This interview transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity. Thank you Evie for editing this episode, and Kat for transcribing!
Gabb (@tegomass): Hello! You’re In The Loop- This is your self-proclaimed media girlie Gabb. And listen- I know it has been a while since we last put out some sort of podcast episode. Which is why- very happy that today I'm here with Alysa Liu, and we're just going to have a little chat.
So you've had a pretty successful season before you took your little break. You had the Olympics, your bronze medal at Worlds, and all of that. So I feel like it's different to talk about it in the moment versus taking a step back and thinking about it and talking about it, so how do you feel about that season?
Alysa: My last season skating? In 2022? [Gabb: Yeah.] Ooh.
Gabb: Yeah, a while ago.
Alysa: Yes, I mean it really does feel like yesterday. Doesn't feel like I left. It honestly feels like I time traveled back into skating or something- I don't know. But I mean, I was really happy with that entire season, to be honest. I had the most fun I've ever had, and those competitions- They were really big competitions and that was my first year being senior international, I think. If it wasn't my first, it was my second maybe? But regardless, all these competitions were so big, so...grand, it seemed. And I really just tried to enjoy myself at all of them and I really did. And after all the competitions were over, I got to do some shows, a lot of show touring, which I hadn't done before. So, that was also a new experience that I really enjoyed, and I really want to do it again, and I think that's one of the motivations for coming back? I don't know. I'm enjoying it a lot more than, even than the last time I skated, my last season. It's way more fun now.
Gabb: So we'll talk a bit about the Olympics, because I feel like that was a big competition, once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. So you had your gala to ITZY's "Loco," and you had said that Jean-Luc [Baker] had done the choreo and then you had the dress lent by Olivia Smart and I think Madi Hubbell and Madi Chock did your hair and makeup. I need the story time of that!
Alysa: Okay. So I'm gonna be honest, I don't quite remember. [Gabb: It's fine!] It all happened really fast because I didn't expect to do the gala for the Olympics. But I was so honored, so grateful that I got to do it. I had a really fun time and it just made the entire experience so much better. But I had to put together a show program real fast, and my favorite song at that time was "Loco" by ITZY, so I decided to skate to it. And I know the dance too, just from watching so many videos of it. And so Jean-Luc helped me put it on the ice- and then I didn't have a dress, and I didn't want to wear my competition dress. I got help from Olivia- she lent me her red dress, which was perfect for the song I was going for, and honestly the ITZY concept for Loco. It went really well. And then Madi- both Madis, Hubbell and Chock- they helped me with my hair and makeup. And the other week, I was trying to remember who did my hair and who did my makeup, but I don't remember. I wanna say Madi Hubbell did my hair, and then Madi Chock did my makeup, but I could be wrong. But they helped me put myself together. And I still love that hair and makeup to this day! I'm gonna ask them how they did it, and I'm gonna try to recreate it, maybe. But yeah, it's all thanks to them that I got to put it together and show something somewhat decent.
Gabb: So for the Olympics, I remember watching it and you seemed like you were having the time of your life, but especially because you had all your friends around. You were so proud of all your friends, you were crying when Young was skating, all of that. I wanted to know how that was, living that with all your friends, and also seeing all these friends now, since you're competing again.
Alysa: Yeah, it was such an emotional experience at the Olympics. Everyone's journeys were really tough and this is what everyone worked for, and we made it. So even just being there before competing, you feel this sense of, 'I made it.' And you feel it from everyone else too, so it's a really beautiful thing and watching everyone skate and doing well and just performing to their very limits- It's really inspiring. And it's like, you can't help but cry after watching them skate, and I don't know, everyone's just really happy for each other there. It's a different type of competition.
Gabb: Yeah, definitely. And how about seeing all those friends now, the ones who are still competing?
Alysa: Yeah, so many of them also retired. I can't blame them. I did the same for a bit. I get it. And, now I'm coming back. See, I feel like a hypocrite because everyone was like, oh, don't leave. And see, now I'm like, no, you guys should come back and skate with me! The ones that still are competing, it's just like a really fun reunion every competition.
