Brian Davis - From Football Fan To Online Content Creator

Full transcript: Brian Davis on London Real

3:24 My guest today is Brian Davis, a.k.a. the True Geordie, a 30 year old Englishman from Newcastle who shot the fame in 2013 with a football video rant that went viral. Since then, you become massive on YouTube, uploading regular videos about football, MMA, popular culture, and you’ve created the True Geordie podcast with your co-host, Lawrence McKenna. In it, you have long-form conversations with fascinating guests, including me. I was there a few weeks ago at an amazing time with you guys.

4:51 Welcome to London Real. Great. Finally, I think I’m one of your longest viewers. You were watching us back in the day, back in Dorian Yates 1, right? That was right around 2013.

5:03 Yeah, I trained with Dorian just beforehand, so I was like… I knew the beast that was about to end at London Real. But I didn’t realize how intelligent he was. You know, I got a good idea of it from his training and that, but I didn’t realize the spiritual side of him and all of that. So when he came on, I think I was one of the people who was expecting big things more so than the average person, but even I was blown away.

5:24 And then I was just a fan. That was it. Because you would train with him, you were probably following him on Twitter or something, and then he tweeted it out. Yeah. Things were going to get real, I thought. All right.

5:33 I was tempted to tweet that out myself, actually. Just a copy and a reference. Too much even for me. I still remember that tweet, and I remember we were in here, and I was like, oh shit, he’s going to bring it. And he did, as you saw.

5:46 So talk to people about what is the True Geordie, because we have people from America and all the people around the world that might not know who the True Geordie is. What is the True Geordie podcast now? If you had to describe the State of the Union now until you meet some grandma on the street, and she says, what do you do, Brian? What do you tell them? I am a working-class lad from Newcastle, and I’m a no-bullshit kind of person.

6:11 And I just went on the internet and put out my views, and people seemed to like them. A Geordie is a Northerner in England. Is it Northerner or one from Newcastle? It’s specifically from Newcastle. And yeah, just speak my mind, and particularly I think young men gravitate towards me because I say what a lot of people my age are thinking, but just don’t say it on the internet.

6:37 And sometimes I go a bit too far, and sometimes I say some things that maybe I shouldn’t say. But yeah, that’s me, mate. And 2013, was that first upload? Yeah, it was a rant about a footballer called Niall Ranger, who I’m now going to be associated with for the rest of my life. Is he going to be on your show one day?

6:55 Well, I thought about it, but unfortunately he can’t get his shit together. He keeps fucking up and getting locked up and all that again. But he was a Newcastle player who came out and said that the fans shouldn’t boo the team. And I just lost a friend of mine who was a huge Newcastle United fan. And it was emotional, like, you know, watching a young lad pass away.

7:17 And I remember his funeral was all about how much he loved Newcastle United. And I just remember thinking, God, like, these players get worshipped so much that a close friend of mine’s funeral wasn’t really about him as much as it was about how much he loved the local football team. So when he came out and said that about the fans, this footballer, I was like, I was pretty upset about me dying. A lot of pent up shit. And I just pressed that record button.

7:42 And I basically said, one of the quotes was, you think you’re a gangster rapper holding that gun. I hope you shoot that gun and you’re better than you do the football because you’re fucking shit. And I just basically laid into him and I was that crazy football fan who everyone points and probably laughs out of it. But I sort of, in doing that, I had a bit of a light bulb go off and I was like, there’s something to this. People want to hear what I’ve got to say. And it took us a while to hone that into what I’ve made it into because I was a bit like, what do I do?

8:15 I understand that I’m a good speaker and I can talk to a camera better than most, but it’s known the game of YouTube. And that took me a couple of years to really get the grips with. Once I did, now I’m unstoppable now. It’s rolling now. Good. And I want to find out some of the moves you’re making now.

8:33 But going back to that, I watched that video today and there was a little something there. It wasn’t just a guy ranting about football or that player, even though he was kind of disrespecting the fans. Now that you said you lost somebody because there’s something really deep going on inside you in that video. Well, if that was just about football, that was a massive overreaction. And I’m capable of that as well, to be honest.

8:56 That kid, I used to play football on the field with him regularly and he was a gentle giant. He was the type of lad that you’d want your sister to marry, just a decent guy. And I just took it personally. I’m like, shut the fuck up. To be fair, the guy, the footballer, he didn’t know I was going to do it.

9:17 He probably just thought it was some nut job. But sometimes I think footballers generally should respect the fans more. And that was sort of the angle that came in on YouTube. Yeah. Talk to me about the institution of football, especially.

9:31 Explain it to people around the world, what it’s like in the UK. And what’s it like up in Newcastle, where you grew up? I mean, you just said you had a mate of yours and at his funeral. The funeral was almost about the football team. What is it, you know, is it like a religion up there?

9:45 In Newcastle it is, specifically. Like in London, you get into a taxi and the car driver say, your football fight, especially with me because I usually wear football shirts. But, you know, you get the odd conversation in London, but in Newcastle, if you were in a pub, a taxi, anywhere where there’s just working class men, particularly, everything is about football all the time, everywhere. No other city in the country is like Newcastle. Why is it that way?

10:12 I think when you haven’t got a lot, like, not that Newcastle is a poor area, but it is a working class area. And there’s a lot of people who don’t have a lot. You cling to your football team, you want that excitement. You know, if you’re working hard all week, seeing your team win, it gives you a massive buzz, a massive lift. You’re out with the lads, they’re all cheering the team on.

10:34 It becomes, it’s a family ritual. Like, dad takes the son to the football. Soon as he’s six, seven, eight years old, this is your team’s son. Get used to it. We’re crap, but we’re going to support them anyway.

10:45 And it just, it’s a huge part of the place. It’s tribal and it is almost like a religion. Every Sunday, you know, it becomes this, you have the colors, you have the history, the players. It’s something that, it’s just, it’s part of your life. And the father and son things got a lot out of it, to be honest.

11:01 That’s big. It’s getting harder for fathers, but dads to take their sons to watch Newcastle play because now I think there’s not as much identity as there was, but that’s a whole other story. Okay. Well, speak on that a little bit because when I first got here in 97, I read this book that, you know, everybody in the world read, which was among the thugs, right? And it was all about, uh, who canism, uh, British football, but it was more fascinating that there was this culture of people that like, were so dedicated to these teams.

11:30 And I remember reading it and I was like, okay, that’s interesting. And I went to a couple of matches, but I could never really understand it. But that’s kind of a factor that it used to be kind of a working man sport. And then it grew into this global, you know, expensive sport. Can you just speak on that?

11:43 Like briefly for people who don’t understand the history. It’s gone from some in that, you know, men used to take the kids to, to, I guess they’d say the prone sandwich brigades turned up, you know, it’s become a business. People, you know, are buying clubs. Qatar are now, like the airways are, they’re the ones making transfers. It’s a club.

12:02 The club companies are involved in this now. It’s, it’s, it’s almost lost its soul. I’d say football, to be honest with you. Okay. And what do you remember from your early days where you, you know, did your dad take you or you?

12:15 My mother did actually a single mother. And for me birthday, she took us to a football in the Newcastle match. And I was already a big Newcastle fan, but that was my first game. And the hometown hero just signed Alan Shearer, who I’ve since met actually. And he scores the winning goal, just the movie moment like it was.

12:36 And that was it. Like I knew that was it. Like I was, I love this guy. I love this team. And that’s just the best moment ever.

12:43 When it comes to a hardcore factor of one to 10 of like you and Newcastle, where are you? I don’t think I’m the most hardcore fan at all, to be honest with you. I love the team, but there are like diehards who travel the length of the country every single week who, who I can’t do that. I’m committed to, I have to work weekends. You know, I miss a lot of Newcastle games, but I watch as many as I can.

13:07 But I like, I’ll watch all the games, but I can’t be there a lot of the time because of my job. So I would say I’m about a five out of 10, to be honest. There are a lot. I’m just a guy who happened to get lucky. Do you know what I mean?

13:19 Okay. And what about football hooligans? Do they still exist? Or is that something that was really more of the past? And when people around the world watch it, a lot of times they don’t understand it.

