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ENTERTAINMENT
THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA
www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 6 Number 1 | OCTOBER 2015
"I don’t have any lows.
Every mistake or bad
experience happens for a
reason, and instead
of dwelling on it, I learn
from it and try to use it
to better myself."
- Bernie
Fil-Aussie artist mixes
beatboxing and acting
by Violi Calvert
Twenty-one year
old Bernie Van Tiel
of Waterloo in the
Sydney eastern
suburbs is not your
typical singer.
Although Bernie has got
the voice and can wax lyrical
with love and pop songs,
her forte and passion in the
music world is beatboxing –
a music genre that involves
producing sounds using
the vocal chords and mouth
without the aid of musical
instruments.
Bernie was already
beatboxing when she was
twelve. About that time her
cousin brought her from a
festival called "Splendor in
the Grass" a CD of Rahzel,
an American beatboxer.
Hearing Rahzel for the first
time opened her mind
to the other possibilities
there were in the beatbox
world. From then on, she
developed her beatboxing
talent and has in the last
several months shared her
unique gift and blown away
audiences in various FilAus-sie community events.
The last of these events
was the fundraising Inspire
Concert spearheaded by
Radio Tagumpay of Triple H
100.1FM.
Recently, Bernie added
a feather on her cap by
winning the starring role
of Jade in "Jade of Death",
a supernatural web series,
5 x 7 minutes. The film is
still in the casting stage
and is planned to be aired
in 2017. The story is about
Jade, a small town 25 year
old female who can hear
when and how people
are going to die. She ran
away from her hometown
and supported herself by
working at an unsavoury
freak show carnival as the
“Fortune-Teller of Death”.
Thrilled to have secured
this coveted role, Bernie
said:
"Jade of Death being a
web series has the elements
of television in it, as it is a
series; however it will be
filmed cinematically. It’s
a very stylitised, textural
world. I’ve acted in short
films and done music video
shoots for other people, but
as far as professionalism
goes, this is the most highend thing I’ve achieved so
far with acting.
“The people I am
working with are very
professional, very
intelligent and very
creative. They have won
multiple awards for their
past achievements and
creations and I look forward
to working with them."
Asked how significant
this role for her is, she
commented: "Well, it’s
a massive achievement.
It makes me feel a little
special because this role,
out of anyone that the call
went out to, came to me.
The people I get to work
with are amazing and
have incredible visions for
it. It’ll be on the internet,
which is the highest used
platform to seek well…
everything but in my case
entertainment, which
means everyone gets to see
what these amazing people
have created, and what I get
to be a part of."
With regard to what
she considers to be
the highlights of her
performing career, Bernie
said: "Performing for the
P!nk “Truth about Love”
tour as foyer entertainment,
as well as Jason Derulo’s
Tattoo’s Tour. I also toured
with Pete Murray (one of
Australia’s greats). I’ve
performed with Timomatic
and Samantha Jade.”
She had also met
Australia's Got Talent finalist
and beatbox champion
Genesis Cerezo who is now
her friend and someone
she gigs with regularly. She
had hosted multiple World
Supremacy Battlegrounds
dance competitions with
Marco Selorio and she hit
a large following on social
media.
"I don’t have any lows.
Every mistake or bad
experience happens for
a reason, and instead of
dwelling on it, I learn from
it and try to use it to better
myself."
Bernie was born and
grew up in Murwillumbah,
north of NSW. Throughout
high school, she did drama
performances and in Year
12, a monologue which
she wrote was chosen as
one of eight in the state to
be performed in Sydney
at the Seymour Centre.
No one had achieved this
before from her home town
so it was a big deal for her
community. She travelled
to Sydney, emceed the
event and performed her
monologue for a week,
back to back day and night
performances at “OnStage”.
Her passion to perform
saw her travelling back
and forth to Sydney once a
month for two years for gigs
and workshops with Sony's
Talent Development Project
(TDP). She eventually
based herself in Sydney a
year a half ago to attend
the International Screen
Academy (ISA).
With regard to where
she sees herself in five to
ten years, Bernie said: "I see
myself working regularly in
the industry and creating a
solid body of work to take
with me internationally,
hoping to land more jobs
over there. Having an
income that is supplied by
my acting/music career.
Being able to have that
substantial income to
buy my mum a house so
she doesn’t have to rent
anymore and provide a little
bit of savings for my family,
especially my siblings,
because I know they have
big dreams, and I’m a big
influence to them. I know
that sometimes it’s a little
easier to achieve your goals
in life if you have a little
money to help."
Asked which she loves
more - beatboxing or
acting, Bernie's emphatic
response was: "I can't
choose. Both are who I am."
Bernie is second in
four children (older sister
Anastasia Pauwells is 25,
younger brother Nathan
Zabala, 11, and youngest
sister Mischa Zabala, 9).
Her Filipino heritage is from
her mother Normita Zabala
from Pampanga. Her
father Peter Van Tiel is from
Christchurch, New Zealand.