Before I start, let me just say you don’t want to miss this so don’t skim through, read until the end and you won’t regret it. Fans rejoice. Born on June 13th, 1983 in Downey, CA, Daniel Ryan Conferido looks like a true California boy, with Filipino looks and features that could bring you back to life. Most of you may know the sensational B-boy/Music Composer (among other talents) extraordinaire as Ryanimay or simply Ryan.
Many of us first saw Ryan on “So You Think You Can Dance” Season 1, perhaps his performances with “Sickstep” or “The City Drifters”, or you may have even spotted him as an extra in various movies. Quest Learning Center based out of Artesia, CA gave birth to “Quest Crew” Ryan and fellow friends; Dominic “D-Trix” Sandoval, Hokuto “Hok” Konishi, Ryan Feng, Steve Terada, Victor Kim, and Brian Hirano. Quest Crew auditioned for America’s Best Dance Crew Season 3 and as Shane Spark’s (Judge of ABDC) would say; they ripped the entire show. They killed it, destroyed it. From the beginning I never doubted their defeat of every last team, even when Beat Freaks put up an intense fight until the end. The boys of Quest Crew came out on top, Congratulations to our ABDC 3 winners, Quest Crew! Ryan was in the spotlight more so than ever. He opened up the doors to fans all over the world who want to know anything and everything about him. He is a true role model and inspiration to the entertainment world.
In the first week of ABDC 3 a Facebook group was formed on January 30th 2009. A group rightly named “Ryan Conferido” was introduced for fans all over the world to discuss their favorite B-boy. What they didn’t expect was to meet so many people like themselves and create friendships, all because of one person. Learning about Ryan on a daily basis and watching all of his successions is more than we can ask for. Administrators of the “Ryan Conferido” Facebook fan group; WJ and Aly, managed to arrange us a Q&A; with the man himself! Questions from fans were taken on a special group thread, Ryan’s request for “unique and creative” questions led to 100’s of responses. In the end it was narrowed down to 30 questions, and 30 equally intriguing, surprising and true to the heart answers.
Here is the exclusive interview straight from the fans to Ryan’s fingertips.
1. Once again, congratulations on the victory, Ryan! How has winning ABDC changed your life so far?
Ryan Conferido:
ABDC as a whole has changed my life, but winning was really just a bonus. But the experience has caused me to come closer to being a better example for people who need it.
2. Which is more important (to you), composing or dancing?
Ryan Conferido:
CREATING is really the root of why I enjoy both. If I can’t be creative in something, I don’t tend to care much for it. But I suppose if I had to choose, I would say dancing; because at this point it is a better contribution to the team to be a dancer rather than a composer.
3. Did you ever feel like giving up on your dreams/passion? If yes, what kept you going?
Ryan Conferido:
I may have believed something wasn’t possible. But I have never thought of giving up. Sometimes it’s fun to fight what you believe.
4. How long have you been breaking and playing the piano?
Ryan Conferido:
I started breaking at 15, which basically means I was doing simple tricks and such. I didn’t know a thing about how to ‘dance’ until age 20. As far as piano, I started banging out tunes at 6. Made my very first song at that age (which I still remember to this day ha-ha), and took basic lessons until age 12 or so, and thereafter began to purely self-educate.
5. What made you choose to play the piano over other musical instruments?
Ryan Conferido:
my sister was in piano lessons when we were kids, and I used to listen in on her lessons. After she was done I’d play around and try to mimic what she’d learned that day. That’s when I realized I understood music. Keys were basically my first love; since I’d always loved pushing buttons. I tried saxophone for awhile but I was terrible. Ha-ha
6. What kinds of dance-related injuries have you had in the past (if any)? Has this affected your dancing style today?
Ryan Conferido:
I never really had any bad dance-related injuries other than screwing up my knee on the back flip shablam during Britney week on ABDC. Haha! And that got hurt during stage rehearsal of that move. STILL doing it on the actual taping is what really made it worse.
7. Back to basics- when you first introduced Quest, you mentioned, “Especially for people like us, who thrive under music, dance, learning, and FOOD!” – So what are some of your favorite food?
