EPT![[image loading]](http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/4863/smix.jpg)
This is the first installment of (hopefully) many interviews. I'm planning on interviewing various interesting TL members that I feel deserve more acknowledgement for what they've done or are doing for TL and/or e-Sports.
I was lucky enough to get a Skype interview with Smix:
[AUDIO]
+ Show Spoiler +
Can you introduce yourself for us?
Smix: Hi, I am Smix, some of you guys may know me through the translating that I’ve done, or the parody songs or as the voice of sc2gears.
Why don’t you tell us a little bit about your name, your background, a little bit of that?
Smix: Yeah sure, uhm, my actual name is Sue Lee (이수민), it’s not Smix, and I go to school at Washington University in Saint Louis. I’m double majoring in anthropology and psychology and a Korean minor, and I’ll be graduating this May. And I’m originally from New York.
Awesome. You’re all the way from New York. Are you from New York City, big city?
Smix: I’m from Queens so, I’m not from like Manhattan, but it’s still New York city, so.
![[image loading]](http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/9859/pokebunny.jpg)
But you’ve been to Manhattan, I’m sure, right?
Smix: Oh, my high school was in Manhattan actually.
Oh nice!
Smix: Oh fun fact, I went to the same high school as Pokebunny.
Oh really? So…
Smix: Yeah, it’s really funny because I went to like a specialized high school that goes from 7th to 12th grade and uh, when I was a senior he was a 7th grader, so we may have passed each other randomly, who knows.
Without knowing. That’s interesting.
Smix: Yeah, it’s a fun thing.
So you’re a… I don’t know, you might say, a veteran on Teamliquid, would you say?
Smix: I’m… I don’t know…
Not to say you’re old or anything.
Smix: No, no, no, no, the reason why I would hesitate to say I’m a veteran is because there are people that have been around from like 2002 and I only joined in January of 2009, so I don’t want to say I’m a veteran per se, but I am staff, and I do know most of the veterans.
How did you first get introduced to Teamliquid?
Smix: Uh, so when I started watching Starcraft, I started watching mainly through the GOM Classic at the time, and uh, that was back when Tasteless and Lilsusie were commentating, and Tasteless would like, very, very often make references to Teamliquid.net and so I found it and in the beginning I just kind of used it as a way to kind of keep tabs on when games were live so I could watch it in the States but as I got more involved I decided I wanted to do a translation of like an MSL group ceremony that was going on at the time, so that’s kind of actually how I started contributing.
Wow. So you kind of just stumbled upon it and decided to translate, was that one of the first things you did on Teamliquid as a member?
Smix: Uhm, well I remember when I first… I had been lurking since like summer of 08, but I only made an account in January of 09, and when you’re that new of a member you’re not allowed to make a post yet, so I actually had a different moderator named InToTheWow like post my translation for me and that was like my first official contribution, yeah.
Nice, so you just decided to use your Korean skills and start translating, that’s pretty…
Smix: Yeah, I thought that group ceremony was really funny, and I noticed no one had translated it, and I thought the foreign community would also, you know, just enjoy watching it and stuff.
Yeah, the group ceremonies are pretty fun to watch. The progamers do pretty weird stuff.
Smix: Yeah, that’s actually kind of rare. Most people are pretty like, calm and boring. So, I think the group ceremony is a good place for players to kind of bring out their personality.
![[image loading]](http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/6726/translators.jpg)
So would you say that translating is more of a passion, a hobby, what would you say it is?
Smix: Um… it’s kind of neither? The reason why I got into translating in the first place isn’t because the act in and of itself pleases me so much, but more so because as I became a part of the Starcraft community I just really wanted to help out in some way and the most tangible way that I thought I could do that was to translate. You know, because I can’t really do anything else. So… and there’s always a need for translators.
What does TeamLiquid mean to you?
Smix: Um, in the beginning, so, had I known that my… I don’t know, involvement in Teamliquid would get to where it is now, like I just had no idea. When I first joined it was just a Starcraft site that I would browse occasionally and use to kind of keep up to date with the players that I liked. But, I got more and more involved, and I made some friends and then now, it’s actually like are really big part of my life. I’ve met a lot of people from TeamLiquid, and they’re all really awesome. And some of my really good friends are TeamLiquid users as well. So, I would say it’s definitely become bigger than just that random Starcraft site that I visit.
Do visit it as often as you do, say Facebook?
Smix: Oh yeah. Haha. Which is saying a lot, I don’t know it’s hard. I do visit Facebook very, very often, but TeamLiquid is one of the first sites that I visit when I’m awake.
What’re your routine sites?
Smix: My routine sites? I would say I check Facebook very, very often, obviously I check Gmail, um… I check Twitter a lot because I became more active once I started becoming more active and uh… I visit Reddit occasionally, it’s not something I visit as often as TeamLiquid… I think both have their pros. I’ve just been more involved in TeamLiquid.
Um, recently you went to Korea, is that correct?
Smix: Yes I did, I went for 3 weeks.
Can you tell us a little bit about your experience in Korea?
Smix: Um so, the main reason I was there was to see family and friends, so that was most of my time, but I did get to do some Starcraft things. I got to hang out with some of the Korean progamers that I became friends with at like, tournaments that I translated for and I got to go see a GSL match so I got to see live Starcraft 2 in Korea. And I got to hang out with Wolf and Tasteless after.
What did you do with them? Did you guys go drinking?
