AS a child as young as three, Tasha Aleia found what she loved to do in life, which was to sing. Through massive passion, talent, and supportive parents to boot, the now 23-year-old is looking to release her first single sometime this year after being signed to Sony Music Malaysia.
And with about a year left before completing her business degree, Tasha, who is enjoying the best of her busy but fun schedule most recently expanded her foothold in the entertainment industry with a sweet new gig as one of the hosts of E! News Malaysia.
According to Tasha: “Obviously singing is my top priority but this is also really great exposure for me in terms of hosting - it’s really good exposure. I’m able to say yeah, I can sing, but I can also host.”
This comes after the singer’s brush as the host of local live trivia game show app Dooit Live.
How do you find performing live versus recording in the studio?
It’s completely different in a sense, recording in the studio, it’s just you and the producer, and everything has to be perfect, everything has to be very ...technical. Your pitching, your pronunciation even, and the feel. It’s not just about singing great, right, it’s about how you portray your emotions and feelings and people need to be able to feel your emotions through just listening to you.
When it comes to performing live, [whatever] energy the crowd gives me, I definitely would be able to give back. I’m thinking of my recent performance at No Black Tie recently. It was crazy. Everyone was cheering and singing along. That feeling of knowing people are enjoying what you’re doing and you’re making people happy and being able to sing your heart out - if you make a mistake you’re just oh, whatever, you laugh it off on stage.
In the studio, you can’t just like laugh it off ... I really love being on stage. I really, really love it. Especially when people are just like yeah, you’re amazing. I’m just like yes, this is why I do what I do because it’s amazing to know that you’re able to make people feel something. You’re able to make people feel good through your music and now that I’m in the process of making my own music, that’s like greater because now I can actually tell people the story through my eyes and not just other singers’ eyes.
What is the story or personal style that you want to tell with your music?
In general, I would obviously, love to be able to release an R&B song, because ... I love Beyonce, and I love SZA, and I love Ariana. They have pop and also R&B to it. That’s the direction that I want to take it to but in terms of like what the song is going to be about, it really depends but probably about love, love life. Don’t know if it’s going to be positive, if it’s going to be negative. I don’t mind because I’ve been through a lot these past few years when it came to my love life or whatever. I know, it’s kinda cheesy to say it ... like write a love song, but you know, it doesn’t have to be the cheesy Taylor Swift kind of love song, but yeah, I would love to write a song about love and my experiences with it.
Can you talk about your latest role with E!?
I’ve never done hosting, ever. It’s all been singing, singing, and singing, and then recently my friend, Bryan Foo, he’s the founder of this game show called Dooit Live, so he was like, hey, Tasha, like would you be interested to host this show, it’s a live game show. It’s an app on the phone. So I was like, yeah, I’ve never really hosted anything, so yeah sure. I tried it out and that was basically the start of my hosting career. I got noticed and people enjoyed it, I guess. My manager called me and they’re like hey, you need to go for a casting in TV3. They want to cast you for a hosting job for E!. I’m like, oh, interesting ... I don’t think I can do this ... I’m not a host, I’m not a proper, proper host. I went for the casting and everything went well. They were like, you and the two other hosts are gonna be hosting E! News Malaysia, and I was like, okay! So that’s been great. It’s pretty recent, so we had the launch recently. I’ve already recorded two episodes. It’s on Mondays and Thursdays on TV3’s and NTV7’s YouTube. It’s really exciting and really different from singing for sure, but it’s both as exciting. I really like it and I’m looking forward to what’s more to come.
How did it feel being the one to ask questions?
I was definitely nervous. I was yeah, okay, next question. I looked so stupid. Every time I was interviewing people - and I’m really small. I’m like a straight five-footer - I’m 150cm - so when I was standing up, everyone’s just like so, so, so tall, so that made me more nervous, so the first question ... everyone’s just like um what? Everyone had to bend down, so it was pretty nerve wracking but I think I’m getting used to it.
How are you juggling hosting and singing on top of school?
It makes it so much easier cause it’s fun. It’s something that I love to do. Singing is like second nature to me. And although I’m still warming up to this whole hosting thing, like I still have a lot to work on and brush up on, but it’s still fun Even though the days are very long, I still enjoy it and I’m so thankful that I am able to do something that I love. It’s always been my passion, so it’s great.