13:28 Maybe because they don’t realize it’s such a huge part of the culture in certain towns. Well, it definitely still exists, but it’s different than what it used to be. I think, you know, me dad was a bit of a football, who were looking back on the day. Both. Which means that you kind of travel with your team to away games, and then there’s kind of fights and rivalries.

13:47 There’s different reasons. I think some lads are like really passionate about the club, and then they like a scrap as well. Do you know what I mean? Or some lads are just there for the scrap. But I think in the Russia World Cup that we’re about to see, that’s going to be interesting because I’m expecting a few moments on their YouTube through that.

14:04 Because the Russian fans are hardcore, British are as well. There’ll be chairs getting thrown and everything. Okay. Are those the two nations that are going to go out? No, I’m just expecting it, yeah.

14:13 Okay. Particularly because of Russia. No offense to any Russians watching. Okay. What other nations are that passionate?

14:19 I don’t know. I think there’s a lot like Ireland and all that. They get right into it generally, but football hooliganism, it isn’t what it was. It’s definitely, I think it’s calmed down personally, but there’s just a few small factions. Okay.

14:32 Just a couple more things on Newcastle before we go on. It’s in the north, and a lot of towns in the north, they got hit hard in the Thatcher era, and a lot of the industry dried up. And so you’re talking about it being a working class place. What is the difference between the north and the south? Have you had to explain to someone who doesn’t live in this country?

14:50 So I interviewed a plastic surgeon, not long ago who works on all the celebrities, and I met him on the train down actually, Dr. Eshel. And he has a surgery, a Newcastle and a surgery in London, and I asked him the same question, and he nailed it. He said, when I go up to my surgery down south, everyone’s reading the magazines, waiting to be seen. When I go up north, everyone’s talking to each other, saying what you haven’t done.

15:15 And even though it’s women, it just sums up. We’re just a lot more sociable, a lot more friendly. There’s much more of a community vibe there. In London, no one talks to each other pretty much. If you don’t know someone, you’re not like me, because there’s so many people in the city.

15:31 So I have a chat, and I think, I mean, unless you sit in a car or something, but Newcastle, I absolutely love Newcastle, and I’ll never, ever move away from there completely. Even if I have to work in London, I still get the train now. It’s really important to me that I make Newcastle proud of me, and I represent the people of Newcastle. It means a lot, to be honest. I’m not a lot of other YouTubers.

15:58 I like that, about where they’re from. But with me having Jordy and me naming that, and generally, when I drive around Newcastle, people say, hello, I want to make them proud. I want to go on and achieve things, and for people to say, oh, he’s all right with him. He’s from Newcastle. I’m proud of him.

16:14 Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Are you the most famous Jordy at this point? No, there’s another YouTuber from Newcastle, but he’s not like… He’s not like you?

16:23 Like, what’s the word? He’s a good friend of mine. But he’s not like as about Newcastle as the city is the way I am. I think in his videos, do you know what I’m saying? He’s more like, yeah, he does a lot of comedy stuff.

16:36 But generally, I want to be up there. When people think of Newcastle, Alan Shearer, Cheryl Cole, Anthony Dick, I want people to put me in that list, because if they don’t put me in that list, then I haven’t done my job properly. Do you get recognised all the time on the street? A fair bit, especially with young lads. Well, it’s great. I don’t mind that at all.

16:57 OK. Who’s your typical demo? You said young lads. Who watches your stuff on YouTube? I’d say like 13.

17:05 The thing is, it’s weird, because I make… I call it grown man content, because I feel like that’s what I make. But 13-year-olds and 12-year-olds, I gravitate towards that, because I suppose I’m like the big brother type. And lads that are my age and older gravitate towards, because they’re like me. So I’d say like, I don’t know, young teenage lads, mainly all the way up to like 40-year-old men plus that.

17:27 I’ve had a 65-year-old man approach me in the gym before and be like, I love your videos, mate. So I suppose it just depends, really. And YouTube gives you your breakdown, so you can tell pretty quickly in real time. Yeah, we’ve got like over 45 to 50, I think, like 10% plus over that. OK, OK.

17:46 And talking about Alan Shure, I know you got his picture pinned on your Twitter right now. You saw him score that goal when your mom took you to the first game? Yeah, the first game. So is he such a huge figure? Is that why he’s always been a big thing for you or is it because he scored that goal?

18:02 And for people that don’t know who he is, how would you introduce him? He was the guy who could have played for any club in the world and chose Newcastle, and this is where he was born. So like for Newcastle fans, he’s like, you could have gone anywhere, but you stayed with us despite what a shy team we are. And he was the world record player at the time, like it was the biggest transfer signing of that era. And he’s just a symbol in Newcastle.

18:30 Like I didn’t have a close relationship with my dad growing up, and he was that like role model for me, like, all right, you can play from here and you can achieve something, do you know what I mean? So I always looked up to him as most lads in Newcastle did. And when I met him, for him to know who I was before I introduced myself, and I was like, all right, he was very nice to us and it was just a good moment for me, I think. So I was in the south of France at the time because I’d been asked to go there to speak at something.

18:58 And I’m like, fucking hell, what a life. I’m in the south of France because of my job and I’m having a chat with him and it was quite a surreal moment. So it was like a mock or a pinpoint of like, this is what is achievable. Okay, so now you’re on your way to a million subs, millionaire, you saw the stuffs all happen and probably in the next year or so. I don’t know about millionaire in the next year, we’ve gone as quick as we can.

19:21 Okay, a couple years. Talk to me about Brian in the earlier days because four years ago you uploaded that video and you’ve obviously come into your own and I want to hear about how you became better on camera and YouTube and all that stuff. But, you know, what’s 14 year old Brian like? Covered in spots, addicted to porn. Really struggling at school, quite violent.

19:45 Just full of anger, testosterone, fuel, just struggling. Generally, I think I wanted to be a doctor at the time. I thought, I don’t know, I’ll help people. I’d like to help people, that’s a good thing. And I was up against it with the school teachers because I was intelligent, but I didn’t fit into the system of school because I think school, a lot of it isn’t really an intelligence test, it’s not much a memory test.

20:12 How can you memorize this textbook and then regurgitate it onto a bit of paper? And I just wanted to be inspired. I wanted to, you know, sort of grab us by the balls to be honest and make us want to learn. And I’m the type of person who, if I find something interesting, I’ll be an expert at it. If I’m not really into it, I’ll just discard it completely.

20:31 And that type of personality is never going to really succeed in school. So the things I did like English, I’ve quite enjoyed that. I got A’s in English and I really found that quite easy. But things like, I don’t know, French. I’ve got a D in that.

20:49 Do you know what I mean? Even though the French teacher had a big arse, it just wasn’t enough for us. And where do you think the anger come from? Is it, you know, Father Not There? Is it the tone of Newcastle at the time?

21:03 In my mind, I hated being talked down to and naturally people talk down to teenage kids. And I was like, who the fuck are you talking to? It didn’t suit me, personality type. I had to be, I was this person then. So treating me like the way they did, I was like, oh, you’re going to fucking learn.

21:25 I got excluded for fighting and shit like that. And the amount of teachers, when I was 10 years old, a teacher told my mother I was destined for prison. Repeatedly. Oh no, luckily not. Were you a big one back then as well?

21:39 Yeah. There was times where I could tell teachers were intimidated by it. And do they talk down to you? I assume you’re not intelligent sometimes, if you’re big? I think the big lad stigma is, if he’s big and strong, he must be dumb.

21:50 And I had that from day one. So that was part of it. There was a few teachers that realized, there’s one maths teacher I remember, he was giving it that and I just stood up and then looked over him and he realized, he was like, oh, if this guy wants to fuck me, I literally kind of do nothing about it. How old are you? I was 15 at that point.

22:07 15, okay. I was like six foot two, 15 stone. I was a problem at that age. Okay. So you’re 10 years old, they said you might go to prison and then more trouble with teachers, but you stayed in school.

22:19 Luckily, yeah. Thanks to me, ma’am. Me, ma’am did the absolute best, but she had this, that was just my personality type. Like you just can’t, it’s like, you know how in a zoo, you know, you’ll get four lions who will all do the trick for the bit of meat, but then you’ll get that one lion who might just bite your fucking head off. And I was just untrainable.

