Jesus Don't Mind

Adina Tarralik Leger, stage name adiVa, was born and raised in Canada's high arctic in a small town called Coral Harbour, population 800. Her father is Irish Canadian and mother is Inuit. She now calls San Diego home.

"Usually I will play with Soul-Junk," she says. "They've given me opening sets for which I am equally grateful and horrified, because they are a high-energy act -- and I am kind of the acoustic flower chick." She refers to her music as lo-fi, recorded in the bathroom using a Mac. She admits that there are imperfections, "but Jesus don't mind."

FAVORITE BAND OF ALL TIME?

"U2. Any band that can make the transition from being a miraculously good musical act into something much grander and more important gets my vote any day. I mean, Bono stood in front of the leaders of the world and asked them to please start giving more -- who does that? Bono is much more than a voice or a front man or a celebrity -- he's an innovator, and he's someone who doesn't waste his platform."

FAVORITE DEAD CELEB?

"Janis Joplin. There was just something so tragic about her, about the look in her eyes. I think she experienced great sadness in her life even with all that fame and the incredible talent. She has so much soul and emotion in her voice."

WHAT CELEBRITY WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE LUNCH WITH?

"What is a celebrity anymore? We are so inundated with celebrity that I think the captivation and the mystery has turned into something else entirely. It used to be that there were these seemingly interesting, glamorous, behind-that-curtain lives that regular people would dream about maybe being able to catch a glimpse of, but now it's all this gluttonous overload. I know too much about Britney Spears. I was never a fan, but I know more about her now than when she was actually this huge pop star. It's weird to live in a world where you don't necessarily control the information that you take in anymore -- you are assaulted with it everywhere you go.

"I guess if I had to pick anyone I'd have to say Joaquin Phoenix. He seems at odds with Hollywood, and yet he is so good at what he does. I can't remember the last time I didn't like an actor for a period of time because he was so heinous and evil as one of his characters -- after Gladiator, I remember thinking how creepy Joaquin was...I might have to have lunch with him just to let him know I don't think he's creepy anymore."

NUMBER-ONE GUILTY PLEASURE?

"Oprah. But please don't tell anyone."

LAST BOOK READ?

"Interpreter of Maladies; it is such a delicious read. Simply divine. I have never been a fan of short stories -- they just seem like appetizer -- but after reading Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake I was intrigued and went out and bought [Interpreter] the first chance I got."

FIVE FAVORITE THINGS?

1. "Playing my guitar, with nothing but me and the ears of Heaven."

2. "Sitting at my grandmother's kitchen table, drinking tea and talking with her, learning from her."

3. "Treasure hunting on a Saturday morning."

4. "A good conversation -- with a friend or a stranger, doesn't matter."

5. "Talking and listening to God."

FIVE WORST JOBS?

"I once worked as a 'pool supervisor-slash-lifeguard' at the local swimming pool in my hometown. There was no indoor plumbing in the change rooms. They had these things called 'honey buckets' -- anyone who knows what that is understands why this was a horrible, terrible, heinous job. I had to empty the honey buckets twice a day. That job was worth five bad jobs."