Artist Spotlight: JASMINE

Official Site: www.tvirecordsandfilmworks.com
Images provided courtesy of Paul D. Gold of Miami Film Lab: miamifilmlab.com

Bio

I was born in the Dominican Republic to a mother who was born in the Dominican Republic but whose parents came from Spain and a father who was Brazilian/Dominican. I came to the U.S. at two years of age in 1978 with my parents where we settled in Brooklyn, N.Y. At home growing up, My sister and I would go around the house putting on shows singing, dancing, and modeling. All throughout school, I was always involved in all of the shows and events. I was in all of the choirs, drama(plays) and theater events. I was even involved in city events such as parades and other local events that had anything to do with entertaining an audience.

After my father died in 1989 my mother decided two years later to make a move to New Jersey where she thought life would be better for us. I knew from a very young age that the only thing that would make me truly happy in life would be to do what I love to do, and that is to entertain people. I love to sing, act, and dance, but singing is truly my passion in life. I began singing in front of people around the age of three when my parents discovered that I had a love of singing. My mother soon had me singing in the church choir where she attended when I was growing up. After H.S. I went on to college and was majoring in theater and music. One memorable musical that I did in Upsala College (in NJ) was "Into The Woods" I was casted with one of the major lead roles...Cinderella. Around the same time, I was awarded the Gladys Glenwich Music Scholarship in 1995 in Upsala College. I then transferred to Montclair State University(NJ) and graduated from there in 1999 with a Bachelors degree in Psychology and Sociology.

After college I began to get seriously involved with singing, acting and modeling. Recently in 2001 up to now, I have been modeling for 5th & Ocean Clothing. I have appeared in their catalogs and billboards. I have done a couple of regional commercials in South Florida... I was also casted as a 'Thunderfox' in Thunderbox, a syndicated television show which shows on Saturdays at 10pm on mund2 and Fox, UPN, and various other networks in different states and cities. I also appeared in CSI Miami recently. My biggest accomplishment, which I am very proud of has been receiving a recording contract. My entire life, I have worked very hard trying to get this opportunity and finally, perseverance and dedication has paid off.

I want to thank that two people who gave me this opportunity and believed in me Paul Gold and Tony Valor... Thank You! I love you! I am currently recording my first album... it will be released in January 2003.

Our Interview with Jasmine

Q - Stage Name
A - Jasmine

Q - Years in business
A - 14 years.

Q - Favorite artists
A - Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton, Celine Dione.

Q - Growing up, what did you think you'd become?
A - I always dreamed of becoming a singer.

Q - How did you get started in this business?
A - I actually began singing in the church my mother attended. I then joined the school choir all throughout school (grammar school, High school, and College). In H.S., I participated in the N.J. Teen Arts Festival in 1993 and competed along many other schools singing Opera. I came in third place.

Q - What projects are you currently involved with?
A - At the moment, I am recording an album with TVI Records which will be released in January 2003. EMI is our distributor. I am also involved in modeling and acting.

Q - In your opinion, what makes you stand out from others in your field?
A - I never think of myself as standing out from anyone else, but I have been told numerous times that I have a great personality. I am very outgoing and friendly. I would say that I am a very approachable person.

Q - What is your most memorable moment as a musician?
A - In 1993, I was voted Vocal Music Queen of my High School.

Q - Is there anything about you people don't know that may surprise them?
A - A lot of people don't know that I have been married for seven years now. They don't believe me because I look like a baby they say....

Q - If you had to describe yourself in 3 words, how would you do it?
A - I don't know. It is hard for me to look at myself and describe my self. I just am... a lot of things.

Q - What do you consider your best quality to be?
A - I would have to say that it is my simplicity.

Q - What do you do for fun when not performing?
A - I love to go out shopping, to movies, concerts, and I love to eat.

Q - What inspires you the most in life?
A - Life itself. Everything around me inspires me.

Q - What's your favorite food?
A - I enjoy many different types of foods, but I guess if there was one type of food I could eat everyday without getting tired of it, it would be Italian yum!

Q - Do you have a pet?
A - I have two dogs...Rolley and Tobi. Rolley is a 10 lbs Rat Terrier and Tobi is a 4 lb teacup yorkie. I love them both... even though they wear me out.

Q - What is the last good movie you saw?
A - John Q

Q - What was your craziest experience ever?
A - Bungee jumping, and then going right back up there to do it again.

Q - The most impulsive thing I have ever done:
A - Getting up in a restaurant where they had live singing, taking the mic and start singing. Immediately after, I got hired on the spot to sing every weekend.

Q - If I wasn't doing what I'm currently doing, I would be:
A - Trying to get to where I am now, so that I would be doing what I am currently doing...confusing huh! My whole life I has been trying to get to where I am now...recording in a studio doing what I love.

Q - If you could take a dream vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be?
A - Venice, Italy

Q - If you were anyone else for a day, who would you be?
A - I honestly have never thought about wanting to be anyone else... I guess I would just try to be the best person that I could be.

Q - Before I die, I want to:
A - Be on the cover of FHM magazine....

Q - If I looked in your cd player now, what kind of music might I see?
A - I listen to a little bit of everything...so, you would find a different array of music such as pop, R&B, dance, jazz, latin and rap.

Q - What advise would you give someone interested in your field?
A - Never give up. Persistence, hard work and dedication will take you where ever you want to go in life. Hey, no one said it was going to be easy! Remember, nothing good in life comes easy otherwise, it wouldn't be worth it.

Q - What's one question we should have asked you but didn't?
A - You should have asked: Why do you love singing and music so much? And I would have said: Singing is my life....music keeps me alive. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that the world would be a very dull and dark place without music to brighten it up and breath life to it... Now isn't that amazing!

Q - Anything else you want to say to our readers?
A - Thank you!... for taking your time to read this and getting to know me a little.