22:38 Like I was not interested, you know, unless I wanted to do it. You can’t force me to do something I don’t want to do, I’d rather die. Right. Did you have brothers and sisters? Yeah, no.

22:48 So kind of you and your mom against the world and she’s probably busy working as well. Yeah, as well, yeah. She was like, my goal in life was to make her proud, pretty much. Like that was, that was it. And I knew I wasn’t doing that, so I knew I had to sort of get me out together and I realized, all right, what we’re going to do here.

23:07 So I tried college, I had problems in college again. I had a teacher, ironically, who was a journalist for a Newcastle magazine, Newcastle Night magazine. And he said, I would never amount to anything. He was a Newcastle United journalist. I’m not going to name him, but he definitely fucking knows I’ve amount to something now.

23:28 And it bothers you that these people said these things. You do want to prove them wrong, don’t you? I’m very much motivated by that, yeah. But I don’t take it, I don’t think about them and hate them. I’m amused by it because it’s like, I just lug it and I’m like, I’m going to fucking watch you on the way down, mate.

23:44 Because I get enjoyment by that, definitely. Okay, by showing people that they were wrong about you. Yeah. Or you get enjoyment about beating them? No, because once I beat them in my head, like once I feel like I’ve had one, I don’t go, I don’t tweet them, I don’t go out of my way to tell them.

24:05 I just trust, that’s enough for me to know. Okay. You weren’t right about me. And that’s enough. I’m not, I think it’s too much enjoyment I had about life to be worrying about them after the fact.

24:17 Okay. But in the meanwhile, it’s just a nice, say it later. And that’s the fuel that motivates you to get up every day and work harder than anybody else in the space. I don’t think that’s the fuel. But it must be something, right?

24:33 My fuel, so there was a point where I didn’t, we’re skipping forward, but there was a point where I didn’t, with not a lot of money struggling. I mean, I’m talking about, can I afford bread and milk? You know, like, this is in between. Okay. Me, Korea, and YouTube.

24:50 Right. So, I can tell you about that. Okay, we’ll get to that. Let me just finish up the teenage years. Do you think, I’m not having that father figure around, ceded some anger too, because my parents got divorced when I was seven and I didn’t know how to, I didn’t know how to compute and I just got angry, as in everything I had been told was kind of the way the world was, all of a sudden was ripped out from under me.

25:08 But do you think that had anything to do with it or not? Yeah, a little bit, definitely. I was an asshole, and what I needed, do you know, I know that they don’t say that this is a good thing, but I needed a dad who was there, but when I spoke to me, I’m like, shit would kick the fucking shit out of us, to be quite honest, because that’s what I needed, or a good hot slap at the very least. I needed someone to fear, because I was the alpha from such a young age, that I just thought no one could tell me nothing.

25:36 So as much as I was wanting to prove people wrong, some people were a bit right about this, because I did look like I was heading that way, but they didn’t take enough of an interest to say that, well, what’s actually going on with this kid? Is this kid actually intelligent? Is he just frustrated at the system that he’s being put in? But I definitely needed a dad to give us a good hot slap, do you know what I mean? And maybe teach us a bit about how to conduct myself, and act.

26:02 Okay, did you ever find that male figure in your life? I became that male figure, to be honest with you, I realised what I needed, so I became that person, and now I’d like to think, even though I say things that maybe, people say, you’ve always taken them off, I’d generally try and be that guy who’s, especially the young lads, who watches, so I’m trying to sort of pay it forward a bit. Okay, because I asked you a few questions before the show, and the one thing you said is, I kind of was like, why are you here?

26:33 And you said, I really want to inspire those young lads that are watching, and that’s not the first thing I would have expected you to say, so that really is important to you. Massively, I sort of emotional, to be honest with you, because they are changing my life, and I want to change theirs as well, and I know I’ve got girl followers as well, it’s not all about the lads, but I feel like the lads have taken us to their hearts a lot. So I just want to, I’ve got no real interest in talking about myself, and it’s not really about that, but I know if people say how fucked up I was, and I’ve made a decent show of myself, that they can as well.

27:13 I’m not here for an ego massage, like a lot of people come in here for, to be honest with you. I want to use this, what we’re doing right here, to put this out. Yeah, that makes sense. And the thing is that they make you keep your game strong, right? Because you can’t let them down, right?

27:32 You can’t put that thing out, that video that was off brand, off message, what are they going to think? I mean, it really helps you step your game up even more. I really care about that. We’ve done a deal recently, and I’ve worked really hard on getting sponsors, and being honest with them, and I’ve told them from day one, I’m dying for a sponsorship. To be honest, I was skinned for a long time doing YouTube at the start, especially.

27:53 And they appreciate that honesty, and they just try and be as real as I possibly can. But yeah, the worst thing any YouTube fan can say, who I knew was a proper, like diehard, being with me for a while, is like you’ve let her down, like you’ve fucked up, you’re not who I thought you were. And that would be genuinely fucking good with that, more than anything. The next few years will be interesting, because as you get bigger, you know, things change. I’ve had a few people say it’s going to be interesting, like one of that friend I mentioned here, like a few people said it’s going to be interesting to see how your hand will be compromised.

28:27 And already, I’ve already almost been like, I’m worried about putting videos out recently, you know, so. Okay, we’ll get to that. Talking about the teenage years, what was that transition that got you on a different path, or did it stay down that path? I felt really shit about myself for a while, to be honest. When I was doing the apprentice, I got an apprenticeship, and I just remember every day I’d get two buses to go to this job where I was working as an apprentice engineer.

28:56 And I was in 18, 19? Yeah, 17. Okay. And I was doing a job where, I was intelligent enough to do the job, but I just wasn’t very good at it. And I’m wondering like, why am I not getting into this?

29:10 You know, I’ve got other lads who I feel like, if you sat and did an English math science exam, I’d blow them out with whatever they seemed to be getting on it. And I just, I didn’t know it at the time, but I’m creative. Like, I need to be creatively inspired. And I just felt like I’m just doomed. I’m fucked.

29:29 I’m going to do this job, and I’m just going to be average at it. And I looked around, and I looked at the other guys who were doing the job. And I thought, I need to roll the dice. And there’s one thing that I’ve done throughout my life is when things aren’t working, I just look in the mirror and say, all right, this isn’t working. We’ve got a really short window here, as a young man, and I just need to roll the dice as many fucking times as I can before I’m 30 until something works.

29:55 Because I’ve seen other lads who are good mates of mine who, they were happy, and they didn’t need to roll the dice. But even if they weren’t happy, they wouldn’t have had the balls to roll the dice either. So I’m sitting there thinking, let’s just go something else. This is a miserable, I can’t have a miserable life. And one thing me mama was putting it was, if you’re not happy, try something else.

30:15 And not in a bottle job kind of way. Give it a good go, but if you really give it your best and you’re still not happy, then make a change. So after engineering, didn’t work out for a couple of years of that, I was in limbo. Where the fuck do I go? Where the fuck do I go?

30:34 Try college again. And then I see in a YouTube video that said deep-side diving. I’m like, well, that sounds like James fucking Bond shit. I could get into that. The music, it just looked.

30:47 And I’m like, I want to do this. Then they talk about the money these guys earn. A thousand pounds a day. I’m like, I could do that, definitely. And I’m like, no hope at the moment.

30:57 I’m feeling shit about myself. Self-confidence is rock bottom. You’re like 23, 24. Yeah, 22. Something like that.

31:04 I’m thinking, yeah, I’m going to roll the dice again. Give us some of that. Let’s try this. They’re saying it helps if you’ve got engineering skills. I’m like, I’ve got engineering skills.

31:13 I could do this. And I remember my mom saying, but I thought you didn’t want to sort of do a job like that. But I was so desperate. I just need to fucking try something that I made sort of the same mistake twice, really, with the engineering and then going to diving. Because little did I know at the time, a lot of what I was going to be doing was, it was cool at first.

