COLUMNS
An Interview with Stoya
/ Brandon Stosuy
01.18.08
Stoya's an interesting example of internet-age networking, exposure. Before going hardcore, she frequented arty softcore sites like deviantART, God's Girls, Razordolls, and Trig. Creating a buzz in those venues, the 21-year-old ex-dancer and art school student was signed to an exclusive three-year contract with Digital Playground, a huge L.A.-based porn studio known for big budget flicks like Pirates and mainstream contract girls like Jesse Jane and Teagan Presley.
Like previous interview subject Sasha Grey, Stoya isn't the typical porn starlet. She's been described as "the goth girl next door," but seems more like a sci-fi geek/punk to me. At MySpace she says she “smoke(s) cigarettes a lot, sometimes even in the shower” and at God’s Girls calls herself an "android from the future," writing her sexual fantasy is "giving a chick permanent anal leakage with a sparx can."
The Fanzine: You grew up in North Carolina then relocated to Philadelphia. Can you tell me a bit more about your personal history?
Stoya: I was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, spent twelve years living all over the eastern half of the state and then moved to Delaware. I was home schooled, got my diploma three months before my sixteenth birthday, and then started moving to Philadelphia. It was the closest place with a good public transit system, and a drivers license wasn't going to be possible until my 18th birthday. I have this sort of wanderlust thing, and ended up just living out of this giant suitcase for about two years when I was 19 to 21. Usually I had a room somewhere, but was hardly ever in the same
city for long. About six months ago I moved back to southern California and have pretty much stayed put so far. My lease is up in October and I want to run away to Europe.
The Fanzine: Speaking of Europe, you're Serbian, Scottish, and, well, Puerto Rican. Where's your name come from?
Stoya: The Serbian part. My grandmother handled my art education -- she used Stoya (a very shortened version of her last name) in art school for crits because the instructors didn't want to deal with all six syllables of Slavic heritage. When I started selling pieces here and there, I used that as well, and my best friend/roommate/partner in crime and I share the same name and quite a few identifying characteristics. People started calling me Stoya to avoid confusion, it stuck, and when I needed a stage name for the nude alt-community websites it was the obvious choice.
Like previous interview subject Sasha Grey, Stoya isn't the typical porn starlet. She's been described as "the goth girl next door," but seems more like a sci-fi geek/punk to me. At MySpace she says she “smoke(s) cigarettes a lot, sometimes even in the shower” and at God’s Girls calls herself an "android from the future," writing her sexual fantasy is "giving a chick permanent anal leakage with a sparx can."
The Fanzine: You grew up in North Carolina then relocated to Philadelphia. Can you tell me a bit more about your personal history?
Stoya: I was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, spent twelve years living all over the eastern half of the state and then moved to Delaware. I was home schooled, got my diploma three months before my sixteenth birthday, and then started moving to Philadelphia. It was the closest place with a good public transit system, and a drivers license wasn't going to be possible until my 18th birthday. I have this sort of wanderlust thing, and ended up just living out of this giant suitcase for about two years when I was 19 to 21. Usually I had a room somewhere, but was hardly ever in the same
city for long. About six months ago I moved back to southern California and have pretty much stayed put so far. My lease is up in October and I want to run away to Europe.
The Fanzine: Speaking of Europe, you're Serbian, Scottish, and, well, Puerto Rican. Where's your name come from?
Stoya: The Serbian part. My grandmother handled my art education -- she used Stoya (a very shortened version of her last name) in art school for crits because the instructors didn't want to deal with all six syllables of Slavic heritage. When I started selling pieces here and there, I used that as well, and my best friend/roommate/partner in crime and I share the same name and quite a few identifying characteristics. People started calling me Stoya to avoid confusion, it stuck, and when I needed a stage name for the nude alt-community websites it was the obvious choice.
