Shentonista Interviews — The Real Deal

Meet Rosalyn, or Rozz, as she is more fondly known. If you’re a fan of radio you’ve probably heard her on the airwaves, and Rozz is also no stranger to red carpets, TV shows, social media, and magazine covers. It’s clear that she’s a style star as well, but as we speak to Rozz in person we soon learn that she’s quick to dismiss all pretence of celebrity and just wants to be known for who she really is — image be damned. Whether it’s going into the studio wearing slippers and no make-up, or trying her hand at not-so-successfully filming her very own food tutorial, we learn some things about Rozz that you won’t usually see or hear about on the screen or over the radio. 

Are there any misconceptions about being a radio DJ?

That we play our own music! We actually don’t. I need to explain why we don’t — Singapore radio stations are pretty much run based on a set identity, so when you listen to pop radio stations, for example, they’d play Top 40s, while an older radio station would play classics or oldies. But at Lush 99.5, the station I DJ at, it’s more electronic and more hip hop. I feel that in all my years in radio, Lush gives me the most freedom to express myself, musically. Our music director has no ego and he’s not a music snob, so he tries to put in stuff that I listen to and that I want to play, as much as he can.

So you do have a say in what kind of music you want to play?

Yeah, of course. I’m into more pop, more rock, more indie and folk, so I play that in the mornings, during my slot. Elias Soh is the DJ in the evenings, and he likes more electronic and hip hop, so you get more of that.

So each DJ kind of has their own sound?

Yes, but it still sounds like Lush.

Could you describe what a typical day at work is like for you?

I would come in half an hour before my show, preferably. I’ll have all my tabs on my computer open, with all the websites that I refer to for show prep — it’s your regular news sites, with what’s happening, what’s current. And then I kind of just sail through the day, from 9AM-1PM, and then after my show I do things like this, or I meet my friends for lunch, or I go for food tastings. Otherwise I just take some time off. If I have a TV series to shoot, then it’d be back to back radio then TV.

How much preparation do you have to do for each show? The night before, a couple of hours before, or do you plan each week?

Actually, you know what, the preparation never stops. It’s always on the go — when I hear somebody say something about say, a restaurant, like Grain Traders for example, it will be in my show the next day.

So it’s quite impromptu?

Yeah, I’m always listening out for what’s trending. And then of course there’s the regular side that you go to for the facts and the did-you-knows. We’ve got our bag of tricks. It might seem easy, because we’ve been doing it for so long, but it’s not easy if you’ve just joined.

What is your favourite part of your job?

Playing the music! I don’t think there could be a better job for me in this world that pays me to be in the studio, to talk about topics that I love, and to play music that I love. The job itself is amazing.

When the music’s playing are you singing along in the studio?

Sometimes! (laughs)

When you’re usually just going to work, are you this dressed up this much?

No at all, I’m very chill. If I don’t have anything on after, I’ll just go into work in slippers, shorts, and no makeup. This is very minimal actually, because I really hate makeup; I just decided to put my lips on. And yeah I just go back home and hibernate, or watch a TV series.

It seems that you’re all about being real, as compared to some celebrities that feel like they have to maintain this image about themselves.

I’m not like that at all. Everything you see is an extension of myself, of who I really am. Like right now, what you see is an extension of who I would be if I put on makeup. (laughs) But otherwise, with or without makeup, I’m still me. If I get drunk enough, and I want a cigarette, I wouldn’t need to hide, I would just smoke it, right there. If I need to be drinking at an event, I wouldn’t hide my beer, I would just take a photo with the drink in hand.

You’re not so concerned about your image.

Yeah. I think I’m lucky as well, because I kind of made that decision at the start of my career.

Any items in your wardrobe or on your dresser that you can’t live without?

Yeah, all my boots and leather jackets! (Even in Singapore?) Yeah, I wear them. People get very uncomfortable when I wear them, they’d be like, isn’t it hot? But I don’t know, leather breathes, right? I’m okay with it, they’re very thin as well. So if it’s real leather, it shouldn’t be that hot, as compared to PVCs.

Is there something you wish you had more time to be doing? Do you go in to the studio every day?

I go in on Monday to Friday. I always make time to travel. Hardly for work, mostly for pleasure, so I always try to leave the country once a month, even if it’s just across the Causeway to Johor Bahru. When you’re in the media industry, being a presenter like me, for example, you’re kind of at the frontline all the time. The only things that quantifies your worth or your success are usually very superficial things like how many TV shows you get to do, or how many covers you get to be on. I feel that sometimes taking a step out of that bubble helps me, and for me, taking a step outside means literally going away. And then I come back and appreciate what I’ve learnt on the outside, with a fresh mind, and start again.

Is there a personal project you’d like to undertake, outside of work?

Actually I was really thinking of setting up a YouTube channel, doing cooking recipes. (You cook a lot, right?) Yeah, I wanna do it, but it can’t be just your regular cooking recipes — I want it to have the attitude and speed that a Gordon Ramsay Ultimate Cooking Course has, but also be something simple that people can easily do, with 5 ingredients, maybe. So I kind of did a little experiment on my Instagram. I did one little video with a peanut butter jelly sandwich — oh my god, it’s so much effort. I was making it with one hand and then video-ing it with the other hand, and it was shaky, I totally need a stand. Yeah, so I tried that out, and the response was good, but I’m a procrastinator so when I finally get around to it, that’s what I would do.

How did you start cooking? Was it something you’ve always been interested in?

My mum used to punish me by making me prepare food with her in the kitchen. (Like cutting food?) Oh no, you wish — it was peeling the skin off gingko nuts. She would crack it, but I’d have to peel it, and I’d usually have to do a whole bag of it. And from there, I observed how she cooked and everything, and then I guess, out of necessity, when she got really sick, we had to cook for ourselves as well. I enjoyed it along the way, so it just stuck. (It’s quite an interesting punishment, that’s quite useful.) It’s useful for her, lah! (laughs) But I sacrificed my playtime. I was like 8 or 9.

One more thing — what does your tattoo on your arm say?

It’s actually a Pearl Jam lyric, it’s from a song called Light Years. “Your lights reflected now, reflected from afar/ We were but stones, your light made us stars.” It suggests that the stars we see are usually just stones, until a light is cast on them. (So stars are kind of like your symbol?) Yeah, because they could be dead, but they still carry on shining. This is actually about my mum. My brother and I are the stones, and after my mum died, her light continues to shine on us and we became stars. It’s actually a song about losing someone. I knew about the song before my mum died, but when she died I was like, okay, this is it.