Inside The Mind of Calfreezy

[Music] come freezy thank you so much for coming on on books thank you very much for uh for having me man this is exciting so the setup is legit yeah man this is a proper thing yeah it's probably so cool all right so I want to start off slightly differently okay what motivates you oh that's an interesting question wow so I I I actually had uh JJ on my podcast and I asked him a really similar question because I to be honest I don't usually get into like those Hot Topic like the Deep topics as we thought but I actually asked him because I was really interested about what he had to say on the Legacy right and his whole thing was Legacy and me and him probably went back and forth for about 20 minutes about Legacy and because for me I maybe have like a I don't know what the term is but I um maybe not a positive outlook on on Legacy in the sense that I think that the moment you die who cares yeah do you know what I mean like who really came like what does it matter about well you can't enjoy that you can't enjoy that Legacy but maybe he says that you know you inspire people coming up whatever it is but for me it made me realize that I don't think like going through this conversation and well that is his thing it's still for me Legacy isn't something that that motivates me I feel like I I also especially of late have a real motivation to prove something and I don't know who I'm proving it to maybe it's the people around me or maybe because I don't feel like people necessarily doubt me in a certain way you know I've never had that feeling but I do feel like I need to be I need to have a stamp of success at least through my own eyes yeah and I think because my YouTube channel has happened over like 12 years now it's hard to see that success like that's just my life if that makes any sense so to me I can't look at that and be like oh that's success I feel like there is something else that I need to do to achieve that but then maybe that I never get that moment and so that that's maybe like the maybe a bit of fear for me is that I'm actually chasing something that doesn't doesn't exist yes I don't know man I I think it does I I'm convinced it does yeah so you talk about your journey so for those who don't know most people probably do but what is your journey of 12 Years some of the high some of the lows like yeah talk us through that that incredible process um so yeah I mean I'm I'm very privileged that this has actually been my only job uh so I started when I was was 15 and back then I mean Google AdSense was not a thing you know the craze didn't get didn't get paid anything right no no no but not only did they not get paid anything the idea of getting paid was so surreal this was like the platform YouTube so I should say that I'm talking about making YouTube videos here when I'm 15. it just it was never a thing and even back then like companies weren't getting paid when I started right um probably about a year into my YouTube Journey people started getting paid like companies started to get like paid and being able to offer other creators to join them to get paid it was all a lot more confusing back then um but when I was 15 I started making gaming content because you know as most 15 year old kids is you know these days or even back then you know you play games it was Call of Duty for me I would play it um I was very fortunate that I had a really good Core group of friends at school though because that is ultimately the biggest battle that I imagine young people face when they want to start something like this because the um the risk to reward is extremely not in your favor why is that um what other people around you what your peers will see as successes is through numbers and it is difficult to get that especially when you are younger and you might not necessarily understand how to do it or maybe have the quality to do it yeah I was lucky enough that back then it was such a new space there was nothing to compare it to so you could look around a little bit but the quality it wasn't difficult to achieve the quality you know a 15 year old kid could yeah do that yeah whereas now I I don't think that that it is too difficult there's too many more because it says that everyone's like well your videos is only on 100. they're going to compare this kid to to miniminter's videos they're gonna compare it to the obviously Steven tries whoever it is yeah right so and and I think that that's why at being at school it can be extremely tough um and and you know you know how kids are like they're not there being like I see the potential yeah that doesn't exist do you know what I mean so yeah I think I think being a kid and making videos now would be a lot more difficult and I mean that's so interesting right so you've been through the scene from the kind of raw early days of the platform where people could put up anything if it was funny if it was real it would resonate and get results YouTube then becomes ultimately an ad platform you mentioned before about monetization turning on and then now obviously it's in many ways dictated by the principles of monetization and how Brands need to engage with the platform and algorithms are a lot more as you say optimize structured scientific alongside the art which was sort of I guess instinctual for all of you guys back in the day how have you found that change in terms of the platform becoming more I guess robotic in a sense right or more structured you have to think more about strategy rather than just instinctually going out and making something I really like it you know and that might a lot of people probably wouldn't agree with me because I think it's