31:34 You got underwater. But it’s underwater laboring. And that is still pretty cool. And the money’s great. But I’ve misinterpreted the whole industry.

31:43 OK. It was sold as like this exotic dream. And it was manual labor underwater. But dangerous, I guess. You can get to that level where it is a thousand pound a day.

31:53 And these guys are still keeping the truth to this day, who are like, they’re very intelligent, very hardworking lads are not killing it. But when you first go in, what they don’t tell you is like, it’s who you know. It’s one of those industries, like most industries are. You start off on the same wage as you’d be in a fucking call center. And I’m grafting me balls off 12 to 15 hours every day.

32:16 No days off. I remember I did 70 days solid of night shift, right? Building a fucking pier. When you’re a young kid as well, you’re like shit. And I just misinterpreted what I was getting myself involved in.

32:32 It’s dangerous. It is, yeah. And it is dangerous. I mean, I’ve seen guys nearly die there. And the camaraderie was fun.

32:43 The banter was great. And part of why I am the way I am now, I think in front of the camera, they’re doing two hour podcasts. And that is, I used to sit and entertain the lads for 12 hours on a boat with waves coming over the side. Two hours, just a nice little cup of tea involved. And it’s like a piece of piss, do you know what I mean?

33:00 Because it’s the same banter I’ve always been doing. And that was the lads. But I met some great friends. And I learned a lot. And I’ve got some decent stories out of it.

33:10 And I wouldn’t change it. But in retrospect, like me mum remortgaged the house to put me through that. And I didn’t deliver. Like I earned the money back and whatever. But if I could have done YouTube then, I’d be way ahead of where I am now.

33:27 Because the people were piling into YouTube by the time I’d finished diving. And I’d just accidentally fallen into YouTube. And I feel like if I’d started then, I’d be out of sight. God knows how many subscribers by now. Gotcha.

33:42 So that was two years of diving. No, I did dive in for a good few years. And I met some lads. I had classes like me brother, probably. I still keep in touch with him to this day.

33:54 When I first did the Nile range of video, it was one of me pals from diving. Because I deleted it. I was like, too many people are watching this. I’m going to end up one of those idiots. You know what I mean?

34:05 My mate was like, look, you’re brilliant. Just re-upload it. So I deleted it at 10,000. And then when he said re-upload, I went, all right then. And I still keep in touch with him to this day.

34:16 And so you’re the life of the party on these ships with the waves crashing over. Were you always that guy? Yeah. So I was just an average diver. In fact, I had a really hard start because I went into the school that saw that we will make you an amazing premium diver.

34:33 Take your 30 grand, mate. And they don’t teach you how to do anything underwater. They teach you how to get in the water. Now, luckily, I had a bit of experience engineering-wise. But when I went on my first job, it took us that long to get the job.

34:46 I’d forgotten half of the shit they told us because it’s a hard industry to get into. And my first dive, I mean, I’m underwater. And I’m like, what the fuck? I didn’t know where I was, what I was doing. I’m panicking.

34:58 I’m hyperventilating properly here. I’m like, and the lads get us out locally. And they were like, sorry. It’s not the first time anyone’s had a shotgun dive, especially the first one out of school. But I was embarrassed.

35:09 And I was like, what a shit show that was. I got better. I made a really good friend who was a former Navy diver who really brought us on and taught us a lot. But by the time he’d sort of really put time and effort into it, I was making the Nile Ranger video and deciding to call it a day. OK.

35:25 So you weren’t the best diver, but you were still entertaining and they kept you around. The lad, I would have always got work in diving because I made people laugh. And when you make people laugh in life, you get surprised now for it. And did that happen when you were a teenager in high school as well, making people laugh? I was a class clown.

35:39 I’m not really the class clown. I’ve always wanted to make people laugh. I suppose I like that I can make that happen. But no comedy. Never stand up comedy.

35:50 No. I think that most stand up comedians are shit, to be honest with you. I look at most of them. I think I could go on the fly and be funnier than a lot of you lads. And I think myself, you’ve been doing this for six months, practicing this one bit.

36:02 You know what I mean? That’s why I’m not a comedian on the show. I’ll get Ricky Gervais on me show. But most of these average, bang average comedians, I think I’m pretty decent lad when it comes to that. All right.

36:16 Talking about the hard times, no food, no bread, no whatever. Did that come afterwards? And what was that like? I mean, if you can really take me there. In between diving and doing this video and then doing the video and being a YouTuber.

36:30 Yeah, I was pretty, I’m not going to say depressed because depression in my opinion is a condition that’s in the brain and it’s a medical thing. But I was as low as you can get. You know, like, honestly, man, few tears, like really down days where I’m like, where the fuck do I go in life? You know, I’m not happy with what I’ve been doing. I don’t want to go back there.

36:54 Bills are coming in. You know, you’re having to rob Peter at a pay poll, as they say, you know, move cash around. There was one day I was like, I literally haven’t got any money. Like, no money, zero pounds. And I knew that, like, the rent was due and shit like that.

37:12 And that was rock bottom, like, to be honest with you. I had been partying a lot before then as well. And there was points where I was a fucking wreck. Like, I was out of control. I mean, people know what goes on when you’re out on nights out and I took it to a fucking extreme.

37:31 Like, I was, there was one night where I was, I’d come home to a flat I was renting at the time. And I remember I was choking on my own sick in the toilet and I was like, there’s nobody here to save us. And I was like, fucking, actually, I genuinely thought I was going to fucking die. Wow. You thought if you fell asleep you were going to die or?

37:55 Yeah, I was just, I was on a self-destruct pattern. Like, I was, I was literally like, I was, there was so much there in that person and I kind of feel like it isn’t me looking back on it because I’ve sorted Michelle. But there was a lot there. But there was nothing to harness all of this personality and ability. There was, where do I, what do I do with this?

38:17 I’m not, I’m not a fucking diver. I’m not an engineer. All the other things I thought about being, I’m not one of them. You know, what do I do? I mean, I’m, I can’t pay the fucking bills.

38:32 And I’d managed to find enough money to keep going once I started the YouTube thing. I did a video and I literally did one or two videos for the rest of the year. Your first video, first proper video was January 2013 and then they were enjoying. Didn’t do another. Were you still in depression around then too?

38:55 Back up and down? I mean, I was upset about my friend dying and that I was down. I was, I was down. But I wasn’t out. I was just feeling really down about like, just owe me dreams and hopes that I wanted from life.

39:08 Like this is it, is it? You’re hard on yourself, it sounds like, right? So you’re, you’re like not performing to where you think you should be. And then drinking and partying is the way to escape your own judgment maybe for even a couple of hours. I was, I was, so I rolled the dice and I fucking failed.

39:23 So I’m sitting there thinking to myself, I fucked it. And I could have gone back to diving, so it wasn’t totally fucked. But I really didn’t want to live an unhappy life and I knew that that was what diving was going to be. And ultimately I would have done had I not found YouTube done that. But I felt like I’d really fucked it and I thought I’ve rolled the dice too much and I’ve rolled for the wrong options.

39:47 And when YouTube came along, it’s funny because before I did diving, I remember looking at YouTube thinking I’d fucking love to do that. I’d love to do that. And I spent so much time because I’d been raised… You got you diving, right? The YouTube videos.

40:02 Yeah, exactly, exactly. But I’d been raised to like me grander with someone I did look through at times. And I was in the heart when I was a kid and I remember me grander and I’d say, you’re going to make any money out of that. Oh, you’re not going to make money out of that. And I sort of had some of his sort of odd thought patterns ingrained in me head of YouTube.

40:20 You kind of make money out of that. Unless it’s a job job, you’re never going to make money out of your passion. So I sort of… But then I did a couple of videos after the Nile range I won and then I thought to myself, do you know what it is? Fuck it, I’m going to really go for this now.

40:36 So January 2014 I started making regular videos and within three weeks I had a job off from a YouTube channel that was enough to pay the bills and get us by basically. That’s a big moment. Yeah, it was, yeah. That’s life-changing. And a fellow called Jimmy Conrad, quite a bit for that.

