EPTI knew alot of people in the community wanted to get to know a little more about Tasteless, so I(Jamel) decided to interview the man himself...
Jamel:What was it like shoutcasting at WCG 2006 in Italy?
Tasteless:It was a great honor to shoutcast there. I got to meet so many great players and hang out with them. There were two stages I shoutcasted on. The main stage which was outside and was setup much like the Stage you see on VODs of the Starleague in South Korea. This was the stage where I casted with DJWheat. The other one i was in was called the "CyberSpace 2 Stage" This one was inside and i casted solo. At that stage i was also in charge of observing.
Jamel:What other events have you shoutcasted?
Tasteless:Not too many because i've only been doing this for a little over a year. I've casted at WCG USA finals in New York, WCG World finals in Signapore, The Blizzard World Wide Invitational in South Korea, The WCG US Open in Hollywood, The WCG USA 2006 Finals in Las Vegas, and just recently the WCG 2006 world finals in Italy : ) in almost half of those tournaments i was also competeing in as a player aswell.
Jamel:How did you get this job shoutcasting? Was it difficult to get in? Do you get paid to do this?
Tasteless:Well i have no real broadcasting experience. I've never broadcasted except for the times that i've been at those tournaments. Basically, when i was knocked out of the WCG USA Finals by my brother Day[9] (who played good as fuck btw) i didn't have much to do. I noticed they didn't have a Starcraft caster so i offered to go up there and co-cast with one of the ITG guys. At first they didn't think it would be a good idea but eventually i convinced them to let me on there. I was told i would have one chance to cast on the stage and after that they would consider allowing me to cast further matches. I took this very seriously and really tried to push myself when i was up there. After that they offered to take me to Singapore. Singapore was a really diffrent experience for me because there was so much more preasure for me to do well. There i got to meet the OGN people who were producing our broadcasts. They were really cool guys and it was alot of fun working with them. I do get paid for what i do. I do not have to pay for my tickets or hotel or anything, however i would prefer to not say the exact amount i am actually paid per cast since i think that would be unprofessional.
Jamel:Do you get nervious before you broadcast? And how do you prepair for your broadcasts?
Tasteless:I was slightly nervious when i first broadcasted in Sigapore. Looking back at those broadcasts i am disgusted with how i did. I was nervious because i had never spoke into a camera before which feels very unnatural. But when the games start my anxiety diminishes and i just end up focusing on the game. It took me a while to really get used to talking and filling time before a game starts. That was very hard for me to become comfortable with. After WCG Singapore I was unsure if i had what it takes to co-cast with someone. Knowing when to speak and when to hand the dialoge over to your cocaster can be very hard. DJWheat helped me out alot and it was a real pleasure to cast with him in Italy. He is SO easy to co-cast with it's unbelieveable. He has spent much time mentoring me and molding me into a better caster. I no longer get nervious before i cast because i've done it enough now to the point where it's no longer feels unnatural. Now i just find it to be alot of fun. ALso, i have no preperation before i cast. I usually don't even think about it until i get on the stage. I also don't plan out what im going to say. After trying that in WCG Singapore i decided i needed to think more on my feet and act more like myself. I think preplanning your casts or jokes can make you seem unnatural.
Jamel:What was it like casting with Marcus"DJWheat"?
Tasteless:It was truly an honor to cast with such an individual. He is SO good at broadcasting and his advice is so good. He's been in the bussniess for years and he's casted more games then most people would believe. I think his great ability to cast comes from the fact he is a true gamer at heart. He played alot of Starcraft before he even got to WCG and spent much time reviewing replays of major players so he had the adquate knowlege to talk about the game. I can honestly say that as e-sports continues to grow, there is no one else i would trust no one but him to lead e-sports casting into it's future.
Jamel:What are your other interests beisdes Starcraft?
Tasteless:I enjoy going to live music shows, my room mate is in a great punk band (www.myspace.com/afutureloss). I also enjoy skateboarding and longboarding with some of my friends. I'm taking voice and guitar lessons too. Other than that i spend alot of time partying at my college and playing other various video games.
Jamel: Do you get to hang out with any of the starcraft players when your not casting?
Tasteless:Yes i get to spend alot of my time hanging out with other players
I think im friends with basically everyone at the event. There are so many interesting and cool people at these tournaments so i try to hang out with them as much as possible. When i was in South Korea i got to spend time talking to Nada, Nal_ra, Yellow and Reach and in Italy i also got to hang out with Iloveoov, julyzerg, and Midas. They're all really nice guys and it was great to talk to them. I also have had the opprotunity to meet almost everyone on ToT. They're all really nice guys and good friends of mine . But i have got to spend time wich much more than just these players, and i am very lucky for it.Jamel: What have been your favorite games to cast?
Tasteless:Hm... This is a hard question to answer... I would probably have to say this is a tie between the WWI matches of Nal_ra vs Fisheye and the WCG 2006 matches of Draco vs Midas. Both were fucking awsome games.
Jamel: Are you in School? Does it conflict at all with your job as a shoutcaster?
Tasteless:Yes im currently studying philosphy and psychology at Regis University in Denver Colorado. And planning on attending graduate school to get my Masters or PHD in Philosophy. Sometimes my broadcasting job has goten in the way of my classes. I'm actually having to drop an economics class this semester because im failing based on attendance from classes missed at WCG Italy.