quite easy to look at those old days or like back in the day and go uh you know life life was better you you know and it was like yeah okay I didn't need to know as much I could just put up what I wanted but I I think if if it just stays like that then I'd be so bored I'd be so like uh yeah but whatever like the constant challenge of the fact that the platform is evolving has always made it a challenge to me yeah and I love that I think that's amazing there's always something to conquer there's always something to learn and I've always felt like I even me I felt like in the last two years I'm probably better at this but I was always like one step behind everyone else right because I wasn't I I wasn't taking things maybe as seriously or really looking into things the way I should have but now I find such such joy in that yeah and I really see that as a challenge and I think that's probably one of the reasons why I'm still around on the platform yeah is because it hasn't stayed the same yeah so you've made so many videos to your time right one thing I was really interested in what is your favorite video you've ever made favorite video in recent times in recent times I mean definitely instantly the my favorite one would be the funeral the hamster funeral um and I think it was just the way that video came about I mean okay the process how did you come up with it how did you put it together yeah so much would have gone into making that happen right yeah so I'm I'm very lucky that I've got a great team behind me so I I can't even really take credit for that idea and so that was my that was my assistant Amrita and so what we do is we'll often sit together brainstorm ideas and I mean sometimes we'll honestly sit there and we'll come out with nothing we'll be sat there for like two hours and I'll just be there like guys I just just stop yeah I'm going home but it was so funny the first time we were actually uh it was sat in a in a cafe when we were going through this and she goes why don't we do a funeral for the hamster and I was and instantly I shut it down I was like that is a [ __ ] terrible idea and then we moved on to a few other video ideas and I went you know what you know what that's a hamster a video actually oh yeah so she said it as a bit of a joke yeah like because she she's also a bit notorious for like she just comes up with it's either the worst idea in the world or it's um you never know what you're gonna get you're never but I promise you're never getting a mid video yeah yeah good you know good that's what it was um so yeah she said that and then I was there like because then it into it I was like right okay let's come out let's keep talking about this hamster video then first of all we need to find a location to do this and once I had the location everything then I can start sending invites out because I don't want to invite people and then have to message them up like oh it's not happening because I couldn't find a place yeah so it's now like a few days only until we get the location secured by the way this place is centered like we're talking this was Saint pot like next to Saint Paul's right that we've got this and again this is uh Amrita my assistant she absolutely smashed it like I couldn't believe it when she told me that we have a location like that a church and then not only that but they're okay with it being for a hamster because a lot of people actually I get I got messages but it's like this is disrespectful they're only saying that because it's a YouTube video if this was on Netflix it was a film if this was a film yeah people just said this is a funny skit yeah so I think there has to be that element to it um but we did you know we went about it all the right ways to make sure that we we were as respectful as we could be to to to the actual place because it is a holy place it just everything came together and it all went way smoother than it should have done yeah like a video like that two weeks notice some of the best times going on some of the best things are like that though right with their very last minute you've got to just get it done whatever however and then I guess because again like you guys all such good friends some amazing people in the room the band is there like they're just having a good time kind of fake sad but also is sad yeah he actually had a hamster die his second hamster died recently and my mentions were a mess they were like another funeral another funeral I was like guys would not do that not only that but I did think it's one of those it's like it ha the reason why it's kind of funny is also a bit like the shock value yeah you can't believe that I'm doing beautiful hamster yeah like yeah it's an insane amount of effort yeah right yeah and so I just think if you do it again I'll say like there's no real way for me to improve on that and it will never have the feeling that you got from the first one definitely and that shock value is really interesting right when Max was on that's what she was saying about contradiction it's like the essence of his planning and his strategy which I think is really really interesting to stuck with me the idea that everything he does has to be two extremes which you would never expect together being together in some way shape or form like wow that's really interesting going to this 10 million pound Penthouse and doing a poo yeah or whatever it might be it's like having that contradiction is always then that's partly why the shock value yeah having a few more for a hamster is so weird and wonderful that you gotta Kick oh I'm in this interesting thing yeah yeah that's really interesting that he he does that and you can