40:59 And he knows I’m grateful because he worked at a channel called KTV. They’ve been bought out now but he’s seen something in me and he was like, yeah, let’s give this kid a weekly thing. And that was enough. It was piss-poor money but it was enough to keep me going at the time. It paid for the bread and milk anyway.

41:18 Yeah, and gave you some hope. And then you started to see, wait a second, I can beat this guy. What were those next couple of years like? So you’re doing regular videos, you’re now starting to understand what YouTube’s all about. The passion was there and I feel like my talent was there but I just didn’t understand the game of YouTube and I’m looking at these YouTubers and I’m like, I’m watching people like KSI and Joe Weller who I’m now friends with.

41:46 And I’m like, they’re doing really good videos and I’m sitting here on a fucking table talking to an iPhone but it was all I had because like I say, I didn’t have a lot of money in that. So I basically made it to 300,000 subscribers using an iPhone because I hung the green sheet up behind us and then got a laptop and managed to K out the green sheet and make it look like it was somewhere like a TV studio. And that was what I did. So that’s like a year or two using an iPhone.

42:20 Yeah, two years nearly. Which is crazy because I meet so many people that come over and people in my academy and they’re like, yeah Brian, I’m going to do it as soon as I get the DSLR with the 4K and the nanananana. I mean, a DSLR doesn’t give you personality, mate. I literally, the way I look at it is there is no one else like me on YouTube and that’s going to be what gets me where I need to be. There isn’t another me and I really believed that at the time and I felt like I watched other YouTubers when they did one take videos because I was doing everything in one take at the time and it would be 10, 15 minutes, one take and I’d watch other YouTubers when they wouldn’t edit themselves out and I’d find it really interesting to see how good a speaker they are and I would, I think, not on my level, do you know what I mean?

43:06 But I just, they were making content which is now referred to as relevant whereas I was just talking about football but once I caught on to the tricks of the trade and the thumbnails and all of that bullshit then I was like the full package but it just took us a while to be honest with you because I was so, I was more concerned about being good at speaking and what makes you a good YouTuber, in my opinion, is when you can talk right at the camera and be good, like you can make them feel something. I want people either laugh, I want them to feel emotion, I want them to feel, agree with my opinion, disagree with my opinion but I want them to give a fuck and I want to do it in one take and I want to be able to grab someone’s attention when I first start a video instead of going, alright everyone, I’m going to start it going, what’s going on everyone?

43:55 It’s the true Geordie and you’re fucking listening to me, do you know what I mean? And I made a point of that fairly early on but it was the rest of it that I didn’t catch on to until about a year ago. Okay, now the one take thing, you stick to that, I don’t anymore, I mean I record it pretty much in one take but what I’ve realised since then is why don’t you learn how to edit, learn how to do all the things that make up YouTube but I think I do a lot less cuts than most people do.

44:23 Yeah, I’m a big fan of the one take but it’s not a YouTube thing, as a traditional YouTuber it’s all the jump cuts and people will know what we’re talking about, you watch a typical YouTuber with 5-10 million subs, they cut out any kind of a pause, it’s become a style now but it was bred out of people who were shit at speaking to a camera, so what it’s there to do is to cover up all your fuck-ups but I don’t need anything like that, I do a podcast for two hours like we’re doing right now, all one take, and I’m not having a go at the people who do that because I respect that, everyone’s got their own thing but my thing was being a good talker and I just had to find a way to point that in the right direction and talking about Newcastle had a ceiling so I realised I can’t just talk about Newcastle, I’ve got to talk about all the football teams, the whole Premier League and then it went from there.

45:12 Okay, the YouTube game, explain that to me, to people listening, a lot of people want to get on YouTube, they watch YouTube, maybe they are on YouTube, but what’s the game that you talk about? So I guess I’d describe it as a game, in my opinion YouTube should be about just making good videos, but unfortunately that’s just not enough, you’re going to have to be bad, you’re going to have to come with more than that, you’ve got to be in the community, people have to know who the fuck you are, people have to be talking about you in their videos, there’s so much more that goes into it, the thumbnails have to look bright and colourful and all that shit, the titles have to be blatant but a clickbait, you have to be on topic, you have to be talking about what people are all talking about right now, you have to follow, and it annoys us because I’m not a fucking sheep, I just want to talk about what I want to talk about, sometimes I’ll still play the game a little bit, you know what I mean?

46:12 But yeah, there’s so much more that goes into it, you have to be in the crowd as well, even if you’re on the outside of the crowd, which I’ll stay there, you have to be in there. Which means you still are accepted and talked about by the high profile YouTubers, you have to be part of that game. Yeah. Okay. And that means you’re down at YouTube headquarters and hanging out or…

46:32 No, I just think, so what people do is, so I’ve got people who will ask me for a collaboration, and I like to collaborate with people, it’s fine, I’m not saying I won’t collaborate with people unless they’ve got a big audience, I’ve had people on my podcast who’ve had a few thousand subscribers, zero subscribers, or millions, I know people who’ve asked me for a collaboration, and then I’ve looked on that channel to see what they’ve done, and it’s all collaborations, and I’m like, you’re building your brand off of other people, so I used an iPhone for 300,000 subscribers, and I also didn’t have a single person on my channel, just 300,000 subscribers till I did my first podcast, I built my whole brand off of who I was, and then brought other people on who had already had their thing, but there’s some people out there who just skip up the ladder off the back of other people’s work, and I just don’t respect it, it fucking pisses us off, actually, because I’m looking at them like, you do your own fucking work, come to me when you’ve built your own channel and actually work for it a bit, and it’s not a channel full of collabs, unless they have close friends, and you’re always on each other’s stuff, but if you’re just going to people going, can I have a collab, please, and your whole channel’s based off of that, I don’t respect that.

47:45 What about some of your good friends in the YouTube space like Zoella? What’s your read on those types of YouTubers? What do you see in her brand? What do you like and what do you don’t like? She’s a fucking smart girl, genuinely.

47:57 I mean, I’ve joked about her in the past, but she’s the queen of England on YouTube. She’s built the perfect brand. She must be richer than any YouTuber in Britain. And I’ve had a bit of a few things to say about her boyfriend, because to me, coming at it from my angle, as a working class lad who’s got no hope in life, and this is my whole life, like YouTube, I knew that this was my only chance. It felt like, anyway, of happiness, of being able to do a job I like and make some fucking money off of it, and I’m on last ditch as far as I’m concerned.

48:30 And I’ve rolled the dice, remember, as many times as I can. And then I’m looking at her boyfriend, who’s like, hi guys, we’re going to play American Candy today. Millions of subscribers making videos like that. And now I’m like, you’ve had it fucking easy, right? Because he’s her girlfriend.

48:45 And I was pissed off by that, so I did a few videos where I’m reacting to What’s Trending, I used to call the show, where I just watch What’s Trending on YouTube. Now, this is the videos that YouTube, not the algorithm, decide what’s trending. And he was on there every fucking week. So I started, like, he’s middle class, and he’s rich lad, Alfie, he’s called. And I started fucking going at him, and I’m like, you know, and I said some really outrageous things, and I was totally out of order.

49:12 Such as? I can’t imagine him bending his girlfriend over, banging out, and shit, I don’t think he could do it. You know, stuff like that. And to be fair, as my podcast grew, I didn’t know he was a fan of podcasts. He comes up and says, I’m a fan of the podcast, actually, and I don’t really care what he says about this.

49:35 So being the opportunistic prick that I am, I asked him to come on the show. But to be fair, we had a good sit down, and it was sort of a first for YouTube, because you’ve got two guys who are completely the most different people on YouTube. I don’t think you can get anyone more different than me, and Alfie, pretty much anyway. I just sort of said, this is what’s frustrating. I feel like you make shit videos sort of thing, or easy to make lazy videos, rather.

50:03 And it’s frustrating to me, because if I had your opportunities, and I had your money, I’d be fucking pouring me heart and soul in every penny I could into making better content, as I’ve shown, because since I’ve got a spot inside, that’s exactly what I’ve tried to do. But he really reasoned with us, and he was an absolute fucking gent, and he was one of the most likable guys ever, and I felt like the biggest asshole ever. Afterwards, but we shook hands, and I was really proud of that podcast, because it showed that he had the balls to come and talk to me after I’d called him all of that, and that I had the balls to apologize for being a total asshole to him, and I think we both learned a bit from the situation.