Smix: Oh yeah yeah yeah. After the matches were over, they ended kind of late, it was like 10:30 so we just went for a few drinks and just talked and what not. It was chill.
Did you go to the noraebang?
Smix: No, no, no. We just went to a bar that was nearby the GOM studios, and then we just… we actually drank a lot more than we thought we would. Because, obviously Tasteless was really tired, and I was really tired at that point too, but we just talked and talked and it was a good time.
![[image loading]](http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/2292/alived.jpg)
Yeah it’s a social thing with Koreans. I would drink with Koreans and they would be really tired but they would drink a lot, I don’t know, it’s a really big part of their social thing, it’s really cool.
Smix: Yeah, actually it was funny because I was with two non-Koreans at the time but I did drink with other Korean progamers.
Who did you end up drinking with and hanging out with?
Smix: So I hung out with fnatic.aLive, I hung out with ReIGN Artist, and I hung out with xSixSleep. And I met all of them at IPL.
That was before then?
Smix: Yeah, IPL3 was in October.
How are they, like personality wise, are they shy? Good at English?
Smix: Uhm, no, they’re not good at English, but it’s cute when they try to speak it, obviously everyone loves when the Koreans try to speak English. I would say out of the three I’m closest to aLive, just because he’s just a really chill, really nice guy. I mean everyone’s really nice. Sleep has a very kind of laidback personality as well, he likes to joke around and Artist is really, really nice too. So. I mean they’re all good kids.
So after meeting them, do you watch their games more, or are you more into what they’re doing in the Starcraft world?
Smix: Yeah, so, obviously, I’ve been kind of cheering for aLive more recently, just because I, you know I was worried about him because of all the recent events that he went through. But he’s doing really, really well in the GSL so, and I’m really glad he’s doing so well because I think after everything that he went through that’s a good, I guess, pro to kind of work towards, so…
Uhm, speaking of Starcraft, do you play by any chance, Brood War or StarCraft II?
Smix: So this is the question I get a lot, but I am actually just a spectator. I know that sounds weird, but um, I grew up watching my brother playing Starcraft and so for me watching Starcraft is, I associate it kind of with the comfortable feeling I had watching my brother play, and because I'm so bad at it, I just prefer watching people who are actually good at it so, I've never been into playing it myself.
![[image loading]](http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/7728/commentating.jpg)
You understand the game though, right? Both, Starcraft I and II?
Smix: Yeah, yeah, I do. Yeah.
Have you ever tried commentating?
Smix: Oh. He- HELL NO. I think commentating is one of the hardest things to do: I mean it's just, not only do you have to have like a really deep understanding of everything that's going on, but you kind of have to keep the viewers engaged as well, so I think it's a very dynamic job that sometimes goes underrated, but, um, yeah, No. Definitely not.
Maybe you should guest commentate with Tasteless sometime or something.
Smix: Oh nononono. I think that would be a disaster. I think the biggest contribution I could possibly give to that is to just say "replay saved" after the game is over or something.
![[image loading]](http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/383/myvoicez.jpg)
I should get sc2gears, and I haven't had it, but I heard from what people tell me, the voice is.. they can't get it out of their head.
Smix: That's actually... I remember when DakotaFanning, the person that made sc2gears, first messaged me about kind of voicing the different messaged, I had no idea that it would get to be as big as it is. So that's why when I first found out that players actually use it and I tuned into, uhm, like someone's stream, per se, and I would hear my voice kind of talk at the ends. That was very, very surreal for me, but... Obviously I'm just glad that I was able to help out in some way, it's just funny that it's through my voice.
Speaking of your voice... I know your singing voice is popular in the Starcraft community...
Smix: Oh my god. uhm... Yeah, that's.. yeah. It's embarrassing because I'm obviously not like professional or anything, uhm, but I'm just really glad that people were as receptive to the songs as they were... it was just.. yeah. The whole thing is just really funny to me.
So is singing like a hobby to you, do you just do it for fun, do you do chorus at school or...
Smix: No, no, no. Uhm, I haven't ever done it seriously, I've never been trained or anything. It's just something I do by myself. It's definitely a hobby of mine. I like to record just songs by myself a lot. Just to... yeah. I just like singing.
Do you sing in the shower?
Smix: No, I don't actually! Shower time for me is more of like a just think about things that are going on, reflective time. Not really a singing time. And I've always been kind of conscious about how loudly other people can hear me and stuff.
All right, uhm... so I think that'll just about wrap it up. Do you have any shoutouts or thank yous to anyone?
Smix: I mean, there's just too many people that I've gotten closer to in the community to like name them all individually but... I mean obviously shout out to the TeamLiquid community, you guys are awesome. It's been such an honor and pleasure to get to know, you know, the people that I'm close to on a more individual basis, and I hope that I can go to more events and I can hang out with you guys and what not. Yep, that's it.
If you want people to follow things that you're doing, or what not, how can they reach you?
Smix: Uhm well, I have a Twitter and the username is @sullyrabbit, so you can catch me there, I tweet pretty often so...
So uh, I guess that's it, thanks for your time!
Smix: No problem, I was embarrassed when you first asked me because I really feel like I haven't done enough to deserve this, but, I mean obviously it was an honor for me!
고마워요!
Smix: No problem, no problem, thank you.
http://twitter.com/sullyrabbit
http://teamliquid.net/forum/profile.php?user=Smix (all her songs and translations are in her profile) :D
http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=304888 Her most recent blog about her trip to Korea
![[image loading]](http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/870/nextupm.jpg)