Ryan Conferido:
I love Chipotle. Let’s just leave it at that. Ha-ha
8. In an interview, you guys talked about your favorite video games, we would like to know who is your favorite video game character and why?
Ryan Conferido:
In an old arcade fighting game called Fatal Fury, there is a character named DUCK KING, who used breaking moves in his fighting style. When I first saw it, it was the first time I’d ever seen windmills, and I just knew I had to learn that.
Other favorite videogame characters (and I could go on forever)
Two P – FINAL FIGHT(arcade, snes) His overall style influenced me
Guile – SFII (arcade) I liked how his hair stayed in place while fighting
Johnny Gat – Saints Row 2 (PS3) Just too cool .
Locke – FF6 (SNES) My long-time role model.
Wein Cruz – Growlanser II (PS2) Very similar to myself in many ways.
Dadaluma – FF6 (SNES) explains my sense of humor.
9. If you could travel to any place in the world, without constraint, which place would be your next destination and why?
Ryan Conferido:
I don’t really have a crazy desire to be anywhere. I am SUCH a California kid, I love discovering new things in this crazy place. I find a hidden scene all the time and it never gets old. I feel like I miss out on so much when I’m gone. Of course, things are different when I travel with Quest. Because in that case, we can have fun anywhere.
10. Have super-fan girls freaked you out?
Ryan Conferido:
I don’t really ever get freaked out by anybody. I just get annoyed when people say rude things to me for who knows what reason. Sometimes people just want to say something without having a point or purpose. Even though we have to be nice to everyone, I’m always gonna be real and give my true reactions. Haha or when people get mad at me for not adding them on Facebook, in which I specified that I don’t add anyone on it. That’s just weird to me sometimes, haha
11. Do you believe in love at first sight?
Ryan Conferido:
Haha, I can’t really say I’m a strong believer in THAT kind of love. No offense to those who once traveled along my path, but I have never truly been in love. The sad thing is I’ve said it a lot, when I know I didn’t really mean it.
12. Whose idea was it for the purple-ness of Quest Crew?
Ryan Conferido:
It was never really an idea. We just seemed to wear it a lot, so it kinda stuck I guess.
13. I praise the fact that you do not drink alcohol even when you’re at parties, how do you manage to resist the temptation?
Ryan Conferido:
I have a natural personality that has always been peer-pressure proof. I don’t get tempted by people; it’s me that does all the tempting, hahah!
14. Can you lick your nose?
Ryan Conferido:
huh! I always thought I could until I just now tried and failed.
15. If the guys of Quest were 7 dwarves from Snow White, who would they be (including you)?
Ryan Conferido:
Vic – Dopey
Hirano – Bashful
Feng – Doc
Steve – Sleepy
Hok – Happy
D – Grumpy
Ryanimay – Sneezy
hahah try not to ask why
16. Why did you and Hok quit Sickstep?
Ryan Conferido:
yeah it used to be confidential news but we don’t really give a crap about it nowadays haha. A few issues:
the guy in charge of money was lying about how much we were being paid for shows and also basically jacked us for all the money we thought we were making. There were also people in the team that we felt didn’t have high enough goals or didn’t practice as hard, so we wanted to aim for something greater, and not have to feel like there were lazy people weighing the team down. We made quest in the hopes of creating a squad of equal roles, which was based on complete trust and reliability in one another.
Hok and I were the first to officially quit. At the final meeting, we told the others we would start our own thing. Anyone who felt they wanted to go for something more, would be welcome to join us. And that is how that chunk of the squad quit and broke off into Quest. Since we didn’t talk about it too much, a bogus story got around saying that Hok and I simply got big-headed and left. Which upset us at first but now we really can’t be mad about the whole situation because without it, we would never have found our way here.
17. Other than dancing, writing poetry, playing piano and the many other amazing talents of yours, what are some of your hobbies?
Ryan Conferido:
I like hairstyling. cut cut cut style style style
I also enjoy mixing tracks, doing some creative mash-ups etc.
Nunchaku used to be a big hobby of mine. HAHA random right.
I’m a huuuge fan of PC game modding. Whether it’s GTA San Andreas or SIMS 2, I absolutely love third party modding.