50:42 So do you apologize, and you respected him afterwards? I do respect him, and also, he’s a fucking good businessman, and I respect money, and I like money. So hopefully he helps me make some more. Interesting when, even though we’re in media, you make these media biases and judgments about people, and then I find when I get people and sit them in the chair, they’re nothing like what the media portrays them to be, or even what I assume they were, and you realize that even anybody with a few million followers and subs and they’ve done certain things, they’ve done some things right, and they’ve pushed through some hard times.

51:16 I don’t know, what did you find out about him that you didn’t know? Alfie was, well, he was brave. He knew that I was a decent guy because a few people had said, you know, he’s all right. A lot of it is Jordy’s frustration coming out in his videos, or whatever. I was probably a bit jealous of him, to be honest, because I want the success.

51:36 I want it bad, and if I have to, I’m willing to do it by any means necessary, but I would rather not have to take the low road, but it got to a point where I was like, fuck it, I’m taking the low road here. But I learned that he’s just a nice, genuine guy, a really good businessman, and I’ve messaged him a few times since then, and yeah, he’s not up his own arse like I thought he was. He’s down to us. Does that help your brand? If you look back over the last few years, does it help your brand when you go after someone?

52:06 Well, this is what I’m talking about when you were talking about, you can’t let the lads down, and I’m thinking to myself, I know they like it when I’m just being wild like they are, but before I did this, I thought to myself, fuck, you know, they might not like this, you’re sort of selling out, you know, like you’re apologizing to the fucking poster boy of the middle class white lads on YouTube. Right, which isn’t your demo. No, that’s it, but I mean, fair play, I got my 10,000 girls subscribed to the channel after they come on, so thanks, Alfie.

52:36 But I knew I was taking a risk, but I just thought to myself, I don’t want to let the lads down, but equally, I want to be me, and I am the type of person to apologize when I’m wrong, so that’s what I’m going to fucking do. How was it received? Surprisingly, not too bad. Like, I got the odd lads saying, ah, you bottled it, but like, Alfie’s the least intimidating guy in the world because he’s the nicest guy in the world, so they would know I wasn’t intimidated by him or anything like that, but I think a few trolls try to wind us up, but the vast majority of people, including his audience, had a lot of respect for what went down, and I think YouTube in general, I noticed a lot of YouTubers, and a lot of people were like, I think people respected the move I made on that one, because I’m not going to lie, I wanted to apologize, but equally, I knew it was a fucking smart move on my part to have him on the show and to have the chat on the show, whichever way it went, because whatever happens, I’m getting views and I’m getting eyes on me, and he’s a fucking big YouTuber, you know, huge.

53:40 You mentioned the comments. How do you deal with haters? How do you deal with feedback? And has that changed in the last two years? I think I probably get some of the least amount of hate on YouTube.

53:53 I think you’re right, but still. I think the reason for it being, though, is because most people know if you’re going to come and slag me off or whatever, I won’t give a fuck anyway. I’m not really affected by that, so it’s a waste of their energy. If you’re trying to troll someone, troll someone you might get a bite out of, I’ve been doing 12 hours on a fucking boat for the last five years. Do you know how much shit and hazing goes on there?

54:22 The nastiest pieces of work, you’re not even on their level when it comes to being a troll. I’ve literally wound a lad up to the point where he was throwing punches at me on a boat, and I’m talking like an eight-stone lad, who’s not a big guy, but I literally just went at him and went at him and went at him. You’re not going to troll me. It’s a waste of fucking time. All right, so you have no problem.

54:45 And what about the comments and the fans? How do you deal with when they love you, when they tell you they like this, they don’t like this? I mean, that’s a process. I try not to get above me, Stacia, or anything like that. I don’t want to inflate the ego.

55:00 I’ve got an ego, but that’s because of myself and what I think I’m capable of, not because of what people tell us. So I appreciate the love, and I take it for what it is, the pat on the back, because I get a lot of messages where people say, and a lot lately have been from 16, 17-year-old lads who are saying, you’ve inspired me, because I speak so openly about how shit life was for me at one point, and how I was that lad walking the work, trudging away, and they can identify with that, I hope. So that’s there being a lot, but that didn’t pull us up.

55:36 Okay. Why get into long-form conversations? I was at YouTube headquarters four or five years ago, and they said something, blah, blah, blah, long-form content, and I was putting out two-hour episodes at the time, right? And I said, what’s long-form content? And they said, anything over six minutes, right?

55:53 And I was like, oh, God. And so you’re on YouTube, you’re getting famous, you’re putting up comments about football, comments about the league now, probably comments about other things, other YouTubers. Boom. Now you go and say, let’s have a two-hour conversation with someone. Why do that?

56:10 A few reasons. I’m a big believer in Do What You Love, and what I love, clearly, is podcasts. Obviously, I talk about how I watched your shit at the start, you know, Dorian Yates, all of that, and I class myself as a student of Joe Rogan. I look at him like, you are the godfather, mate. And I’m not trying to copy him, but I’ve studied his work, like, thoroughly.

56:36 And I just thought, I listen to podcasts all the fucking time, every single day. I know I can talk without needing cuts and all that shit, and I just think, this is what I should be doing, like, so I just made the jump. And as it happened, you know, I was told the same as you were, you know, don’t get into long-form content, and they’re coming out. I’ve worked with a lot of YouTube companies since K2UA, and I’ve had a lot of differences with them in my time, and I feel like I’ve been proven right on it against all of them.

57:07 But I made a friend called Lawrence McKenna in one of those YouTube channels where we were doing a show where it was sort of, you come on, you say a football argument or whatever. But before we’d go live, we would have these chats where we were being ridiculous and making people laugh and being funny, and we just clicked. And we realized between the two of us, that’s better than the show. That’s much better than what we’re uploading. So that’s when I said to him, we need to do a podcast.

57:34 Now, I knew he’d done all the podcasts before, and the guy’s, he can do everything. He’s one of these people who, he’s come from a media background that you can direct, you can edit, you can do podcasts, and he’d done radio. I was like, you are the perfect person for us to just join forces and do a podcast with, and people really like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He’s a weird foil to you.

58:00 He’s like nothing like you, right? And I love that, and I love that, because what would be the point in having me with another me? Like, it might be funny for an episode or two, but I knew that the conflict that we have regularly, because we disagree on so much. Politically, is he posh to a certain extent? When I first met him, I thought, look at this posh trained presenter twat.

58:22 Honestly, I thought, I really thought I’d dislike him, dislike me as well. But then once we started chatting, we made each other laugh loads, and it was that sense of humor. And now, I can’t imagine doing YouTube without him, to be honest. Yeah, and like you said, the easy move would have been to get another tattooed northern guy and talk about the same stuff. And that’s what a lot of people do.

58:47 Most, I would say. But you guys are really different. And I knew about you, but I hadn’t really listened to the two of you talk, and I was on your show between the two of you guys. And yeah, it’s genius. If you really think about it, it’s genius.

59:01 It might be serendipitous. He was the only person. I never considered doing a podcast with anyone else. It was either Lawrence or it’s just me. He was the only person I could have done it with.

59:12 Okay. And how are you finding those long-form conversations, sandwiched in between football videos, MMA videos, you know, attacking YouTuber videos? Well, for me personally, the podcasts are what I’m most proud of because I think that podcasting is the hardest form of anything on YouTube. To me, if you can make a good podcast, you can piss anything out there. Because to keep people’s interests for that length of time is very difficult.

59:41 And I’ve looked at me and figured, my average watch time on a podcast is usually 30 minutes. That is fucking savage, in my opinion. And after I’d done that, I got better at everything else because I’m like, this is a piece of piss compared to ours. And as you’re doing right now, you’re constantly thinking of the next question. And then, you know, there’s a lot of work that goes into getting guests and really preparing for an interview.