Gabb: Yeah, I'm sure. As you skated before, I feel like your name is pretty significant in figure skating because while you were young, you were like the youngest women's US champion and you also had the triple axel, the quads- I feel like a lot of media had their eyes on you. Do you ever feel like that put a lot of pressure on you as you're like growing up skating?
Alysa: Yeah, I tried to ignore it most of the time. I wouldn't say I really felt the pressure. Obviously, everyone wanted to see it. But I didn't really care what others wanted to see, especially like the media and people I don't know. It didn't matter to me, you know what I'm saying? What I felt most pressure from when I was skating before is definitely from people who I'm connected with, who I actually know- which is weird because they don't put as much pressure as what the media has shown, but I didn't care about the media. But also I was pressuring myself. My goal was to make Olympics, and it was really tough. But I wanted to see that through. And once I got it, you know what, there's nothing left that I wanted to do.
Gabb: And finally, just for this section, I just want to know one highlight of your skating before you took your little break. Could be anything.
Alysa: Oh, anything? Yeah. From practice or?
Gabb: Yeah, from practice, even your like, ice shows, like Stars On Ice and stuff.
Alysa: Oh, okay. I'm gonna say probably all the group numbers from the Stars On Ice tour, US and Japan. Heavy on the US one, though, because that was the longer one. Very fun. Love group numbers, and I love all the skaters too. Made it extra special, but definitely those. Also we had coordinated 'fits, like outfits and dresses, costumes- which we don't normally, when would we ever do a group number, all the top skaters. So that was really just something very fun.
Gabb: I'm sure like getting like group photos and stuff is a lot of fun too.
Alysa: Yeah, and just learning the choreography and getting to interact with each other on the ice. With the music, of course, it's really fun skating to music, so that entire thing. Very artistic. And I was just really happy to get to share it with other people- made it more fun, the more the merrier.
Gabb: Yeah, definitely. Okay, so we're gonna talk a bit about your break. So just, general question: what did you do during your break from skating?
Alysa: Oh, I did so much. I don't know what I can say. Like, there's like too much to cover in almost two years. But I just had so much free time, and I could explore other things in my daily life. Just because I didn't have skating, workouts, or competitions. I went to a lot of concerts, discovered a lot of new music. And bought a lot of clothes because before I really only needed skating clothes because I skated every day and that's all I did. It's a really big difference, night and day, from when I was skating before and from when I took a break. Yeah, I didn't skate, I got to go to school, vacation, ski, try other sports, hang out with my friends and family, and especially summertime. I took a lot of advantage over summertime because everyone is free. And when I was a skater, summer, it's not, you're not free at all. In fact, you train more in the summer. That was a really nice surprise for me because I realized that I could hang out with my friends and family every day for hours on end. I watched a lot of movies. I went to the beach a lot, picked up a ton of new hobbies, tried new food, just went out into the world. I didn't have a routine. I just did whatever.
Gabb: That's always fun, having no schedule, just going with the flow. Okay, so we're gonna touch on a few of these. So you went to university. I feel like that's a time of a lot of personal growth and self discovery because you meet so many people and especially because you've been like your little skating bubble. Do you feel like that really rings true with you?
Alysa: Oh yeah, of course. It happens to everyone when they leave home and relocate and meet new people from everywhere, people at university. They come from all over the world and the States. So it's really fun to share your perspectives and learn other people's perspectives. And going to class is really fun, surprisingly, because in high school, when I was skating, I was doing online school, so I didn't have classmates really. I never met my teachers, no field trips, never sat in a classroom. So it was just whenever I had time in between practice, I would go on my laptop and study, do my homework. School wasn't really all that exciting. So it was a new pace and I really liked it.
Gabb: You had any favorite classes?
Alysa: Really liked astronomy. That was a fun class.
Gabb: And do you have any like fun clubs that you joined or fun events from school?
