Jade Ryusaki (No Secrets) - January 2003

Here are some of the highlights from the Interview.

Tommy: Why don't you tell us where you grew up?

Jade: I grew up in Los Angeles, but in the summers when I was little we had a house in Hawaii. We would go there every summer to spend time with the family, so we had two houses.

Tommy: So I'm guessing that's where you got your introduction into Hula?

Jade: Yes, I have been dancing Hula since I was four years old.

Tommy: Most people know you as Jade, but are there any other names you go by like nicknames you can tell us?

Jade: People call me Betty, some people call me JD for short, I have a lot of nicknames. But I won't tell them all because there kind of embarrassing.

Tommy: Can you tell us maybe one?

Jade: Well my mom calls me TitshaBoo. And she says it in this really weird voice and she'll say it when were in public.

Tommy: When you were younger, who did you look up to musically?

Jade: I use to sing Madonna "Like A Virgin" when I was five years old. It wasn't really good with my teachers and things! I also grew up listening to some Hawaiian and some oldies like Marvin Gay, Earth Wind and Fire, stuff like that.

Tommy: Now these days, what kind of music inspires you?

Jade: I don't listen to one type of music. I listen to some Green Day, Earth Wind and Fire, Journey, Korn, Justin Timberlake is in my cd player, I listen to a lot of things!

Tommy: Is there anything unique that you like to collect?

Jade: I collect shells, like sea shells.

Tommy: Other then Hawaii do you have a favorite state you like to visit when your traveling?

Jade: I love the Florida Keys and New York which are to very different places but I love them both.

Tommy: As far as music, what is the one thing that got you into music and how long have you been doing it?

Jade: I've gone to performing arts school since I was little because my mom is in the movie industry actually. I've done modeling where they would send me out in commercials and they would put me in musiv videos so its always been around. I really got into it in junior high which was a performing arts school.
Tommy: Music might be apart of this but what do you do when your having a bad day?

Jade: I like to write when i'm having a bad day, in my journal. I wrote like five journals last year, I have a big trunk full of journals and I just write constantly. I love to read, listen to music, stuff like that.

Tommy: This last year has been a really busy one for you. Lets start with August, what was it like when things started talking off?

Jade: We were actually on tour with Aaron Carter, which was our first tour! Then we did the Teen Choice Awards and we got to meet a lot of cool people like Nsync, Britney Spears. It was just a real cool month, it went really quickly but we got to do so much! It was our first time being on tour so we got to perform every night, sleep in during the day, and do what we love to do. It was a lot of fun!

Tommy: Any funny moments about the tour you can tell us about?

Jade: We had food fights, people would prank us. We had this one thing where we would wear our pajamas and Angel Carter (Aaron Carter's sister) knew I had to be in the wagon, so she put m&ms in the wagon with water so it died it and when I sat down in it I was all wet and it ruined the costume but since it was the last show it was okay. It was horrible, I was to embarrassed to turn around because it looked like I peed in my pants.

Tommy: What kind of things have you been up to since then?
Jade: We've been doing some recording, we just did a show at the house of blues the other night which was a lot of fun because it was in our home town. We never ever get to perform in LA, so to perform at our house of blues was a lot of fun. Then we also had about a month of which was cool. We haven't had a month off in a while so that was really nice for the holidays.

Tommy: How was your birthday?

Jade: I had a blast, I was with some really close friends and they surprised me with a cake. Then they took me to a Chinese restaurant and I'm Japanese but they were making fun of me saying they wanted to take me to my ancestors. It was fun!

Tommy: So it was a bit of a contrast from your birthday last year when you spent it in the studio right?

Jade: yeah, that was fun. We got into a big food fight in the studio.

Tommy: Some of the recent shows you've had you've been performing with LMNT, how has it been sharing the stage with them?

Jade: They are awesome! They are some talented boys! They get better and better every time I see them. We saw them Monday night rehearsing and we are like "Oh My Gosh you guys are amazing and we should be opening for you!" They are really nice guys, we love them and keep in touch with them. We've been seeing them a lot lately.

Tommy: What other groups have you enjoyed performing with?

Jade: Aaron (Carter) is always a lot of fun, just because we are always so comfortable with him, his bands, and his dancers. We've shared the stage with Mario and did the Macy's Parade to which was a lot of fun. Mario was there, Play was there and they are the nicest girls I have ever met and their accents are so cute. You want to have a conversation with them for hours and hours just so you can hear how they speak. I think i've enjoyed performing with everyone that we've shared the stage with.

Tommy: As far as your concerts go, do you have a favorite song you like to perform?

Jade: I love to dance, that's like my favorite thing to do. We recently recorded a dance routine to "Hot" which is one of our songs on the album that we don't perform very much. But we just performed it the other night and it was a lot of fun. So it has to be my new favorite song.

Tommy: Obviously, we can't see the dance but can you sing a little bit of that? (she sings it)

Tommy: Earlier you hinted about Camp Summer Stage, is there any more you can tell us about at this time?

Jade: The movie is still in the works and the script isn't completely done yet but there are a lot of ideas of people that may be in it. People are saying Lindsay Lohan is going to be in the movie. People are saying that Hilary Duff is going to be in the movie, but there isn't anyone who is actually picked yet. We'll definitely be in it and Aaron Carter too.