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Continued
from Page 2
DENNIS:
Let's
talk about the cosplay event you put together, "Condensed
Milk 2.0". What is "Condensed Milk" and what is the history
of the event?
MATT:
Lets return to the origin
of. Well, it was about a month or two after the first AniMagic
in October 2000, and some friends I had met through cosplay
and I were talking about how horrible it was to have to wait
for Fanime in March, so we decided we should have a small
con/get-together for all the California cosplayers and stuff,
since there's a pretty extensive network of us. While deliberating
on the name, we decided that like any other con, we needed
a play on words involving either the words anime or con, or
something to that effect. We were eating shaved ice at the
time, and someone blurted out CONdensed Milk, and we knew
we had our name. I took up the duties of coordinating the
event, and eventually held it at my house, and it turned out
to be a lot of fun, despite the lack of any funding or anything,
and we had tons of people, a lot of them I didn't even know.
But the only loss to my house was the apparent theft or loss
of the remote control to the TV. So the next year, we tried
it again, calling it Condensed Milk 2.0, at a small hotel,
and though it was fun, it didn't have the same outcome, due
to poor planning on my part.
 |
| PHOTO:
Matt posing with the USA Musume girls after their
performance as Mini Moni for their "Aiin"
segment at Ani-Magic 2002 in Lancaster, California.
PHOTO provided by Eurobeat King from cosplay.com |
|
DENNIS:
What is "Studio Unmei"?
MATT:
In high school, I
had aspirations of someday starting an art and/or animation
studio named "Studio Unmei". Unmei in Japanese
means "destiny," which is an important concept to my
personal philosophy. So I stamped all of my artwork
since Junior year of high school with either the kanji
for Unmei or a logo I made for Studio Unmei. A few years
later in college, with these aspirations still in mind,
I found a couple of like-minded guys and recruited them
into Studio Unmei, who are my good friends Bryan and
Dan. Bryan, like I had mentioned earlier, is partially
responsible for getting me into this whole cosplay mess,
though now, neither Dan nor Bryan cosplay, mostly due
to time restraints. Bryan isn't always around, though
he's still part of the group, so its mostly Dan that
runs the site for Studio Unmei, StudioUnmei.com, and
mostly me that does the cosplay half of the group, affectionately
called U SUC! (Ultimate Studio Unmei Cosplay [!]). Every
once in a while, we'll put together a project, like
Condensed Milk, or the manga we had been meaning to
publish online a long time ago. So even though we aren't
much in the way of a 'studio,' seeing as how I don't
output as much art as I used to. Now I'm a Japanese
major instead of an art major, we keep the name, because
I like it.
|
DENNIS:
I have seen you dressed up as a video game character, an anime
character and a J-ROCK character, do you happen to have a
preference of which you prefer to cosplay?
MATT:
I think I mentioned earlier
that I prefer the darker characters. I like to choose characters
that are close to my personality, which is why characters
like Kurow, Kuroro, and Farfarello are my favorite costumes.
There was a long time when, for some unknown reason, the characters
I chose tended to have either white hair, or a shirtless chest.
For this reason, I was given the nickname "shirtless Mexican."
But what most of the characters have in common is that they're
dark, badass, and often, it involves vinyl and/or leather.
I really like vinyl and leather. A lot. Which is why I really
enjoy cosplaying as J-Rockers. I'd like to do more J-Rock
cosplay, but its so expensive and time consuming, especially
the more elaborate costumes. I especially love doing costumes
that match my personality and look a little bit like me. That's
why my Kuroro costume is one of my favorites, and I really
hope to make a quality costume for Maxim from the new "Castlevania:
Harmony of Dissonance".
DENNIS:
At Anime Expo 2001, you, Wayne Kaa, Claudia and a few others
did a Britney Spears/Sailor Moon/*NSYNC skit. How did that
come about?
MATT:
I think it was Wayne-sama's
friend Benma who came up with the idea, but Wayne-sama approached
Claudia and I with the idea. At first, I was really skeptical
about it, because I had made a promise to myself to never
do any sort of Sailor Moon cosplay, but after discussing it
with Claudia, we decided we should. To this day, my Rubius
costume brings me a bit of regret, but the skit itself was
so fun that it was worth it. In fact, this past San Diego
Comic Con, we performed MooN'Sync 2, which was also really
fun. Again, I had vowed never to wear the wretched costume
again, but it was called back into action when once again
I was approached by Wayne-sama to do the skit. It's definitely
one of my favorite skits, and maybe the skit with the most
audience approval.
DENNIS: How did you get to do "Bakatono" for the
Mini Moni "Aiin" segment performed at Ani-Magic 2002 come
about?
MATT:
Oh man, I was hoping to keep that one a secret. (laughing).