1:00:05 So once I could do that, I knew I could do the rest of it even easier than before. But podcasts are what I’m most proud of. When you have a good podcast, you really feel like you’ve learned something. I’ve taken something from it and improved as a person and gone on that journey. That is something that I want people to listen to when I’m not here anymore and be like, oh, that was a fucking great podcast, you know what I mean?

1:00:29 I want to make classic, some classic. Not everyone’s going to be a classic, but I want to leave behind some podcasts that people are even re-listening to that. That is some lessons in life that you’re getting out of that, you know what I mean? That’s where the inspiration comes from. Not me rants and shite like that.

1:00:45 I don’t value the rants at all. They’re being fun and sometimes I really want to get it off my fucking chest, like what’s pissing us off about Newcastle or something else. But when I’m having a really deep conversation with someone I consider to be great, like Eddie Hall we’ve just had on or someone like that, that’s what I’m proud of. And to share a room with people I look up to a lot, it means a lot. You’re a different guy when you’re on the podcast whereas you’re talking right at the camera.

1:01:13 Very different. I know also Short Form, you’re anti-energy up and stuff like that, but it’s definitely one of them’s like the true Geordie and one of them’s Brian. I think so, yeah. Well, one person who really inspired us, I listened to a Stone Cold Steve Austin interview and he went, when I go on into a wrestling ring, I just turn the fucking volume right up. And it’s still me, but I’m just on, do you know what I mean?

1:01:36 And I thought, all right then. So you took that inspiration from that? Yeah, I thought, all right. But not for the podcast. For a 10 minute video, I can do that, but obviously for a tour.

1:01:46 And also, it’s just total different type of content, do you know what I mean? Yeah, look, I know what you mean. Look, I’ve been doing this for six years and so I’m a student like you are and I study myself every single episode. But there’s something special that happens when you have a real conversation with someone for two hours. It’s like you have a human connection.

1:02:05 Whether you feel that or even say you value that, but I think you do. And I think as humans, honestly I think the one thing we all really want and anything else in this world is connection. And everything gets in the way of it. Money, social media, YouTube, status, language, culture, country. And when you see a connection on a podcast or you feel a connection like being there, honestly I think it’s what we’re all longing for.

1:02:29 And when you create it, it’s the most beautiful moment. Yeah, and the thing is, other YouTubers out there, they only put forward that one, you know how you say that true, Jodie sort of thing. They only put forward that one character because they’re doing five, six, seven, eight, ten minute videos. But my audience have had 62, I think now, 62 episodes of hours and hours and hours of me. So they know, they’ve got a really good idea of who I am now.

1:02:56 And I feel like my connection with my audience, because of that hours and hours and hours and hours, it’s just so much stronger than what that little clip of video is of someone playing a computer game. Yeah. It’s just not even comparable. I would agree, and I would also say, much like Hollywood actors, if you only get to play that role for your whole media career, I think it eats inside of you sometimes. Because you, you know, Zoella, or whatever this guy’s name is, they are the guy.

1:03:24 And so that’s who they have to perform and be. When they meet people on the streets, they expect the jump cut guy to talk really fast. And yet I think that probably eats away at your subconscious too, by thinking nobody wants me. They want the fast talking blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I think that creates weird personality disorders.

1:03:48 Yeah, since the podcast. So this is the difference in the podcast. When I wasn’t doing the podcast. I only started it a year ago. But people are going to say true Geordie, true Geordie.

1:03:58 And people still say that I was now, but a lot more people go Brian. So much more. Because Lauren’s called this Brian from day one, Yeah, that says a lot right there. Yeah, I think there’s something crazy about just being yourself and talking through that stuff And again, you can’t act like someone else for a couple hours. It just doesn’t work that way. I’ve had a few podcasts which there’s been like moments where I go after Yeah, there’s been just I would say a good fear where I’ve come away thinking well that changed me like forever. How?

1:04:34 There was one guy who came on who a lot of people bring up called Nick Yaris Who’s got a documentary out on Netflix called the fear of 13 and he spent 23 years inside death row for a crime He didn’t commit and he managed to defend himself and get himself free and come to Come to London and it was just to be honest he changed. I’d never done a podcast which wasn’t laughing joke And it was it was never was never just like a real conversation Like what me and you were having now and he just set the tone Like the man that he is to be fatal and he’s got the sound of a voice that he sounds like God So like you listen every word he says and and and as much as I’ve learned a lot more about him since then But at the time I was I was pretty blown away As a young lad just listened to someone who’d been through so much struggle and spoke so positively about like how to deal with life And that was like there was a big lesson for me that it was just like all right It’s not what about what happens to you in life It’s about how you interpret that and deal with that life can throw anything at you It’s all about how you perceive it and act on it in there and after that I didn’t fear serious conversations on the podcast or avoid them I Invite people on who are gonna sit and have a real chat as well as much as I still love having a laugh That’s who I am. I’ve always want to make people laugh But I’m much more versatile because of that one podcast and there’s been loads of podcasts since then

1:06:01 We have really taken things from it like that. But yeah, that was the first one where I feel like I was a bit Blowing away like you know, I mean so you’re learning every show as well Well, I compare myself to Joe Rogan a lot because I look at him and how good he is and I think to myself You know, all right, Joe’s good at this I’m hard. I’m a real self critic. There’s nothing anyone else can say about me that I wouldn’t already beat them to but then I’d sort of realized that was like like lately we did fifth we got a 50 podcasts and Some people were comparing Joe meet Joe Rogan on Twitter. Like I don’t know like it’s close and I’m like Joe Rogan’s 50 years old. He’s had so much more life experience than me. He’s you see come to a comedian He’s done so many different things. He’s in a thousand podcasts. I was like, I shouldn’t even be in that right?

1:06:48 So the fact that I’m even and then actually I thought myself. Do you know what it is? Compare my first 50 podcasts to anyone else’s first 50 and I think that might know better and I feel like first 50 out the gate I’m the best to do that. So I took real credit on that. Yeah, so I’ll give me self credit where it’s due Well, what do you want to work on?

1:07:10 Everything in one word. I want to improve. I Want more money so I can make the videos. I really want to make for a start I want to get I guess I want to be I Want to be This is a real outrageous thing to come out and say but like There’s like who’s that curly-haired American DJ from years ago who did the talk show man? He was a what’s his name again private pots. There’s life story He did a talk show he was the biggest radio host in America. Oh, okay I think I know you’re talking about me. Yeah. Okay, but it was like he had a show like Oprah that kind of thing No, no, no, he was he used to say Howard Stern Howard Stern. There’s Howard Stern to me He was like the first guy and then there’s Joe Rogan now who I think is like prime He’s like killing it right? He’s number one and then I want to be number three I want to be the next guy and I know I might never get there But I like having almost unattainable goals and I want to in England We had like Jonathan Ross and in Parkinson who people had come on and share their stories with but that’s fucked now And that’s gone and people want the real they want something different and I want to be an option For really big names to come on and share their stories with me And I want to kneel that I won’t be that guy and I feel like I’m I’m in a good I’ve got a good chance of managing to get not maybe he’s not be that guy but get as close to that position as I can

1:08:37 What do you think? Rogan does right and what why do you think he’s so big? Because you know these days, I think he’s almost like a cable television channel. I mean, it’s you know, it’s gotten so big over there Yeah, but he’s the bet he’s better than them because he’s his own boss I agree with that. But besides that there’s a lot of people podcast in America. Why do you think why do you think Rogan is Rogan? I Think Joe Rogan is Joe Rogan because his brain never stops. He is a sponge So the Joe Rogan of 10 years ago is not the Joe Rogan today. It’s not the same person He’s evolved and he evolves every almost on an episode by episode basis Yeah, he’s got the go-to subjects that he likes but what I respect about him is He’ll he’ll talk to Joy Diaz and people like that and he’ll have a he can he can make you laugh Just like they can and he’s hilarious Then he’d go it whenever me a conversation then he can go to a science conversation and he can hold his own with these science No, no shit that I can’t even wrap my head around Neil deGrasse Tyson people like that He can hold his own because he is an absolute sponge and you can put him in any room in any world And people will talk to him and that’s why he’s number one. And so you want to be like that more I’m I don’t think I’m ever gonna be as good of a learner as he is But I think I can bring all that tools for the job that can get me in A different way. I don’t want to be the next Joe Rogan

