rhythm.connection presents A MOMENT WITH LYDIA PAEK

Guess what! A double feature for Sept. 11/09! Let's see what's up with Quest Crew/Boxcuttuhz member Lydia Paek!

Lydia Paek (born March 28, 1990 in Los Angeles, California) is a member of dance crews Quest Crew and Boxcuttuhz. She is also a singer, and she has made quite a name for herself. From a young age she showed much potential as both a dancer and a singer, and has gone through many challenges so far to get where she is today. But with every struggle, she says, God is there too. She just recently hosted ISA 2009 in San Gabriel alongside Tom Ngo, and she keeps busy with practices with both dance crews as well as other gigs. Now take a look as we find out who Lydia Paek really is!

How long have you been dancing for?
5 years

What style(s) of dance do you specialize in?
Breaking, funk, choreo.

Your primary dance crew is Quest Crew. How did you hookup with them originally?
I sessioned with them a long time ago, and I became friends with then, they wanted me in because of my potential, not cause I was good. Cause I was not good a long time ago haha.

You’re also a member of Boxcuttuhz, which you joined during your time in ABDC season 3. How are things going with you guys after ABDC?
They are good, just doing our own things, shows here and there, traveling, training,and sessioning.

Are you working on any big projects or events right now, either by yourself, with Quest, or with Boxcuttuhz?
Just training more with both crews and my own music.

What is your training schedule like?
Random ahah

Who are your favorite dancers?
I have a lot - Yoshie, narumi, shi chen, sean evaristo, lando wilkins, alottttttt...I can go on forever.

Who are your closest dance crew buddies?
TM, Quest, Common Ground, Fanny Pack, RingMasters, KabaModern, and more :)

Aside from dance, you also sing. How long have you done that for?
Umm I actually started dancing first then singing lol, since I was in jr high.

Who are your biggest musical influences?
stevie wonder, luther, india arie, lauryn hill, maxwell, kim burell, smokie norful...etc.

In several of your YouTube videos, you’ve been seen playing alongside guitarist Aj Rafael. How did you two meet?
Through Randolf Permejo, basically mutual friends.

Would you ever consider doing a career in music aside from your dancing, and why or why not?
Yes I think singing comes with dancing.

What do you do in your spare time when not playing shows or practicing?
cook, draw, hangout, sew, make music, write, workout.

What is your current obsession at the moment, and it can be anything!
Hello Kitty and Dove chocolate hahaha.

“I talk with a melody and walk by beats” is your motto. How did you come up with it?
I don't know, I write a lot so I was on a roll with this one spoken word I did, it just came out, I made it up and I stay true to it.

When are you happiest the most?
When someone around me is playing music.

What is your favorite Bible verse, and why?
Mark ch. 11 verse 23 and on, because it gives me strength and security.

Do you have any advice for people who want to pursue either dancing or singing?
No matter what, never let anyone down you for what you love to do, it might be hard and I won't lie, its gonna be a struggle but your gonna enjoy it at the same time. If you pursue it make sure you put your heart into it cause anything to do with music comes from the soul, you make your own story to tell through dancing and singing.

And finally, after everything you’ve accomplished or done, is there one thing you haven’t done yet that you want to accomplish, something very important, very ‘epic’ as I phrase things like that, what would it be?
Ummm, be on a TV show like acting I guess even if i suck at it, make an album, make my own line of clothes, lol I have a lot more to accomplish and achieve, we'll see where I am in about 10 years ahaha.


And there you have it! Thanks to Lydia for the interview, and saiyonara for now!

J~


Lydia Paek

rhythm.connection presents A MOMENT WITH YouTube MUSICIANS - MEGAN LEE

Hello world! Back with another interview with another rising YouTube star - enter Megan Lee!

Megan Lee (born September 18, 1995) is an singer/dancer/actress from Northridge, California. She has quite the resume, including having done commercials for Wal-Mart and DirecTV, has been in promos for several different Disney shows, dances a variety of styles, and plays several instruments, to go hand in hand with her amazing voice and acting. Now she spared a moment to answer some questions!

How long have you been doing music for? Are you doing it professionally or independently?
I have been doing music all my life and I am currently independent :]

What style of music do you generally play?
Most of the time i am r&b, pop, and pop/soft rock; sometimes i like to freestyle rap with my brother!! :D

How did you first get involved in music?
I always had a passion for music.