Alysa: I did one quarter in the ceramics club. That was really interesting. I really like ceramics. I did it a couple times before school and I saw they made a new club, so I did it for one quarter. But they had a limited capacity, so I didn't try for it again. It was already getting filled up.
Gabb: Did you have any new hobbies that you picked up?
Alysa: Yeah, like a lot. Yeah, it's just what people do when they don't have something overruling everything. I tried every, almost every sport. Obviously I'm not good at them. Not, I didn't do it professionally or anything, just for fun. But quite remember, I really didn't do anything before. So everything I'm doing...it'd be too long to list, but I'll go. Okay. Sport wise, probably tennis. Tennis is probably one of my favorites. Volleyball too. And ping pong. Me and my siblings do that quite a bit. It's really fun. I like binge watching movies. Oh, I play the piano. I played it when I was really young, and then I stopped, but I always had a piano, I just would play whenever I felt like it. I can sew. I've made some pieces of clothing, but it has slowed down since I started skating [Gabb: Oh, I'm sure.] But I'm trying not to let it die out. I think I get hyper-fixated on a lot of things, so I have so many micro hobbies that I've tried out and just never touched again. So I won't go over any of that. But. I'd say the ones that have stuck are probably sewing, oh hiking, that's a big one, and oh, photography, that's another one, yes.
Gabb: And so you mentioned going to concerts, any fun concerts that like really stuck out, any new artists that you discovered?
Alysa: Yeah there's probably so many new artists that I discovered. I just don't know if I can name them or be a hundred percent certain that I didn't know them before. But concert wise, I don't think I went to any when I was competing- I might've went to one. I don't know. But my favorite one? That's really tough. I think maybe a Mitski concert? Or maybe Poppy? Or Pink Pantheress! Or there's too many, there's too many! [Gabb: That is fair!] Magdalena Bay... There's too many, yeah. They're all good.
Gabb: You also mentioned, so you have your smiley piercing and you do piercings on yourself for fun. I want to know how that started.
Alysa: I guess that's another hobby I picked up. Getting a pierced at a shop is really expensive for no reason. So I thought I would learn it myself, be a little DIY girl, but. Yeah, so I picked that up just because it's cheaper and I trust myself a lot to get it in the right spot placement wise for the jewelry. I bought all the supplies I would need like piercing needles. I don't do it with like safety pins or the piercing gun. I'm not, I don't do that.
Gabb: You also said you went on vacation. So any fun places that you visited?
Alysa: I went to Mexico and also Nepal. And, yeah, out of country, those two. And then oh, New York was fun. I went to Tahoe quite a bit.
Gabb: Did some hiking over there and stuff, take some photos, I assume?
Alysa: Yeah, skiing too. There's snow there, yeah, you gotta ski.
Gabb: Yep, and obviously you do a lot of traveling also in skating, and it's definitely different traveling for fun and then traveling for competition. Do you always make it a point to at least do some sightseeing when you're traveling for competitions?
Alysa: Oh yeah, now I do. Before I didn't really, but now I make that a priority. Most times when I travel for a competition, I'll do my routine kind of like I'm prepping for competition, but my competition prep is pretty easy going. I let myself do a lot of things. I have a lot of leeway, I guess. I can go to the city in the day and then skate in the afternoon, for like official practice. I try not to limit myself because I don't limit myself in my daily life. I don't want to change anything for competition, because why should I? So I try to keep it as normal as possible.
Gabb: Has there been any fun places you've been to since you started competing?
Alysa: Oh yeah, I mean my favorite place so far has been Japan. I've been to Budapest, Halifax, and then Tokyo. It's only those three so far, but all of those places are really pretty and I really enjoyed my time outside of the rink in all those places. Tokyo is probably my favorite. Really like the city.
Gabb: Yeah. Okay, so we're gonna talk a bit about your comeback, but not necessarily the comeback in the competition sense, but more like the process of coming back. How was the transition like, from not skating at all to actually training competitively? How has that been?
