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Kaila Yu Vital Stats
Birthday: May 16, 1979 Birthplace: Taipei, Taiwan Middle name: Ying Height: 5' 4"
Hello Drama song sample
SinglesOur Last Night Move Roll Away Candy Coated Sugar Sex Get Up On You Just A Dream Let's Just Do This Sugar Hello Drama Film Credits Toilet Lesson (2000) Role of "Sarah" Dark Blue (2002) Role of "Pole Dancer" The Mummy's Kiss (2003) Role of "Waitress" Until the Night (2004) Role of "Ali" The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) Role of "Cowgirl" It's Not Just You, Tommy Chu! (2006) Role of "Sarah Sometimes" A Study in the Orientation of Han Sum (2006) Role of "Mrs. Lan Smith" Harry Potter in the Hood (2007) Role of "Harry's hotties" The Indian (2007) Role of "Limo Girl #1" The Metrosexual (2007) Role of "Tiffany the Dancer" Runners (2008) Role of "Mimi Kahn" |
Kaila Interview
Taiwan born and California raised Kaila Yu is the lead singer of the group Nylon Pink. Their Japanese anime and Harajuku fashion inspired show has toured in the US and Australia. Their signature song "Hello Drama" was recently featured on an episode of The Hill.
Kaila was one of the shyest girls in her high school but was able to transform herself into a professional model and TV host. She has since become an internet celebrity, voted one of the top 100 sexiest women online by Stuff Magazine with over nine million visits to her MySpace page. She has made appearances in several movies such as The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Kaila also owns a line of jewelry called Hello Drama with fellow Nylon Pink band member and friend Kit E. Kat. The two are now throwing their unending energies into pursuing their music careers. On April 24, 2008 Kaila was kind enough to give an interview to Andrew from J-Pop World.
First of all the number of different projects you are involved in is
amazing. How do you keep yourself grounded with so many different demands
being put on you?
I am very lucky to have many great friends, coaches and mentors in my life. They keep me going when life gets hard and it seems like things are spinning out of control. I think it's important to read a lot and always be learning. Some great books that have helped me are "Think and Grow Rich" and "The Power of Focus." Your family moved from Taiwan when you were three. As a kid growing up in California your life was filled with music and dancing. Who were your favorite music groups growing up? I was a huge Guns N Roses fan. Loved Motley Crue and Skid Row and Nirvana. I also loved Paula Abdul and Mariah Carey and The New Kids on the Block, so my tastes were kind of all over the place! 
You've said that your high school yearbook committee wanted to vote you the
shyest girl in the class. While you were in college you made the decision
to pursue a career of modeling and singing. What brought about the change?
I always dreamed of being a performer even when I was very shy. I always hated been shy and I worked very hard to push myself outside of that shell. I don't think most people would call me shy today and I'm glad for it~! In 2007 you started the group Nylon Pink with Kit E. Kat. Tell us about her and the story of forming the group. 
Kit.E.Kat and I ran in the same circles but because of gossip and
other stuff we didn't get along at first. It was only after my friend
suggested her as a jewelry designer for my new jewelry line and I
saw how talented she was that we bonded and realized that there was
no reason to not get along. In fact, we had so much in common that it
only made sense that we should be the best of friends!
Your debut song is called Hello Drama. Tell us the story behind it and how you would describe its sound and feel. Hello Drama is a song that I co wrote with Kev Nish from Far East Movement while going through some personal drama in my life. It is all about our lives! Somehow drama is always attracted to me and Kat and there's just no way to get around it. We hate drama sometimes but sometimes you just get too pulled away by the excitement of it all. When there's too much drama in our lives there's too much tears and fighting. But when there's no drama...we get bored. So it's a no win situation! But one thing I can say -- our lives are never boring! It's definitely a rock sound with its own unique electra pop feel! The song was featured on the season premiere of The Hills. What was your reaction when you first learned about this? 
It was so exciting and it happened so fast! Out of the blue the music
department from MTV emailed me about using the song and they rushed us
since they were using the song the following week. I didn't even
realize sooo many people watched the Hills.