What made you decide to starting YouTubing your musical talent?
I was influenced by other Youtube stars ^ ^

Who are your biggest musical influences?
Christina Aguilera and Michael Jackson

How does it feel to be getting all this support from people for doing what you do?
I feel very LUCKY. And very appreciative. :]

Is there ANY musician that you would like to do a collaboration with in the future?
Singing with Jason Mraz ;]

What has been your most popular cover on YouTube? Your most popular original song on YouTube?
Haha I don't think I have that many views yet on YouTube because I've been deleting and haven't been posting up many vids yet...but I'm currently working on it! I have to admit that I need to be more diligent on it. :]

What was it like performing alongside big names like Jinah Kim, Gerald Ko, Alfa, Mike Isberto and the like at Kollaboration Acoustic 3?
I thought it was a GREAT honor to sing alongside them and to meet them ;] Everyone actually was just AMAZING. Every performer is my inspiration and role models! Plus, just to be on that stage made me feel like a super star!! Wow!

I imagine you have a lot of music tastes; what do you normally play on your iPod and/or when you’re at home?
I love fun beats and tunes.. CATCHY songs!! :D And recently I added tons of kpop and jpop! haha

Where’s the one place where you can go and get your creative flow going in order to write/create music?
My bedroom ♥ I have a really interesting room with tons of posters and colorful things, its where my creativity takes place. ^ ^ everything happens in there ;D

Who is your closest musician friend, and how did you two meet?
Will Volume. :] i have only known him for a couple of months but somehow it feels like years. Hes a very talented musician, friend, and music teacher. He can play over 20 instruments!! isn't that crazy?? haha. We met when I was looking for a pianist for the Kollaboration performance!!

What do you do in your spare time when you’re not playing music?
I love to draw!! :] and I'm pretty interested in fashion designing! It makes me relaxed... ;]

What do you hope to accomplish while being involved in music?
First of all, a finished original song that im working on now :] And eventually, I want to become a musician who could be a positive influence to people. I want my music to relate to other people and to put smile on people's faces.

Do you have any final words for the readers?
haha THANK YOU SOOO MUCH and I am only 13 now so please watch me grow bigger, yay!! ♥


Once again, another amazing performer, and another act to watch out for! Till next time, I'm o-u-t!

J~


Megan Lee

rhythm.connection presents A MOMENT WITH YouTube MUSICIANS - ALFA GARCIA

Waaassssuuuupppp? (I know, lame sauce.) Me again, with another part in the YT musician segment, and I'm joined by NYC-based singer/songwriter Alfa Garcia, voila!

Alfa Garcia (born October 11, 1985 in the Philippines) is a singer-songwriter from North Jersey/NYC. Born and raised in a family of classically-trained musicians, Alfa is far more than that. Apart from having taught herself to play guitar 10 years ago, and also able to play the piano and the violin, she's got quite a voice, and has traveled to many big cities in North America to do her thing. She's got a lot of heart and soul for being a young musician, and now continues to share her passion with others!

How long have you been doing music for? Are you doing it professionally or independently?
I've been involved with music since I was 5, so basically my whole life. I started off playing classical violin and piano and eventually branched out and started writing my own material. I'm doing it independently and hope to become "professional" - i.e. do it as a job.

What style of music do you generally play?
I always dread this question! :) It's hard to say, and a little misleading to "brand" the style. I really started writing music because I just wanted to express thoughts and melodies that I had, never aiming to be any kind of sound. But I guess if people really wanted a classification, I'd go with pop/rock/acoustic/folk. That's the best I can do. :)

How did you first get involved in music?
My mom plopped me down on a piano bench and introduced me to my piano teacher when I was 5 years old. That really started the snowball into other instruments and eventually, songwriting. I'm thankful for it! :) But I come from a family of musicians, so it’s always been a part of my life.