certainly see that theme in like all of the videos that he does yeah yeah you know it's weird I don't I I would love to say that I have like a principle similar to that when I sit down but it I know and maybe that's something there's an instinct I worked on yeah yeah there is definitely an instinct um but yeah I don't I don't have like a I I like the fact that he has that yeah it just stopped me when he said that I was like that's really yeah and actually the the essence of Comedy is also that when you think about it it's like what makes you laugh is two extremes coming together there's something over here and there's been ridiculous and the Delta between them is what makes you laugh it's a weird way of like I guess processing comedy but it is true yeah um right let's move on to what I think is one of the most exciting things that have happened I think in the space which is everything you're doing in the podcast World um with the fellow Studios obviously with the fellas podcast so for those who don't know obviously again I'm sure everyone does what is the fellas and how did it evolve into this incredible production company producing some of the biggest and best shows in the world yeah uh well that's very kind of you to say so thank you for that we take a lot of pride in it and I know uh chip um my co-host co-founder um it takes a lot of pride in in especially the visuals and the quality yeah of the shows he's almost our quality control for everything which is great um but yeah I'll I'll quickly explain um how everything started and what it is um so me me and Chip we started a podcast in lockdown I spent two years asking him to do a podcast though don't get it twisted I'm not even joking I genuinely and I I it got to the point where I was like look because I I really wanted to do a podcast as every mid-20s white guy in the world felt the need to share his opinions For No Good Reason yeah wow um but it worked out so um honestly in the middle of lockdown I said bro but we're doing it you know what I was there like look let's give this a shot if you don't like it I promise you we'll just we'll just sack it off um and he he gave me two things he gave me no no wait he gave me like one must have he said look if we're gonna do a podcast it has to have a set I'm not doing a podcast where it it doesn't look nice it needs to look like visually really nice not just a zoom podcast that everyone else no no no yeah it seems to be proper that's what I mean and I was interesting that was the first thing he said and I'm not even joking so on this phone call because I called him up and I actually called him up as a joke because it became a running joke that I would just call him up to say let's do a podcast it happened so many times so I called him up again it's locked down there was nothing better to do I'd made my 164th call to him you know whatever yo let's do a podcast and he just went all right cool sorry and I was like really and he and he was like yeah and then he gave me he gave me that demand um and I was like yeah fine whatever like that's cool so he started like sketching stuff out coming up with ideas sent me like across a mood board now Chip is amazing creatively but and and he won't mind me saying this but it's like when it comes to actually actioning stuff yeah that's probably or like executing it like he he honestly is so great creatively Phoenix you need someone to get done and I actually felt like that is my strength like my weakness is probably the creative side of things and I but I'll actually go and make this happen so and and a part of me also thought that he thought maybe him doing all this might just make me go man I can't be asked yeah do you know what I mean yeah but he he [ __ ] around and found out so yeah and here we are and here we are so we got that whole thing made and we got honestly like this this is a nice sized room here ours was like even like even smaller than this it was Tiny but where was it um it was over in Hackney over a London Fields way and it was like a literal box like squeezing so we we actually we got this space right and because we had to sign a year lease on it so so I mean I didn't even we were there like we're gonna give this a go for a few months but yeah we wanted the the cheapest rent we could get a smaller space I'm telling you this place was Tiny right and we put our set in but we measured the set to be built to the dimensions of the room because we needed to fill this yeah it was already tiny yeah our cameras were literally you couldn't see the preview screen because they were backed against the wall yeah like they were just like flip the back screen up the cameras we had didn't split it didn't flip yeah yeah so like we did you hit recording I think it's recorded yeah yeah we're there like press play yeah so it's all back so we had to the room was so small anyways we're really lucky with how all that went um you know six months same way they're like okay I think we're gonna give this a proper go let's get a slightly bigger space moved into to a bigger one the podcast just just kept going and going um and it yeah we we were very lucky in the sense that we we already had quite a few close friends that were open to coming on um it was very you know you're never gonna come on our podcast and get grilled yeah right that's just not what we want to do that we're not interested in that um and I think that's almost quite a nice thing if you're a guest you know we're going to talk about childish stupid things we're gonna make stupid jokes that's all you're signing up for right and yeah we're going to ask you a little bit about your your life or things going on in your life but