Preeta, known by her internet name Preetaxyz is a K-Pop cover artist on the side, while being a full time medical student! During KCON NY, she took a few minutes to speak with us about her channel.

Q: For our readers who are getting the chance to know you for the first time, can you please give a little introduction about yourself?

A: My name is Preeta, I have a channel that I just recently changed the name of. It use to be the Yixingicorn, if you can tell I’m an EXO Lay bias person. I was inspired a lot by him, a lot of my videos were about him, and I want to continue that inspiration and dedication to him because I think he doesn’t get that much love and appreciation. I changed my name to Preetaxyz because I thought the Yixingicorn was a little childish and stuff like that. I wanted to make it easier for people to find me on the internet. I do covers on youtube and that’s really what I’m known for.

Q: How did you get into K-Pop?

A: The first video I ever saw was Girls’ Generation “The Boys,” back into 2011 [but] that didn’t get me into K-Pop. Interestingly I was watching Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend” and then [in the recommendations] I saw the group BOYFRIEND. Then I saw the dancing and I just thought it was so amazing and in sync, [then] I started watching their variety shows and stuff. They were a newly debuted group so they didn’t have that much content so I shifted really quickly to SHINee, which was my first biggest K-Pop group.

Q: What made you decide to create a YouTube channel?

A: I got to meet Cortney from 2minjinkjongkey and I told her that she was my inspiration for why I started since I was really into SHINee and she’s really into SHINee and I used to watch their reaction videos all the time. I decided I wanted to find some other people who related with me; I lived in a town that didn’t have that [much diversity] and a lot of people were very judgmental when I first started liking K-Pop so it was hard to share that excitement with my friends. I decided to turn toward the internet to feel that support from a community of people that actually did like K-Pop, then I started to share reaction videos and it started from there.

Q: Is there any advice that you’d like to give to readers and fans out there who are interested in starting their own YouTube channel or wanting to pursue something in media regarding K-Pop and the Hallyu Wave?

A: Honestly, I’m also figuring out how stuff works [and] it’s been a process. It’s not like I immediately shot up to fame. It took me a year or maybe two years before I even reached a thousand subscribers. I guess it’s just keep trying it and doing it for the fact that you really love sharing whatever it is that you want to share on the internet. I think it just gets tiring if you’re chasing the numbers. I think another good thing is to always make sure you’re giving back and thanking the people that support and watch your videos because they’re going to come back for more if you take the time to do that.

Q: If you could collaborate with any K-Pop group or artist, who would it be and what kind of collaboration would it be (ex. music video, TV show, feature on an album)?

A: I’ve never thought about this. If I could, obviously my bias group is EXO so that would be really amazing. I don’t know what I’d want to do… maybe an interview to find out some things that I haven’t found out before, or maybe just to be able to sing with them, I think that would be a real treat.

Q: Similar to the previous question, if you could film a reaction/cover video with any K-Pop group or artist, who would it be with?

A: Someone that’s really fun and hype. I think all K-Pop groups would all be really fun to react with. These days I’m really loving PENTAGON so I’m going with that.

Q: Are there any other YouTubers (K-Pop related or not) that you would like to collaborate with?

A: Yes! I met Elise yesterday and since we both do covers on youtube, I think it’d be really cool for us to collaborate. Another person is GoToe, I love the way he approaches sharing his love for K-pop. He does it in a really fun way and I think it’s very approachable, so I would love to learn some of his dance moves.

Q: Last question, are there any updates, information or future plans that you would like to tell readers to look forward to in the coming future?

A: Nothing exciting going on, but I have started making a poll of the covers that I do each month and I have a “Lo Siento” cover coming out soon.

Be sure to follow Preeta on social media and keep up with her latest releases!

Twitter: @preetaxyz

Instagram: @pre.eta

YouTube: preetaxyz