Alysa: Oh, it was so hard. It was so weird! Yeah, even in practice was hard. It was all so physically challenging. But I enjoyed the struggle, honestly, I really did. But yeah, my stamina was- it was non existent for sure. I didn't work out or anything really, not really in my break. I didn't do anything! So coming back yeah, every jump I had to take a couple minutes. I could not do it back-to-back. And yeah, stamina training is probably my least favorite, but it's my- like I need it the most. Yeah.
Gabb: It's the most challenging part right now.
Alysa: Yeah, it still is. I don't know when it'll stop.
Gabb: It's a slow process, you'll get there eventually. [Alysa: Yeah.] Okay, so you could correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like you're more involved in the process of building your programs, choosing the music, all of that, like talking with your costume designer- is that true? And does it differ from before you took your break?
Alysa: Oh yeah, no, it's definitely true. And I really hope people can see it! Because before I did not really- I didn't give input at all because I didn't really care, I'd say. I didn't understand, I guess like the artistic side of skating, or the whole packet. I didn't understand skating, basically, and I didn't want to. And also I was really little, so a ton of adults- I was a minor, so I couldn't make a lot of decisions myself anyways. And I also because I was so young, I didn't really have a voice. And when I did, I was so young, it's why I listened to her. And I didn't really know better anyways. But so at that time, it was probably better to listen to other people. 'Cause I didn't, I wasn't involved in the process really. I just followed what they would say. Which worked, but not- it didn't do anything for me. So, yeah, I like skating for different reasons, now I like the choreography part and how we just dance on the ice to music. And I think, I mean, I wouldn't skate to something I don't like now. Not at all. I would not do that. If I don't know a song, I'm probably not gonna skate to it, if I'm not connected to it. You know what I mean? And the choreography- if I don't feel it right, I will say something. And as for dresses, if I really like a piece of music, which for example, I'll use my music from this season: both of them, I had a vision for the dresses and everything. Just from listening to the music, and so I just conveyed it to Lisa [McKinnon] who makes my dresses. So we work together, 'cause she's a designer, so she knows what is- [Gabb: She has experience!] I'm gonna let her do her job, right? Yeah, I let her do her job, and she did it very well. And, yeah it's a team effort, still. Before it was team effort, but not with me. Now it's like, I'm part of the team, if that makes sense.
Gabb: Yeah, it does. So you talked about conveying your idea to Lisa McKinnon for your costume. And did you make a little Pinterest mood board or draw it out? How did that happen?
Alysa: Yeah, I saved a ton of photos with the vibe or aesthetic that I was going for. For the shape of the dress, the colors, and etc., and then she draws out something and I give her the yes or no, and we just kept working with that, with all the sketches. But yeah, I had a lot of photos ready to go.
Gabb: I'm sure, yeah. I feel like if I was a skater, I would definitely put so much thought into putting a mood board together. [Alysa: Yeah!] Now that you say you're more in your team, in terms of providing ideas and stuff, how does the brainstorming go for your programs with you and your team?
Alysa: Choreography wise?
Gabb: Yeah, choreography wise and music wise.
Alysa: So, we'll listen to the lyrics, look up the meaning of the song, and then we try to interpret it. Or, I try to interpret it more so that I relate to it, but I picked it because I relate to it. So see, like, I already have to be connected to the music for me to really skate to it. It's so much easier that way and there's so many pieces I really love that I could skate to, so I don't think I'll ever run into an issue with that. But so Massimo [Scali] does my choreography and like, he works so hard on it all. He tries to come up with the entire concept of a program with me, and so once we have that down, like from start to end, we go over the music so many times, and he just, I don't know, he just comes up with the choreography, I don't know how he does it- you'll have to ask him.
Gabb: And is the choreography your favorite part of the whole process?
Alysa: Yes, because it makes it the program.
Gabb: Yeah, I see. Like you said, when you were younger, you didn't really have much of a voice. Do you have much bigger appreciation for the whole effort of putting a program, like both programs together now that you're more grown up and you have more of an understanding of how this whole thing works?