it is so relaxed and I think that that definitely plays a part in in why people like coming on but we did that and then me and me and Chip went on holiday there was like this running joke about us being detectives right I don't really I can't remember it exactly but we just said that and then we're like we should do a true crime show and Chip was like oh man I I'd love a true crime set so if we'd moved into this new space it was there was a space for another set so we're like okay we'll do that then instantly he starts doing the same thing he did with the fellas out mood board and everything and we had our our true crime show the fellas Mysteries um and that was loads of fun smash that out and then we just kept going with it and we got to the end of probably like 18 months into the fellas and we'd assigned a deal with Spotify which was great because it really just gave us like a stable income so the the podcast world can be pretty scary because you don't know how much money you're gonna make and that's totally normal but it yeah it fluctuates so we were there like right okay stable income we're literally getting paid this every year yeah what now like for me it was always much more than like doing this podcast is great but there has to be more to it we just signed a multi-year deal here uh in the same way I needed like not a new challenge it wasn't like that this had ended but it had given me a bit of breathing space to look back okay what's next they've given me a bunch of money here I need to do something with this money this just sitting in my bank account it'll look great but it's not actually working it's not gonna do anything for me yeah in fact it's just losing me yeah it's losing me now yeah yeah I'm glad it didn't say it all in there um and I and I pitched the idea to chip and I was there like mate we know how to make a successful podcast we we look we just looked around and we went nobody is making podcasts as nice as we are and that was probably the best way but normally make it as nice yeah so we went let's approach creators and just see if they'd be willing to let us produce them a podcast and that's quite a scary thing to do because you're almost meddling in your own pool of people there's a lot more pressure when it's your own peers yeah and they put themselves out there under yours under your kind of pitch yeah yeah so like imagine we do it and it's dog [ __ ] yeah yeah where they're like this is so the main fear is humiliation right because you don't you that's failure like you know yeah and with your friends and with your friends and the people in your circle and everybody knows how this space Works what the word moves so quickly doesn't it so we were like look I'm willing to give this a go let's do it so we we picked up our first show which was Pitch side um and again these are with two of our closest friends Theo and Rafe and it was a football watch along and we created them like this locker room uh set that they still have now and where they're like yeah man like this is this is pretty cool we got a space down the road it got up and gone and we're really happy and then my girlfriend she uh she had told me about a tick tocker and she was like you gotta go she's hilarious I'm always hearing her voice on her phone and they're like who is that she's like our name's GK Barry she's absolutely hilarious you've got to check her out and so we're like okay cool let's let and and she actually said oh if you're gonna be making podcasts for other people you should make one for her yeah and I also like okay uh well we'll get I'm gonna get her on as a guest first it's always like a great yeah if you ever want to see if we're going to be doing a show with someone yeah chances are they've been a guest on our podcast because we almost use it as a interviewer yeah how does this person do on a podcast are they confident are they bringing and also the response online right the sentiment yeah like I'm sure you get an immediate sense of yeah this person's got it whatever that is exactly so we brought her on and she she just she was honestly hilarious and it was like so much better yeah and it literally so most people you know you never want to seem too Keen the moment she'd left the studio I messaged her manager yeah does she want to do her own show yeah and we were I was really fortunate that her manager because again you're looking at it's not it is a company but we've just got one show oh well we've got our show and one other show like this is a massive gamble that you're going to be taking to take your client and be like yeah we're gonna have I mean there's so many other podcast uh Production Studios out there and then Saving Grace was born which is the name of her podcast and it just it did unbelievable it was like she she's currently on tour right now um and then from Saving Grace um from there we've been very fortunate that we've now expanded into loads of different verticals F1 um another Tick Tock show yeah um yeah we've got another football show as well and then we have three currently being here built yeah I I'm actually on on the verge of not even calling our things podcasting their shirts yeah so personality-led shows yeah I want to call them shows yeah well there's no reason why in time they can't be compared to some of the late shows in America or even the way that American News works right so so many of of the kind of radio shows over in the states are personality driven there's always somebody's name it's like the X show and it's like they're on every day or they're on weekly and they were never considered as podcasts but now if you were to do that you'd call it a podcast but why when