Well, pretty much as soon as I got to AniMagic, I found the
room that some of the USA Musume girls were staying in and
they showed me the Bakatono mask. The guy who was supposed
to be Bakatono wasn't able to go, so I just filled in for
him. It was really a last minute thing, but it was a lot of
fun scaring everyone with the mask and nobody realized it
was me until I was walking around without the mask. The best
part was nobody realizing it was me.
DENNIS: We have USA Musume, how about a USA L'Arc~en~Ciel
cosplay group?
MATT:
I've actually thought about that for a long time. I don't
think that would work quite as well as USA Musume, because
groups like Morning Musume have a distinct visual thing going
on, with bright flashy costumes that are made specifically
for each song. Fans are supposed to take each song with each
costume, which is why USA Musume works so well. L'Arc~en~Ciel
(Laruku) though, just wear cool clothes. They aren't quite
meant as costumes and with the amount of different outfits
they've worn, it would be hard to find an outfit that everyone
would recognize. Not very many people have recognized me in
my hyde costume, so I could imagine a USA Laruku group walking
around, with people just glancing at our clothes, and walking
away without realizing we're in costume. Plus, USA Musume
performs pretty much the same routines as the real Morning
Musume. They're choreographed dance numbers that fans can
easily recognize. Laruku, on the other hand, is just an awesome
band, so there's no recognizable feature to their performances.
So you couldn't really turn Laruku into a performance thing
like USA Musume, I think I'd want to actually form a band
where we're all in costume doing Laruku songs or something.
I think that would be closer to what a USA Laruku would really
be. And while I would be really really excited if I was going
to play hyde's part in something like that, I wouldn't hold
my breath.
|
DENNIS:
Have you ever worn your costume to an area that freaked
people out? For example, getting gas before an event
in costume or going to a supermarket or department store
to get something while in costume?
MATT:
I've actually done
this quite a bit, especially with my friends from iPlay.
They love doing that sort of thing, and it doesn't freak
people out as much as you'd think. I used to wear my
Kuroro jacket around the dorms to get food and stuff.
I've never really had a problem with it, except for
one time when waiting outside of Coco's to get a seat,
someone drove by and threw a can of beer at a friend
who was wearing a Mai Shiranui costume. That really
pissed me off.
|
 |
| PHOTO:
Matt cosplaying as Kurow from the popular video
game "Project Justice", courtesy of Chris
Bunag |
|
DENNIS:
Well, Matt...it's time for our special guest segment where
our special guests will ask you a question or two.
 |
KIMI PASAMONTE: Why do you choose
so many shirtless cosplays?
MATT:
Hmm. Well, at first it was just a coincidence that a couple
of my costumes were shirtless, but then it became sort
of a gag, when people started calling me the "Shirtless
Mexican". I actually met a bunch of people who had never
met me before and friends would introduce me and they'd
say "Yeah, this is the shirtless Mexican," and the person
I'd never met would say "Oh! I know who you are!" It was
kind of strange. |
People would suggest stuff for me to do and I would oblige
them, of course, and so a lot of my costumes came to be shirtless.
I guess for a while, it was kind of my "thing" or something.
And then there was the period where I was the "Sassy Mexican,"
but thats a whole different story.
 |
WAYNE
KAA: I see that you enjoy cooking and claim to be Iron
Chef Mexico. Assuming you had no budget, what are you
capable of cooking up for this competition? Easy one,
you get to pick the secret ingredient.
MATT:
Oh
man. It's hard to make a decision but its even harder
to make a decision when you're not given any choices.
I don't know, I make a lot of stuff. Anywhere from stir-fry
and Chicken eggplant parmesan, to souffles and sorbets.
|
And if I haven't made it yet, I'm more than willing to give
it a shot. As much as I love cooking good food, the thing
I love most is cutting and smashing and pounding ingredients...
but the thing I love second is trying new things! So, I'm
always on the lookout for something new. I also love mixing
different styles together to make something really tasty,
like a stir-fry mexican style steak thing I came up with a
few months ago. I really don't have much of a budget though,
so I can only make something like a souffle for special occasions.
(laughing) But i'm resourceful enough and I can throw things
together pretty easily. So lets see, in my kitchen right now..
saying Asparagus is the secret ingredient... I have enough
to make.. a cajun spicy asparagus fettucini alfredo, oktoberfest
style homemade asparagus sourkraut and german sausage, a strange
mediterranean dish thats like a salad with nuts and asparagus
and other tasty stuff. And hmm... I don't quite know what
I'd attempt for dessert. I'm not sure there's much to be made
with asparagus. (laughing)
 |
TIFFANY-MARIE
AUSTIN: If you were to cosplay as a giant piece of food,
what giant piece of food would you be and why?
MATT:
After
giving this a lot of thought, I've decided. It would have
to be carne asada, as to show off my innate Mexican soul,
and also because everyone loves carne asada! And everyone
would flock to me and do whatever I say... err.. I'd make
lots of friends! Yay! |
 |
JAYMIE
DELACRUZ : Have you ever run into people that have made
fun of you for wearing costumes? And if you have, how
did you react?
