kind who spins tracks off iPod or are you the old-skool types with vinyl?
I'm old-skool! I love vinyl! I still haven't upgraded to Serato, which is something I need to do in the near future!
How did you pick up DJ-ing?
I was really into hip-hop for a long time and I started going to hip-hop shows since I was 16. I always see the DJ up on stage with the MCs and rappers. It was really appealing. I played piano when I was really little and I stopped because I figured that I wasn't really good at it. My dad bought me a guitar and I tried playing guitar and my fingers are really short and it really hurt. When I started DJ-ing, I was like "Whoa, they are making music but they are not making their own music." It's like taking other people's music and making it your own. I really got into that and I started watching things like The History of Turntable-ism. I asked my dad for turntables and my dad was a DJ for his college so he was like, "Cool! Something that my daughter likes that I used to do!" They got me a set of Numark and I messed around with those until I met an actual crew in L.A. who asked me to join their crew. They were all really good and taught me everything. I've been with them for a couple of years now and I've upgraded my turntables and have just been collecting records and getting better at that.
Speaking of vinyl, what do think of the music state today where everything is in digital in the form of MP3s?
I prefer tangible stuff. I like seeing the actual booklet and reading who they are thanking and seeing their pictures. I'm a very visual person. But having iPods is so convenient! I remember back in the day where everything was in the CD format and I used to lug along my huge CD booklet! It's so much easier with an iPod. I love my iPod! I can't live without it! But if I had to pick, I would still buy vinyl and CDs.
Now that you've settled in Singapore for a career. How are you finding it?
Right now, I literally only know two persons who are not MTV affiliated, and that's it. When I was moving here, people asked if I know any friends here and I was like, "Err, no..." I don't know anybody! I hope people would come up and just talk to me. [Laughs]. I'm definitely open to meeting new people. I love traveling so I love the feeling of getting lost every now and then. I have the hardest time with the tunnels in Singapore. When you cross the street, you have to go underground. I always get lost! I feel like I'm really good with directions when I'm above ground but if you put me underground, I'm like "Oh, which way do I go?" But yeah, I just like throwing myself into a new culture and see what it's like with the locals. It's a big move and I'm kind of nervous about it. I've never been in Singapore for more than five days. I'm trying to get all my friends to come visit so I think it's going to be good!