I got so many text messages from friends who saw the song on the show and another thing was that half those text messages were from guys! I didn't know so many guys watched The Hills!! Tell us about the song Candy Coated Sugar Sex. It's an older pop song written by my wonderful producer Embryo. It was a fun dance song with a catchy beat! Nylon Pink has been touring in Australia. What's life on the road like Down Under? I am actually in Sydney at this moment typing this interview! It's been such an exciting time here. The people here are so nice and hospitable. We are staying at the Hilton here and what's crazy is that the MTV Music Awards is taking place this weekend so everyone's just bumping into celebrities everywhere. We saw The Veronicas downstairs, rode with Eve from the Ruff Riders in the elevator and my band mates saw Mischa Barton and Wyclef Jean. It's just surreal to be staying at a hotel with all these people we love and admire! We just performed in Sydney last night and the energy from the crowd was just amazing. You've describe your show as inspired in part by Japanese anime and Harajuku fashion. How would you describe that culture to those unfamiliar with it? 
If you've never checked out Japanese anime, you've got to watch at
least one. I think most people could be easily hooked as fans! The
genres cover all kinds of themes; adventure, fantasy, romance, comedy.
You name it! I love the heart of anime. There really is a lot of heart
in anime and you really get drawn in, to really care about the
characters. My personal favorite is Chobits. Chi is so cute! The new one XXXholic--super cool.
Harajuku fashion has been brought to the mainstream by Gwen Stefani. The Japanese really have an over the top flair for fashion that I just love. They have crazy ass nails with all kinds of jewels and charms dangling off them. Then there's the different subsets of style....Gothic Lolita, the Ganguro Girls, etc etc sooo much style. We love it! Nylon Pink is also the name of a TV show you host with Kit E. Kat. What were some of your more memorable interviews? Dj Skeet Skeet from the hot band Schwayze was a great interview, very funny and Beardo from Whitestarr was also off the wall. We love off the wall people. Are there any certain celebrities you've dreamed about interviewing? We would really love to interview Richie Rich from Heatherette or Betsey Johnson! You've made cameos in films such as The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and have a part in the upcoming film Penthouse. How fun was it to be part of a movie? Being on a movie is just so much fun. You're transported into this make believe world and you bond with the cast and the crew for the short time that you are working with them. The Fast and the Furious is still my best experience. They transformed the streets of downtown Los Angeles completely into Japan and all the actors down to the extras had on amazing, Japanese style wardrobes and they had the coolest cars on set. It was a huge production. You and Kit E. Kat also have a line of jewelry. Tell us about it. We do an edgy rock anime jewelry line called hello drama after our lead music single. It represents a lot of dark themes mixed with a twist of cute...razors, knives, skulls, made to look cute and sweet, which we believe is a representation of DRAMA! 
You've done a lot of modeling the last few years. What type of exercise
and dieting routine do you do to keep in shape? Do you find it easy to be
disciplined or is it a struggle?
I go to the gym about 3-4 times a week and do cardio for 30 minutes to an hour. It's very easy! As long as I go to the gym I can eat whatever I want and never have to worry about what I eat. Stuff Magazine has listed you as one of the top 100 sexiest women online. Did that come as a surprise? It was a complete surprise. They didn't even tell me I was going to be featured! I just heard about it when the magazine came out and my friends told me about it! It was definitely an honor and I'm so glad to be included in such a great group! You have over 450,000 friends with almost 10 million views on your MySpace page. But you also run a paid website called MsKaila.com. What's the benefit of being a member of that site? MsKaila.com members get personal interaction with me from webcams. I answer all emails from members and there are tons of sexy photos and videos that you won't find anywhere else! What are the chances of Nylon Pink coming out with a full album this year? Watch for the full album in late fall! What does the future hold for Kaila? Nylon Pink wants to take over the world and paint the world pink! Thank you to everyone who has supported me!!!! I wouldn't be here without you!
For more info checkout Kaila's MySpace page and MsKaila.com. |