What’s your full name and your stage name?

• I'm Jessie Mendoza and my stage name is Atshara (former stage name Keicee when I was still in theater and doing jazz)

Birthday and your birthplace?

• May 1, (wont say year LOL), born in Manila but raised in Antipolo, Rizal and later Tondo.

When did you know you are inclined to music?

• At an early age, I was already singing and had my first public performance at age 6, started playing keyboards at 7 but wrote my own songs quite late, I was 24.

When did you start playing?  Which instruments do you play? What was the first tune(s) you learned?

• Keyboards at age 7, learned Rondalla (that really hurts) in elementary, continued to play piano. I started making computer recorded music and soundtrack and remixes just recently, October 2014.

Describe your first instrument. Other instruments.

• I fell in love with using the keyboard and the first song I learned were not children’s songs (my fave was the theme of The Never Ending Story). I learned to play with guide from my older sister but she said I got better than her as I loved playing oido, meaning I try to play the song by just picking it by  ear. I was never really meant for guitars, again playing Rondalla was difficult so I switched to art and journalism instead. I learned also how to play percussions after I got exposed to more musicians. I finally decided to play instead, using the computer to make my music as I cannot always ask other musicians to play for me, that was the turning point when I decided to become different.

Who helped you achieve learning your instrument of interest or who is your vocal coach? Who was your first teacher? Other teachers?

• My older sisters thought me both, how to get interested in using keyboards. My first one was a small Casio which only had four octaves so learning chords was difficult, but I already had fun adding electronic background music to simple piano which I could do then. My siblings also became my first vocal coach and exposed me to a lot of music - the eldest was a fan of 80s new wave like Depeche Mode and Tears for Fears, the other sister exp;osed me to like divaesque and musicals like Miss Saigon whereas my brother introduced me to pinoy rock  (Yano) and rap (hahaha the gangsta songs). Then we had our young group who liked singing to covers when we stay late at night and they said they expected I will pursue which I didnt believe but I guess they were right! I also have theater and jazz background and sang before in choir groups.

Is your family musical?

• Yes, but not in terms of being musicians or songwriters. But as my dad always told me, my great grandparents used to be songwriters too (I have Molina and Bautista blood and those families are known for making music). We sing a lot, karaoke during gatherings or just random when we want to esp my dad.

Describe your family member's musical interests and abilities.

• My dad is into oldies from 50s to 60s but also likes novelty tunes. My mom is like me anything goes and she is probably the one who understands my music most as she listens to divas, to bands, to pop like Maroon 5 and even Eminem! Both my older sisters were members of the rondalla band, my brother raps before and also played rondalla, my youngest sister also played lyre but none took music as passion. They are more of musiclovers and big fans too of their favorites!

Which famous musicians do you admire? Why?

• Bjork is a hero. I somehow learned to be fearless with music because of her, the way she wants her music to be visual, artistic, unrestrained yet connecting not only to the ears but also to one’s soul. I admire many and those I admire had interesting stories, being outcast, ridiculed by other children and rejected many times. Alanis Morrissette, Sarah Maclachlan and again Bjork but there’s many!

Which famous musicians have you learned from?

• So many but my inspiration are usually Bjork, Tori Amos, Garbage esp Shirley Manson, Lady Gaga. Style wise. I adapt to what I feel like writing so formerly I was inspired by the likes of Lene Marlin and Suzanne Vega but I\m now leaning to sounds of Sia, Lorde and Lana del Rey.

What are your fondest musical memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or town?

• Fondest I think, I never had yet but most memorable was writing Sanib and Delicious. Delicious wasn't meant to be a dance song but more of a track about landing on the moon but when you get hungry things look different and writing the whole song took only 20 minutes! (Without instrumental of course). Sanib was weird as I was singing the lines part by part every morning, not night as if it was being given to me. Strange and scary hahaha!

Were you influenced by old records & tapes? Which ones?

• I have a collection before of more than 300 tapes and many CDS. I also had this habit before of recording songs from the radio on our recorder as I cant but each record so I rather have mix tapes, some I still have! Inspiration, of course, they shaped my taste for music. My first tapes were Spice (Girls), Jagged Little Pill (Alanis), Tellin’ Everybody (Human Nature), Savage Garden and In Deep (Tina Arena).