Alysa: Oh, yeah. I appreciate it so much more, because I understand it. And I took time to also enjoy it, that process. I didn't really care for it before, but now I, for some reason or another, I really love just being indulged in music and choreography.
Gabb: And for both your Free Skate and your Short Program, do you have one highlight point that you really love for your programs?
Alysa: Oh, that's really hard. I'd say in the short, my favorite part is probably the choreography into and out of my double axel. It just flows so well, and it feels really good skating that way to the music. Yeah, that part's really pretty to me. And then for the free skate I also really like my part going into the double axel. I feel like this is only me liking double axels, so I'm actually going to change my answer. My Biellmann to my ending. I really like that part. It's really different, all three of the programs I've done. That was like- so okay: my ending positions for all of my competitions have been different, solely because my first competition, I was so tired, I literally was not- I could not even get up on my knees. Same with the second. Third one, I got into the actual, what it was, what my ending is supposed to be. So I guess progress! But I really like that ending- When I do it correctly!
Gabb: You will get there. It seems like you're already getting there. So that's a good sign. Last question for this section of the interview. Just what do you think about your season so far?
Alysa: Oh my gosh. I don't know, I'm just really happy to perform, I guess. I really like the art of performing and doing it myself. There's something really emotional behind it? I don't know. I feel so intertwined with something. But I'm really happy. I guess I'll just be happy if I can just get out on the ice and skate.
Gabb: Sounds good. Okay, so we're just gonna do rapid fire questions. Just to get to know you. Okay, ready? Okay, so there's a tradition of throwing plushies onto the ice after you skate. So if you could have one kind of character, kind of plushie to get after you skate, what would it be?
Alysa: Ooh it would be... oh my gosh, seems I was not prepared for this. It would be any kind of cat or the Blue's Clues dog. I don't know!
Gabb: Oh, I like the Blue's Clues dog. No, that's a great answer. Okay, favorite song to listen to these days?
Alysa: Oh my gosh. Anything by NewJeans right now, this week. Been playing that. [Gabb: That's the vibe this week?] Yeah. Yes, for this week. Changes all the time, but this week, them.
Gabb: Okay, you also really like anime, so I wanna know, what's your favorite anime?
Alysa: Oh my god, maybe Soul Eater. Or Tokyo Ghoul.
Gabb: Solid choice. If you could be any fictional character, who would you be?
Alysa: Probably Hello Kitty.
Gabb: Good choice. What is a movie that you liked recently?
Alysa: Movie that I've liked recently? Oh my gosh, I've watched so many, I don't think I'll name a single one of them though. But oh my gosh, I just watched a movie the other day. There's a new Christmas movie that came out. And Lucy Liu is in it. But oh I really like all the old Barbie movies. I've just recently rewatched all of them. I really like Mermaid Tale- Barbie the Mermaid Tale.
Gabb: Yes, I do love the Barbie movies.
Alysa: Or Fairytopia! That one's a great one.
Gabb: Oh, yeah, that is really good. Okay, if you had to choose one word to describe your comeback, it would be?
Alysa: Oh, unexpected.
Gabb: Good word. What is one goal for this season?
Alysa: To do enough galas and shows where I can have at least two or three different show programs this season.
Gabb: Okay, and if you could skate to any music for the future, what would it be?
Alysa: Oh, I don't know. I have a whole list. Oh, that's a secret. I'm gonna have to keep it a secret.
Gabb: Okay, that is fair, yes. Okay, and then just the last question to close off this interview just any last words from yourself- it could be like a message to your fans who are listening, or just something you want the fans to know, anything, the floor is yours.
Alysa: Okay. I guess to my supporters- if y'all supported me before and went through that whole period and still supporting me now, thank you so much! Y'all are real. I really appreciate it. Y'all love me at my worst. And now y'all are- I hope y'all are excited. And I hope that you guys will continue supporting me with what's to come next.
Thanks to Alysa for taking the time to talk to us! You can follow her on instagram at @alysaxliu!