Recent Article in Seychelles Newspaper

Tuesday May 23, 2017

Up Close … with Taniah Jeremie, talented singer and university student

‘It took me quite a while to be where I am

Today and I still have a long way to go’

Born on April 24, 1995, Taniah Jeremie has accomplished a lot in her flourishing life so far. She is currently studying business at the Malaysia University.

Since she started to be involved in music, she has managed to overcome many obstacles. Soon Taniah is going to drop a new album entitled ‘Dan en Zistans’ comprising 15 tracks.

In our Up Close column this week, Taniah talks about her childhood memories, student life, music, family and friends.

Childhood memories

Currently 22 years old, Taniah was born at the Victoria Hospital and considers herself as a very outgoing person. She describes her early days as being full of good memories with her mum Theresia Savy, and her father Hudson Jeremie by her side.

“My childhood was basically running around, playing with friends and families, sharing toys, singing in the rain, caring for my pets and waiting for that special moment when my parents came home from work bringing goodies for me and my only elder brother. I surely enjoyed gummy bears and I still do until today,” she says.

As she grew up, Taniah tried to master all the good abilities to keep thinking positively.

“I consider myself as a very outgoing person. I can be a bit personal at times but I love to make friends and help others … which in fact is one of my weaknesses - “helping too much”. The others are more personal. A lot has changed, I myself would never believe I’d become the person I am today, therefore growing up I would say I tried to master all the good abilities and traits from others and kept thinking positively,” she says.

Growing in a pleasant family, she managed to learn from her sibling, and tried to gather as much knowledge in life.

“Growing up went by so fast as I can still remember my grandmother’s jokes and how it went from my mother braiding my hair to me wanting to do my own styles and wear my own accessories, to make sure I stood out when I attended my first day of primary at the Plaisance school. After P6 I proceeded to Plaisance secondary where I worked really hard. I took extra classes and did extra work to obtain a spot at the School of Advanced Level Studies (A-level) in economics, business and computing.”

Music

Taniah’s love for music started when she was only eight years old. It all started from her first performance in the children’s talent show ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ (TTLS).

“Till now, I can say I have been in music for 14 years, excluding the shower singing sessions. I speak as from my first performance when I was eight years old on the TTLS. It was from then that I was able to knock on many doors that gradually opened up for me to my surprise, and I started to indulge myself more in music, such as joining choirs. The first choir I was accepted in was the National Children’s Choir and later the Mahé Chamber Choir,’ she says.

Throughout her time in music, she has achieved so many successes and has performed on the same stage with famous local artist such as Elijah.

“My time in music has been the best - going places, performing on several stages, in churches, at events and also collaborating with other local artists. My first collaboration was with Elijah, a song called ‘Sa sepa­rasyon’ originally sung by Jany De Letourdie. My first single ‘Lanmour Enposib’ also made great success in the Indian Ocean till now. In addition I have won several music awards such as Best Female Artist of 2015 in the Cable Tunes and Air tel Music awards.”

Yes, she has known great success in music and soon Taniah will be releasing a new album. Her dream is to make it internationally with her music.

“I have a new album coming out soon, entitled ‘Dan En Zistans’, which basically defines my current situation being away from home studying in Malaysia, having to wait for the slightest little free time in the holidays, piece by piece to complete it. It has not been easy being so far away from home. The 15-track album comprises 11 new songs and the rest are bonus tracks - my previous singles. This album comprises different genres of music such as reggae, Sega and others,” she says.

Social life

Taniah is a hard working and dedicated student willing to go far in life, but what other abilities she has besides music and school? Does she enjoy other activities to keep her busy and active? So I decided to find out more about her social life.

“I love baking, I love swimming and I really love doing nail art designs and also hairstyles which I get ideas either from catalogs or from my own creativity. My weekend in Seychelles used to be going to the beach or having a barbecue with my family at home. But for now it has turned into studying in the morning and watching movies and series throughout the day,” she says.

Being far away from home must be so difficult, having nobody to support you, or close relatives to ask for help…

“Like I mentioned it is not easy studying far away from home, as you need to be more focused in your studies and this gives you less time to do what you love, but it does not mean that there is no time to socialize with new friends and hang out. I do love to travel, and the place in the world where I would really love to visit one day is Paris,” she says.

Family and friends

Throughout her childhood, Taniah was raised by her mum, who sacrificed a lot so that she could excel in life.

“Definitely my family is a big deal for me; I would sacrifice for them, mostly my mum Theresia Savy. If I mention names I will go on for days as I have a very big family, however the inspiration comes from my beloved mum Theresia as she is the reason I am who I am today. It is through her coaching, through her words and discussions that I am able to see life in greater perspective and think much more positively,” she says.

Besides her family, she has a lot of friends that she can count on.

“I have a lot of friends. Although I had to leave all of them behind to be in Malaysia we always keep in contact, especially Kimberly Thomas, we’ve known each other since primary school.”

Final thought

“I just have to say to the youths of today, take great care of yourself, never give up on anything you want to achieve. Life is not easy for anyone, but it is your perseverance that will get you through. Besides that you must be true to yourself, there is only one of you after all, so the best you can do is play your part in being you.”

“I will describe our youths of today as a generation that wishes to know more, and are developing very fast; it is a good thing in my opinion because creativity comes with ideas and the more our youths develop their minds the more ideas and the more creativity we will have, who knows what the next generation has in store for us.

“In conclusion, this message is for all those people out there who wish to be a singer: I did not make it the first time, it took me a lot and quite a while to be where I am today and I still have a long way to go. So keep going!”