What made you decide to starting YouTubing your musical talent?
- I really didn’t start doing it myself. It started when people posted my performances on their YouTube pages. Truthfully, I'm kind of old-fashioned in that I think nothing beats the live experience, and I'm most interested in improving the live show. But seeing how cool it was for people to think my performances were worthy of posting online, I realized it would be a good way for me to get my songs heard too. I am not as active on YouTube as I can be, but it’s DEFINITELY something I hope to change in the coming months, so stay tuned, k? :)

Who are your biggest musical influences?
Biggest? Hm, so hard to say! When I was younger, I got a lot of motivation from my grandfather. He’s got a knack for playing piano by ear – to this day, he’s still better than me at it. So he was probably one of the earliest influences to writing music, and trying out a non-classical style. When I started listening to popular music, I got very much into a grunge band called silverchair. They didn’t have much popularity in the States but were huge in Australia. Funny enough, the lead singer’s writing style really spoke to me back in the day despite the fact that his sound was so different from what I sound like. But like I said, I never intended to “sound” a certain way, and I think his sense of songwriting was what I picked up on and it motivated me to write introspectively. Later on I picked up a lot from Jewel’s earlier career and Fiona Apple. Now I kind of feel influenced by so many female singer-songwriters: Joni Mitchell, Billie Holiday, Regina Spektor, Sara Bereilles, Feist, etc. and also a lot of bands: Death Cab for Cutie, Stars, the Beatles.

How does it feel to be getting all this support from people for doing what you do?
I am honored and humbled at the same time! And it definitely pushes me to keep on becoming the best songwriter and performer I can be.

Is there ANY musician that you would like to do a collaboration with in the future?
I’d love to collaborate with any of the artists that just did Kollaboration Acoustic 3. I think they’re all excellent and I can learn a lot from each of them.

What has been your most popular cover on YouTube? Your most popular original song on YouTube?
Most popular cover is Feist’s “1,2,3,4.” I don’t do a lot of covers to begin with, and this was my only foray into covering songs on YouTube. It’s stunning to see how many hits a cover will get you. My most popular original song? I don’t really know that. The new album just came out, so I guess those songs haven’t been able to get as much face-time yet, per se, so we’ll see what happens. Of the older bunch, maybe songs like “The Lament” and “Better” were somewhat popular.

How did it feel to win Kollaboration Acoustic 3? And how was the event overall?
It was pretty shocking. I came into the event just hoping to sell a few CD’s and get some more people tuned into my music. I never imagined I would actually win. It was pretty much the “icing” on the cake, though. Just being there and connecting with all those artists for an entire day was more than enough for me.

I imagine you have a lot of music tastes; what do you normally play on your iPod and/or when you’re at home?
It totally depends on my mood. If you look at my iPod, you’ll probably scratch your head. I’ll listen to everything from Cypress Hill to Sara Bareilles to Devendra Banhart to Paramore to French rap. Go figure. :) Recently, I’ve been listening to Camille – my favorite French singer. Her first album is pretty low-production and a bit grittier than her second, but it’s got a great acoustic feel and her lyrics are really quirky.

Where’s the one place where you can go and get your creative flow going in order to write/create music?
Hm, my room.

Who is your closest musician friend, and how did you two meet?
This question’s a bit hard…having grown up with music I feel like a lot of people I’ve known through the years are musicians. The closest… definitely my sister. She plays flute and piano and was trained in classical singing.

What do you do in your spare time when you’re not playing music?
I have a day job, sadly. I’m a writer for a newspaper… aside from working and music, I try to travel whenever I can and I just enjoy hanging out with friends in the city (NYC).

What do you hope to accomplish while being involved in music?
I just hope my music has a positive impact on people. Whether they’re inspired to do music too, or if they can feel connected because of my lyrics, that’s really the best reward for me.

Do you have any final words for the readers?
Thanks for reading! Hope to meet you soon.


Huzzah! There it is folks! Thank you to Alfa for the interview, and I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did. Till next time, adios!

J~


Alfa Garcia

rhythm.connection presents A MOMENT WITH YouTube MUSICIANS - KRYSTLE CRUZ

Hey guys, for your reading enjoyment, the first in a new segment on my blog, featuring up and coming musicians who have made a name for themselves over YouTube and are getting a lot of attention these days. My first guest in this new segment is San Diego-based singer Krystle Cruz - enjoy!

Krystle Cruz (born January 22, 1988 in San Diego, California) is a independent R&B/acoustic singer. Since the age of 3, she has been rapidly gaining attention as both a great singer and dancer. Taking an active role in both dancing and singing, she started performing in venues at the of 9, and continues to keep bringing fresh performances. She also was the captain of a dance team in her high school years. As well, in 2008, she and fellow musician Michelle Martinez got the chance to do some intensive training on an all-expenses paid trip to Japan financed by one of Japan's biggest record companies, Avex Trax. I spoke to Krystle, and she was able to spare a moment to speak with me on how she continues to strive to be a great musician!