Who are your favorite musicians? Groups? CD's?

• I have a lot of favorite groups but some albums I never get tired of are All Saints (the debut album), Mirrorball by Sarah Maclachlan, Left of the Middle by Natalie Imbruglia and Kitchie Nadal’s debut album. I almost forgot, Kylie Minogue's "Fever"!!!

What was you first original composition? What was it all about, lyrical message/content?

• The first song I wrote is called “Frantic” which deals about unrequited feelings because of fear. I wrote it during the time I had my keyboard, was living alone and felt restless of my feelings. It just wanted to burst out. The song though I decided to give to Thea Vito but I recently sing the song now live with a guitarist.

Have you been in competitions? Himig handog? Philpop? Or any other?  Any prizes?

• I don’t like competitions honestly as I grew feeling compared always. So like what Radha  of Kulay quoted before, walang basagan ng trip, this is my music hahaha! But honestly, I want to make a movie score and have it sung by someone popular and the prize could just end up as topping. I wrote a song BTW for the James Bond film which is called “Kill Me”.

Do you perform in public? Describe those occasions? Concerts, radio, TV guestings?

• Yes I have performed on radio, open mics, busking events and recently a mini concert we did at People’s Park in the Sky in Tagaytay where I got a list checked from my bucket list. I sang “5 Years” of Sugar Hiccup as intro to Sanib and damn, it felt so good! Sugar Hiccup is a fave OPM band!

How do you handle mistakes during a performance?

• Continue to perform. Your voice may  crack, you miss a beat or you forget the lyrics but all be in character. I would prefer a performance with few mistakes but in character and enjoying it than being pitch perfect but too much drawn away by pressure and sucked out of character. Of course, we have to learn to make things better and always look at each performance in a venue as if it were our last.

Do you get nervous before a performance or a competition?

• Honestly, Yes. And that’s better as over confidence can make you boring whereas feeling a bit nervous yet excited makes some great surprises. I always like changing things during performance.

What’s your other job or music job you are offering?

• I manage a family business then I organize/execute ‘organized’ street or public place busking in Manila and lately we have gone outside NCR. At the moment we call the group Buskeros Manila which has produced some upcoming stars. Kalyo, Sofia Carpizo, The Soledads have busked with us and we keep getting more people interested in joining this vision. Unlike random buks done by others, we always aim to have a goal to revive interest in OPM and patronize again local artists and introduce the artists and usually cover good old OPM. At the same time, we aim to encourage more musicians especially students to get out of the bars and cafes where their audience is also other artists and instead bring their music to the real audience which is the common listeners.

• I used to be a tour gudie to so  traveling and meeting people and entertaining in the street is part of what I was used too. I also coach younger or new musicians to how to develop further - I am not an expert or guru but having teaching experience has advantages in persuading people. Then I plan to produce an album with acoustic versions of some tracks of indie artists which we aim to be played by mainstream radio. The project is called Kichin Sessions and we do practice and recordings plus shoots on April 30 to May 1. We aim also to have a bigger concert eventually for indie artists and get the music industry to give chance to us instead.

What advice would you give to beginners or to those who wish to follow you music goals? To fellow indie artists?

• Never be afraid to explore outside of your comfort zone. Some would say follow what is in but what if you start a trend? Instead of being a wind, be a bushfire that starts and ignites others around you. Inspire others and never keep friends who look down at you. Take criticism and be challenged but never let them take you where you want to, you have your own music and destiny to share.

How do you balance your music with other obligations – family, friends, children, job?

• I devote proper time to each. Learn how to make things in compartments. Some get too focused on music or their passion that it causes tension with family and friends. Have devoted time.

Jessie Mendoza just made a demo EP which he share as a give-away to people and it is called "Elected Priest". It has 9 tracks, two are instrumentals, some are mixed or upgraded versions of his songs that was uploaded and were previouly released.

Please check Jessie Mendoza's music:

• reverbnation.com/atshara

• soundcloud.com/atshara

• atshara.bandcamp.com

• Youtube Channel of Atshara Music.

"Continue to promote indie and inspire others to excel! Thanks so much to this opportunity to share thoughts."-ATSHARA