they're actually video focused predominantly yeah and they're more just about conversation and you know personalities driving driving that right yeah not podcast hot so I think it's really interesting what you guys are doing I think it's amazing I think honestly the only reason why it it gets colder podcast is they probably see that it's over an hour long yeah yeah yeah and there's a visible mic looking out there at the scene and looking at Tick Tock and maybe speaking to your girlfriend who are let's say she's the secret plug a lot of people someone's gonna go on higher and now you know yeah that's it yeah employee number one um what are three creators three to five people who you look at and you go I would love to make a podcast with them okay well one the the first person on your list right we've literally just signed so okay that was sick yeah now the other two here is the money making podcast right here come Ethan and Faith a couple podcast right those two right there I've said it from the good I've said it to Ethan 100 bro I'm telling you that podcast is to the Moon right and I I've said it to him I I would even say not just a podcast that's what we're doing at the fellow studio right so it starts with the show and you build and you build and you build and you build like there's so much more you can do but in terms of those two they're amazing but obviously a newborn super busy Ethan's schedule as it is with the sidemen stuff it's absolutely not so look I understand that but I'm telling you that it was uh it would bang so to wrap up two last two questions firstly where do you see the future of the crater economy going hopefully in the direction that we're aiming with the fellow studios in in that owning your own stuff and building out your own things and working with the right people to do that and not just accepting lump sums of cash for short-term gain really having the vision what the sidemen are doing is really like that is the gold standard now now that you guys are doing it it's like right I just hope that the business world is taking note of what's going on there and goes right who who else can we do this with yeah and I think I think for us as well as obviously as part of that it's it's finding hopefully being the bridge into some of these conversations from a corporate side which is the world that I come from where you can go and actually fly the flag for this scene and say look this is like the first step in at this level but actually look at this incredible ecosystem of creators and you guys need to take this space seriously um and hopefully that's happening I think it is to maybe a small degree but yeah hopefully that that continues yeah it's exciting though yeah like there is the create economy is just not slowing down regardless of you can look at you know the way the just the economy in general is right now and how things you know they're not looking great particularly in the UK anyways and it's like I feel like there is a little bubble around content and creators um I mean you throw it you saw throughout the pandemic nothing really changed a lot of things you know a lot a lot of um earnings and things went down elsewhere yeah but the Creator bubble itself it it just kept going man so um yeah I think I think content is just King man 100 right and who is a creator that you are loving at the moment oh a creator that I'm loving at the moment is I I I I gotta say AJ shabil and that that's not anything that's not like uh you know he's obviously well known in this scene but I don't think he ever gets his Jews like this guy is if you watch this video he's creating some of the best if not the best videos in the UK right now yeah I think it's packaging and the way you're passing together the strategy the optimization I love it exceptional the guy is literally the epitome yeah of like 20 22 2023 optimization like retention hacking everything and it's just so sick to see a UK Creator do that and so I I picked him up a few times on the fellas but I feel like I oh I should I should wave his flag here as well 100 um and lastly for somebody who's looking to start out in YouTube or in the create space generally what would be your advice after 12 hardened years doing this yourself you've got to do your own thing you have you have to do your own thing do not try and do like you can take inspiration from people that's absolutely normal and it's kind of annoying because this is all like generic stuff like do your own thing but is it honestly it is the way you're gonna make it now um and then the very second of that is you have to be comfortable working with other people nowadays you just doing your own thing solo it's not going to work it's gonna take you only so far and you've seen it with with with the best YouTubers you know they get to a point and then they start working with loads of other people because it's it it one it's fun it's way more fun working with other people um and then second of all it's it's a necessity like you know you want your stuff to be seen by as many people as possible you gotta have other people that share your stuff and don't be afraid to to feel like you deserve to be in that room speaking to people when you're there be respectful but at the same time let people know that you're you're out here you're trying to make videos or you are making videos um and that you want to work with other people so yeah put yourself out there I guess golden um thank you so much well thank you for having me [Music]

Channel: Jordan Schwarzenberger

Views: 6,488

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Id: Oj12eRavHpA

Length: 27min 44sec (1664 seconds)

Published: Wed May 03 2023