I’m also very much into psychology. Figuring out the way certain people tick. I could go on for days about that stuff.
I also love muscle car restoration. I’d like to be a serious hobbyist in that field since the price for classic automobiles is on a decline, but I absolutely don’t have any time right now .
18. What is the weirdest job you ever had?
Ryan Conferido:
I used to work in a Verizon Wireless kiosk at the Cerritos Mall. it was right between a Forever 21, and a Windsor so I used to go crazy being surrounded by cute girl workers all day long. haha I can’t believe I used to care about such stupid things. By the way, I didn’t really do ANYTHING at work. some people love that, but to me that’s just a fatty waste of time.
19. We all saw the interview where you and Dominic reacted to being called hot by fan, so based on that what do you think of yourself?
Ryan Conferido:
I think it’s kind of funny that people would come to such a conclusion. I see myself as the kind of guy who sends a lot of the wrong signals unintentionally. so if you think I’m cool or hot or whatever, you may be deriving that from characteristics I don’t actually have! haha
20. What is a typical day for you?
Ryan Conferido:
wake up, get ready, wake up victor, meet up the guys, do a gig/rehearse/run an errand, go out to eat, meeting at quest, go home, do something electronic, fall asleep, talk in my sleep, sleep walk .
at least today was like that. I guess it always changes. haha
21. Do you speak other languages other than English? How about Tagalog?
Ryan Conferido:
I don’t speak anything other than my weird screwed up surfer English
22. Which song are you most embarrassed to admit you have on your iPod?
Ryan Conferido:
I guess that’s a tie between Persona 3 Soundtrack and Tunak Tunak Tun. One is really nerdy, and the other one’s just … whaaaat???
23. If you had the chance, would you be in Nobuo Uematsu’s sidekick and compose with him for the next upcoming Final Fantasy?
Ryan Conferido:
he doesn’t do final fantasy anymore; at least I don’t think he’s doing the next one. but I did used to want to be his apprentice. I took Japanese in college for the sole reason of being able to talk to him. I guess I took a different route and realized I’d rather start my own thing than is a link in somebody else’s chain.
24. If you could meet anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Ryan Conferido:
My dad’s dad. So I could learn what he did to raise my dad to be so great.
25. Since you’re such an inspiration to others, who is your inspiration?
Ryan Conferido:
Nobuo Uematsu is definitely one of them.
Audrey Kitching is another.
I owe my dance inspiration to Bboy Ivan, Krazy Kujo, and late 90’s Soul Train Dancers.
My dad is the greatest inspiration of all. He would go through total disaster just to make sure I’m somehow okay.
26. Do the melodies of your compositions just pop up in your head or do you go through something else when composing?
Ryan Conferido:
I just think, hit record, and go.
However, in instances where I’m making a specific song with lyrics or expanding on an initial idea, I take my time working it out in sections.
27. Which super power would you want most?
Ryan Conferido:
I can’t decide between …
1. power of ice (left hand) and power of fire (right hand)
2. teleportation
3. shapeshifting
28. Do you feel weird or every wonder about how now your pictures could possibly be on random peoples’ computers?
Ryan Conferido:
no I think it’s hilarious that people would want to save my pictures haha
29. Does it hurt when you land on your head a few times?
Ryan Conferido:
it only hurts when I don’t want to do it and I still do it anyway. haha
30. Where do you get your hair inspiration from?
Ryan Conferido:
I just like to keep changing it up to whatever I happen to imagine. but people are constantly copying me and that’s what’s both flattering and disappointing. I like that people can be inspired but I’m trying to encourage creativity. it looks weird when people copy my hair because it doesn’t tend to match their overall style. people are better off figuring out what rocks best with their own steez.
If that didn’t feed your hunger here are some links you can visit to learn more about Ryanimay Conferido:
You can read the actual thread here: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=48100952917&topic;=7467
And you can join “Ryan Conferido” fan group on Facebook here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=48100952917
On YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ryanimay
Note to fans: He doesn’t accept requests on his Facebook, it is only for his actual friends.
However: He accepts all requests on his MySpace here:
http://www.myspace.com/ryanimay
