(tapping noise) - That's the kinda sound
you wanna listen for. Hi, I'm Nathan and I go
by Taeha Types online on YouTube and Twitch, and I'm a content creator
that creates videos regarding the custom mechanical keyboards. (casual music) So I first got introduced into the whole world kind of very briefly in 2013 when I was building my first
nice, high-end custom PC. And I was in college at the time and I also majored in software engineering so knowing that I was
gonna be programming, I assumed that I was gonna be programming for the most of my life, so I wanted to find the nicest keyboard that I could at the time with the budget that I had and I found the mechanical
keyboard subreddit and it kind of was radical from there. (laugh) Not many people, you know,
are into mechanical keyboards and not many people spend a
lot on mechanical keyboards. And when you meet someone online who has that same shared interest as you, there's this automatic level of connection that you an suddenly start
talking with them about. So, in the keyboard community, everything in general
is made in a limited run because all these products are mostly run by a community of members. They're not made by large
corporations, large companies. You get other people to
join in on your projects so that you bring the cost down, and then once the project's done, that's kind of it. So if you missed out on that project, there's no way for you to get it, other than by on the aftermarket. I think the platforms
are definitely integral in growing the community. But I think more so than that, it's just the fact that
we share this silly hobby. I think that's what
brings people together. For a lot of newcomers, I think it's a very interesting
and novel thing to see someone building a keyboard from scratch. I for sure, didn't know
how a keyboard was built until I dove deep into the hobby so, I think there's that novelty factor for a lot of new people. And most likely, for new people, I'm mostly dealing with parts
that they have never seen or even heard of. So, I think there's that. For a lot of returning members, who have been watching me for a long time, I think it becomes less
about the keyboard, to be honest, and more about
just hanging out with me. What am I cutting? Ah, yes, I forgot to explain. So your stabilizers come like this, so you can see how there's
these two little prongs that are sticking out. So when you bottom out, it prevents the stabilizer
from hitting evenly. So I definitely wasn't
the first content creator for the mechanical
keyboard scene to arrive. But one think I think that
I provided differently was I kind of made the media easy
to consume for newcomers. I feel like Razor's gonna hate me after. This is what this keyboard sounds like (quick tapping noise) (quick tapping noise) I think certain people
have different preferences. For me, I think acoustics I
would prioritize over feel. My viewers know that and when
they come into my stream, we generally talk about
how a certain build sounds at the end quite a bit. (quick tapping noise) They all sound that thocky? Yeah, I mean these are Tealios though. Tealios aren't generally
known for their thock. People consider it to have a higher pitch but they're really smooth, and switches do feel pretty nice. I wouldn't say this is universal, but generally if you ask
keyboard community enthusiasts, they will say the sound they
strive for is called a thock. (laughs) It's kind of like a nice,
not very high-pitched, kind of low-pitched deep I don't know how to describe it. It's just a thock. You know it when you hear it, but there's no way to really predict what it's gonna sound like. Yay! I've been streaming under the
Makers & Crafting category, but when you look at the numbers
between the people looking at channels streaming under
the Makers & Crafting category versus any other category, it's massive. Discovery has been hard and the one thing that's
helped me to stay alive is being noticed by these big gamers who bring exposure to my channel. I believe my first big client was a streamer named BeasttrollMC. You can consider him
the first biggest client that kind of kick started my career. - Our brand new keyboard. - [Nathan] But yeah, at
the time I just realized okay, there's tons of people out there, these high profile people on Twitch, who show their keyboard every day that's their job. They work on a keyboard, they show it off, some people have hand
cams on their streams. And, maybe I should target these folks. These are the kind of people who might be interested in the keyboards that I'm building. I think Tfue probably is the biggest client undoubtedly that I've had so far. And his first message,
I believe, was like, "What's the most expensive keyboard "you can build me?", obviously. So we started working from there, I reached out to Keycult,
one of my sponsors now, and they also produce high-end
luxury custom keyboards, and they also have a commission service of their own. But I work with them on
my own service as well. So, we started working from there. It was a multi-month project. (tapping noise) You just
hear the pure switch noise. (tapping noise) Nice. (clicking sounds) And it was finally finished in January of this year. And, getting that off my plate was such a big relief (laughs). I'm very glad he liked it. - Oh my god! Dude, this thing is nuts! - I mean, at first I thought it would just be a side gig that I would do at home to de-stress on the weekends. Last September, I decided to quit my job full-time. My friends and boss, they had no idea why I would leave a secure programming job in the Bay Area to pursue a career in content creation, but it's been working out so far (laughs). It's left me with a couple things, I guess one being maybe I
can do more stuff like this that people enjoy and that people watch. And then there's also the stress of how can I top this now? Like I've landed Tfue, what's next for me? (upbeat music) I think this thing works too. (thunk)
Thanks for the post!
I'm glad a lot of these big streamers are getting into customs
After the pc building incident I thought the Verge was buzzfeed tier trash, but this, this makes me happy!
What are the switches at 2:51?
Literally just watched this and it brought me here... Very excited to find this exists! Wow guys... just wow! And well done to Nathan. Great interview!
Can't believe I subbed to him when he had like 2k subs on Youtube in 2018. Now he's getting like 50k in a few months. Smart desicions can really make careers
Good job for Taeha! I still can't forgive the verge for their PC build from 2 years ago.
glad to see someone who works so hard getting a little well deserved attention. Grats mate!
Congrats! what a super honest and feel good interview! Love the cats too :D