How long have you been doing music for? Are you doing it professionally or independently?
Well, I've sang ever since I was 3 years old and started performing at age 9. I started writing music on and off when I was 16 and just became serious with it early this year. I am currently recording an album independently.

What style of music do you generally play?
Usually, you will hear me singing R&B/Pop/Soul genres but I also like to expand my horizons and try other genres like Pop/Rock and Indie music.

How did you first get involved in music?
When I was handed the karaoke mic at 3 years old :-)

What made you decide to starting YouTubing your musical talent?
I had a channel for like a year just for leaving comments/feedback on other people's videos but thought it was silly to sing in a video so I never did it for a while. Quite a few friends finally convinced me to post some videos to get my talent out there because they believed I would be a "star". So now I have videos on YouTube of me singing and sometimes, dancing :-)

Who are your biggest musical influences?
Long list short: Christina Aguilera, Etta James, Alicia Keys, India Arie, Esmee Denters, Demi Lovato, Paramore, Whitney Houston, (old) Mariah Carey, Adele, Danity Kane, Jennifer Hudson and the likes.

How does it feel to be getting all this support from people for doing what you do?
It feels absolutely AMAZING. Doing the "music thing" can become discouraging from time to time but when I think about all the friends, family and fans who support me no matter what, it makes it that much easier and is a great reminder of why I love to do what I do.

Is there ANY musician that you would like to do a collaboration with in the future?
This changes probably everyday but at the moment, I would love to collaborate with Demi Lovato because she is such a young soul with so much talent and songwriting skills.

What has been your most popular cover on YouTube? Your most popular original song on YouTube?
My most popular cover on YouTube (strangely) is "Knock You Down" by Keri Hilson, which is a collaboration with Angie Girl. I currently don't have any originals up on my YouTube but they will be up within the month.

This question is for Krystle and Michelle Martinez. How was the experience of briefly training under one of Japan’s biggest record labels, Avex Trax?
This experience was by far the most memorable musical opportunity I've ever had. It opened my eyes to another world and another aspect of the international music industry. We met a lot of people from around the world. We learned a lot of new things musically, culturally and personally and have definitely used it to apply to our musical journey.

I imagine you have a lot of music tastes; what do you normally play on your iPod and/or when you’re at home?
Depends on my mood. I have a very diverse taste in music. You can catch me playing anything from Keri Hilson to Adele or Etta James, Jamie Cullum and of course, Demi Lovato.

Where’s the one place where you can go and get your creative flow going in order to write/create music?
Either in my room or balcony

Who is your closest musician friend, and how did you two meet?
-This is probably already obvious but my closest musician friend is Michelle Martinez. We actually met in Japan in September 2008 and have kept in touch since although she is from the Bay Area and I'm from San Diego. Our experience in Japan brought us closer together because we worked hard toward the same goal and we only had each other to rely on. And now you can catch us collaborating at shows here in the US or singing in a YouTube video together :-)

What do you do in your spare time when you’re not playing music?
I like to write in my journal. I've been writing in journals since elementary school so it's something I do religiously. It's really nice to also read back at what you wrote in the past. It helps you understand yourself and see how much you grow through time. Also, when I'm not busy singing, you can find me dancing. And just like anyone else, I just like to have fun whether it be going clubbing, hanging out with friends, having dinner with family, etc. During the summer I love going to the beach and during the winter I like to go snowboarding. And on any given day, Disneyland floats my boat :-)

What do you hope to accomplish while being involved in music?
I hope to inspire people with my music, as every musician does. Although I have videos on YouTube, I like to focus on being known for being a great performer on stage, even when it comes to dancing. I want to use my personal experiences and express them through my music to further my growth and reach out to others.

Do you have any final words for the readers?
Please be on the look out for my upcoming originals and performances in the near future and if you have any further questions, feel free to ask me on twitter: @krystlecruz :-)


There you have it! Just one of the many fresh faces on YouTube who you should be keeping an eye and ear out for! Till next time, signing off!

J~


Krystle Cruz