Jamel: Do you plan to continue to broadcast as a career?
Tasteless: Ofcourse! : ) I enjoy doing it very much, but there are many things i would like to do with my life so we will see. But as long as there are events the Starcraft community wants me to broadcast for, i will always be happy to be of service : )
Jamel: are you planning to shoutcast any more events in the future ? And are there any events you would prefer to shoutcast for?
Tasteless:You bet your ass im going to shoutcast more events in the future. If there was one event i would like to shoutcast the most, it would be the Starleague finals in Korea. That would be the most awsome shoutcast i could do ever. Prehaps if we can get enough support i can get sent down to cast one of these events. I would like to make it clear now that if enough people support me going to a starleage and casting it, i would be happy to do so (assuming OGN would let me and ITG could send me).
Jamel: Is there anything else that you would like to cover about your casts before we move on?
Tasteless: Hm, well i would like to apologize to the entire starcraft community for switching up my words when i cast. Something i am working very hard on is smoothing out my speech when i cast. I remember one time watching one of my casts and hearing myself use the word 'conflicutally' and thinking 'that's not even a fucking word.' I have had no background in broadcasting except for what people have seen my do in ITG. I think if people look back to my very fist casts they will see alot of improvement (i hope!). And i plan to continue improving because i truly want to deliver the very best coverage of starcraft possible.
Jamel: Your a protoss player. How long have you been playing Protoss?
Tasteless: Well i actually played Random for a little over 6 years. I found it more fun to understand all the races, but when i got to college i was so busy i really only had time to focus on one. If i focused on all the races i probably wouldn't have qualified for WCG USA finals the last two years. Since i've switched to protoss i think i've improved quite a bit, but there's always more to learn with starcraft.
Jamel: Do you still play competitively?
Tasteless: I will never stop playing starcraft. If a better game comes i might pick that up too, but until this game grows old (and it hasn't) i see no reason to stop enjoying it. I do play competitively, but not year round. If im too busy with school or traveling to for casting i have to put starcraft 2nd. However i love playing in the WCG tournaments and have always played and ranked very well in them. I prepaired alot for WCG this year, but didn't preform as well as i would have liked. Prehaps next year i'll do better. Regardless, i will not give up on myself : ) i'll keep playing. Because it's important to learn through failure. When i first broadcasted and watched my casts in Singapore, i felt i failed, and i let alot of the SC community down because i know i could have done better. But i wasn't afraid to go back and try it again. That's the only way to handle failure.
Jamel: What teams have you been a part of?
Tasteless: The very first team i was on was a team my brother day and i made called [Tang]~ , This team is almost 6 years old and only had a few players. Supprisingly one of these players was nyoken (WCG US Open champ). My brother and i were also friends with Assem back at that time. However we were all newbs then. I've been though a series of clans some known and some unknown. For a while i was captin and player for RSGamingh (rS.). I really loved that team back when it was around. We won the WGTour Divis 1 clan league 3 times and had a multitude of great players including Testie and others. I truely feel that when we were in our prime we were one of the greatest international starcraft teams out there. I just recently left rA. (also known as oG). They're great guys, but i needed a change. So as of now im solo.
Jamel: What is [9]?
Tasteless: There is a long story behind the [9] family that maybe i'll go into another time. The [9] is actually Day's thing and i think him and i are the only active bw players who are still in it. [9] has other players who are top in other games but most are located in Kansas City. We have top Marvel vs Capcom 2 and Counter-Strike players in [9] too. Think of [9] more like a family though, like the team liquid. family or something. When we were alot younger all the people in [9] used to lan together and party. Now we all play e-sports very compeititvely.
Jamel: You are a top american gamer, who do you consider your 5 hardest opponents (for each race) from the USA.
Tasteless: hm tuff question. For zerg day would be at the top, after that im honeslty not sure. When cocoa played in the USA he was a very worthy opponent. Next would probably be LZGamer. But i don't believe there are a ton of great zergs in the usa. Terrans in no particular order: Evade, Sadist, Nyoken, Artosis and Theognis. Im disculding Froz because he's inactive and assem becuase i havn't played him in forever. Protoss in no particular order: G5, Nooks (i think he started playing again), Nony, Nero and Slog4 when he's active the last 1 im not sure of... Im sure lastgosu would come in somewhere on this list but he's t and z so i dunno where to put him
Jamel: What is your relationship like with Day?
Tasteless: It's great, we've very close. We grew up sharing a room with our computers next to each other so we've always helped each other out in starcraft and played a ton of games against each other. I can honestly say i have the best brother in the world and that im very lucky.
Jamel: Any closing comments?
Tasteless: Hm, I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to watch any of my broadcasts. I want to share the beauty of Starcraft with everyone. It's my dream to share the rich experience i have had with e-sports to everyone. I would also like to say: Never give up on yourself and never be afraid to try new things. By trying new things you learn more about yourself. I never would have guessed i would be broadcasting starcraft tournmanets and i feel very lucky to have this job. I will continue to work hard on imporoving myself as a broadcaster in the hopes that starcraft can get more attention worldwide.
Pic:
![[image loading]](http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a151/tasteless9/nickasap.jpg)
ALSO: replay pack coming soon
!if any admin wants to neaten this up, feel free to!
Or did that get out of fashion with the romans.