MATT:
Yeah...my
roommates sometimes give me crap but I remind them that
they are nerdier for playing "Magic" or at least
as nerdy for dressing up for the Renaissance Faire. Other
than that, the only people that would know that I cosplay
would be people on the street at conventions or something.
In that case, I usually just ignore them or give them
a dirty look. |
JAYMIE
DELACRUZ : Do you find anime/video game female characters
as attractive as say...models and actors?
MATT:
Nah.
I think that its much easier for someone to draw someone with
large breasts and huge eyes than for someone to actually look
good in real life. As fine as a drawing may be, we gotta remember
that its just that, kiddos!
 |
EDWIN
"BANGZ" MACARAEG: If there was one japanese
rock artist you can cosplay, who would it be and why?
MATT:
It
would have to be hyde of L'Arc~en~Ciel. But since I already
cosplayed as him... I don't really know. I'd love to do
more hyde but he doesn't really have many 'costumes.'
I just want a whole wardrobe of his clothes to wear to
school and work! That would be great. But since I'm a
starving college student, I have to stick to making a
costume here and there. So, if I had another choice...
that's really hard. I want to make a costume from an Indy's
band called Kagerou but it has so much vinyl and leather...yaaaay!
That it's going to be really expensive and hard to put
together. Neither of those frighten me, its just that
I'm so busy with school nowadays and living away from
my parents is really sapping my money, so I don't think
I'll be able to do any JRock cosplay anytime soon... that
makes me really sad though, because I really love vinyl
and leather costumes! |
DENNIS:
Have you experienced any freaky or embarrassing situations
from cosplaying? May it be the costume or even experiences
from fans?
MATT:
Earlier this year at Katsucon,
there was a wedding for an Italian family occurring at the
same hotel. Unfortunately for me, one of the drunk attendees
to the wedding, a large Italian man in his late twenties,
forced me to take pictures with him and his family.
I got the impression by the look in
their faces that they didn't approve of what he was doing,
especially when he was pretending to kiss me, but if they
were to try and stop him, he'd get violent, so I stuck through
it. When it was over, I got the hell out of my costume. As
for experiences with fans, I think all I can say is, don't
date people you meet at cons.
 |
| Photo:
Matt Sanchez. Photo by Greg |
|
DENNIS:
If you had all the time and money to make a costume,
what would be your dream costume?
MATT:
Oh, man. If I were
to take that literally, I'd tell you that I would want
to make a life-size, working replica of Dunbine or Bilvine
from "Aura Battler Dunbine", but that really
isn't possible, so I suppose I'll have to choose something
else. Maybe a perfect costume of the TV version of Escaflowne's
Dilandau. Or maybe even a really cute Carbunkle from
"Puyo Puyo!!" I've wanted to do that for so
long, too. Its so hard to choose what costume I'd want
more than anything else, because there are so many I
have yet to do that I have planned.
DENNIS:
How much longer do you want to cosplay? Or is this something
you see yourself doing for a very long time? In the
future, would you want your own children to cosplay?
MATT:
I don't know how much
longer I want to cosplay. As all people do, I expect
to change, and maybe grow out of it, but I don't foresee
that happening anytime soon, really. People change so
much during even the course of a year, so I can't say
really, but I want to at least for the next year. I
think that as long as I have my friends with me, I'll
be happy cosplaying. As for my kids, I want them to
find their own happiness, so if their destiny takes
them to the wonderful world of cosplay, I'll be happy
for them.
|
DENNIS:
Your final words to the fans and the people who support your
work.
MATT:
I don't know if I really
have any fans outside of my friends, so to them, I say: Thank
you, because you are the reason I cosplay. Without you, I
would've lost interest after the first experience. You've
all given me some of the happiest years of my life, so thank
you very much. If I do, in fact, have fans unknown to me,
I say: Thank you! I hope that you'll email me with constructive
criticism, or just to say hello! I love to make new friends
and new memories, so I hope you'll let yourself be known to
me.
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Check out the Studio Unmei page by clicking here.
Note:
All
photos on nt2099 Cosplay Underground has been taken by a staff
member of nt2099 media and entertainment or has been supplied
to us by the individuals being interviewed.
--
Dennis
A. Amith is an entertainment
writer and celebrity interviewer and the Principal of
nt2099 Media and Entertainment. Dennis A. Amith has appeared
in many publications worldwide for his knowledge of Asian
pop culture. He is also known for his conversation-style celebrity
interviews in which he was inspired by popular entertainment
writer, Lawrence Grobel. He continues to stick with his formula
of promoting artists and professionals who are well-known
to the up-and-coming, his goal of helping to smash the barriers
that exist for Asians in the entertainment industry and to
ask questions that will definitely grab your attention.
|