1:10:03 I want to be the first me but I really respect them and I’m taking inspiration from them good and you’re learning As much as I can right, which is good Talk to me about the last six months of True Geordie because it’s become a business now, right? Talk to me about how that changes things and how hard you worked at that and like what is that? What does that take you know for people out there that don’t understand what it takes to you know fund a show like that These success secrets are only available on the London Real Academy Become a member and get access to live shows exclusive courses my webinars bonus content meetups live events an Amazing community and much much more Now back to the rest of the show Talk to me about you changing. So you become the millionaire you move to London You’re no longer the Geordie if you do if you do, you know, I was already representing the working man Yeah, you know cuz I’m sure you knowing you you you probably already thinking about that and you know I Would always represent the working man that ideally because like that’s where I’ve come from and that in the arm I’m like they mine it like crowd, you know, I mean like I’d feel more comfortable In a pub full of lads who’ve just finished work then I would in a room in Can where I was recently like what the fuck? This is not normal. But If I ever moved to London, I’ll always have somewhere in Newcastle, I’ll never leave Newcastle

1:11:42 But the only reason I do it for us convenience it and that’s for being a millionaire. I fucking wanna be a millionaire I really do I don’t but it’s not because as much as I might trick myself to something silly I just don’t want to worry anymore. And that is one of I think worry is one of the biggest Things people should avoid in life And if you can make your life more relaxed, it’s not about being a millionaire It’s about not being frightened that I’m gonna end up back where I was because that’s driven me a lot of YouTube as I feel Like they’re just having a laugh on camera and I’m like, you don’t know the fear I’ve gotten me of being scared because I’m fucking scared and that what that’s what gets me up in the morning is being terrified of failure And that’s why you are one of the hardest working guys on YouTube. I think I think I am at some point Does that does that start to hurt you?

1:12:33 Um So far absolute concentration and focus on what i’m doing has done nothing but good for us so it seems like uh, it’ll be fine, but Maybe my personal life’s in being in that so um, because you don’t spend any time in your personal life No, no, I mean I got out a little bit but like I’m I’m I care more about youtube than I do about You know enjoying myself So not much of a social life. Well, no That’s kind of what part of the show is about because it’s on camera I want to watch football and drink beer put a camera on us. Let’s do it. Yeah, and i’m still working I’m still technically working. That’s the show Yeah Yeah, no, I know what you mean. I mean sometimes the most fun I have is doing this Yeah, you know, I guess that’s a good thing, right?

1:13:21 If you can do something you enjoy then you’ve won it life in my opinion That’s that’s one of the main things Like and and if I if anyone was watching like who like took my opinion for anything I’d say try and find the job you half enjoy at the very least because I wouldn’t want anyone to come home from work every day feeling miserable. I know a lot of people do i’ve done it And I don’t want to do that. Yeah Um, i’m worried that the guy that wants to be a millionaire might then want to be a 10 million error and then 100 million error So maybe we have that conversation in a couple years. I mean i’m honestly going to push it as far as I can possibly go Like and I look at people Uh, like Conor McGregor and people like that and I am inspired by that. I’m like, yeah, like When people are saying will Conor McGregor have a fight again after having the fight with me with her?

1:14:08 I can tell you right now I know for a fact they will because I know the personality type because I know I would and i’m not saying i’m anything like him He’s talented beyond my wildest dreams But the mind state is exactly the same when you’ve come from nothing You’ll always go until the bit around because you’re more scared than the app The reason I put more effort in in my videos than in Alfie or whoever is because he’s had money. He doesn’t he’s not desperate He’s not he’s not terrified I’m fucking desperate and terrified I have to succeed because if I don’t i’m fucked Speak a bit more on Conor. What do you see when you see McGregor? Um I just admire the fact that he’s unashamedly him in a lot of ways and I identify with that because i’m a bit like that But I like not just Conor. I mean Eddie Hall. I spent the day with the day world strongest man I like people who are like Not afraid to be Themselves even if it means they’re the bad guy just generally because i’m a bit like that like You just take me as I am and if you’re lovers or haters You’re gonna have a fucking opinion and I like people like that And uh, and I like I like people are motivated as fuck I get a lot of inspiration of that Dorian Yates when he spoke when he was saying every day Was like laying a brick into me house That’s what i’m like on youtube. I thought I listened to that and I thought I’m the Dorian Yates of youtube me i’m gonna fucking lay a fucking out a brick and i’m gonna build as many houses as I can

1:15:33 Yeah, when you hear Dorian talk about his routine and being alone in that, you know Council flat with the you know mattress on the basement just the way he talks about it And it’s not like he over does it but you can just tell that he was there on a mission He said i’ve got one egg One basket and that was exactly how I feel about youtube if this doesn’t work i’m fucked Do you know what I mean? So like yeah, you’re gonna make it count I’m definitely gonna put that egg in that basket and get them called out of it. You know what I mean?

1:16:01 Um Sorry, man Corral’s a betting company Do you have to think long and hard before you decide I want them as a sponsor as opposed to you know A uh a bible company or a you know You don’t even a food supplement or something or even a liquor company because I had to think about this in the early days I’m like, am I going to do this? And look in the early days of doing a podcast or in anything you don’t have you don’t have the benefit of being uh choosy Yeah, so do you think about this and you said earlier you’re always straight to the fans Yeah So I wouldn’t I wouldn’t ever promote anything that I wouldn’t really do myself And as someone who bets every week on sports It’s like yeah, do you know what I mean? I’m not saying anyone has to bet but i’m explaining that The reason we’ve got all these good new shows and the fact that I can afford to carry on making the podcast because Things are a bit touch and go if corral didn’t get involved I would have been all right, but it would have been hard And corral just made things easier to make what I want to make anyway and um Yeah, I bet all the time myself. So i’m really proud to be associated with them and ironically they also sponsor allen shearer. So I feel like uh It’s another little bear boy and the feather in the cabinet. Okay, but the house always wins I mean it seems that way so far But i’ve had a couple of results. Okay. All right, so fine with betting and any sponsors you wouldn’t want to play with in the future

1:17:23 Uh None that I mean I don’t really think about that. I just I were calling and I think we saw Just make sure that your face is out there and the numbers are going in the right direction and hopefully people will help us Make the content. It’s not really about who it is as much as If I would if i’m happy with them and i’m comfortable with them I’ll be honest I say I wouldn’t promote a betting company if I didn’t use them But to be honest if a tampon company got into choos and went we’ll give you a million quid I’ll be like where do I say? All right, so I’m willing to bend the rules a little bit but You understand I just I just want to make I want to just have the money to make the videos Right, but you said you keep saying that money to make the videos But the great videos come from real content and real guys like you and you’re talking to camera So what are you talking about? Where does the money go because you’re you’re already making successful Yeah, I am but I want to make them the best looking like I want to be me But I just want to be able to make the best look in possible content Like you’ve done good documentaries that I really appreciate the one with dorian and edo And I thought to myself. Fuck me. I’d love to make something like on that that quality And we’ve made some some pretty good things like I did a gym video that I shot myself and edited myself. Yeah Um channel video, right? Yeah And I was quite proud of that

1:18:42 But then i’m like, all right If that’s what I can make with me and me pal holding the camera in the gym while i’m directing them I’m benching 180 kilograms at the same time. What can I make with a crew? What what what can I make in a really cool gym with a cool pattern? What if I had people who could actually help us record the voiceover and tell us is this the right thing to say? Is this not right?

1:19:01 Do you know like advice from people who are really great at what they do? Because right now it’s me and microphone and camera and laptop and and i’m trying I’m making as much out of what i’ve got as possible. So Like for example, we did a football holiday video where there was We had a little crew with where and that we had a bit of budget for that, but I would want to make something Like I want to I want to take people away with it somewhere in like a I don’t know safari or something, you know And get my reactions while we’re on a safari and yes, it’s still going to be me laughing and being an idiot But it’s going to look fucking great. Okay. Do you know what I mean? All right So I just one thing I want to make things that look good and i’m proud of that when i’m done People can be like oh that was quality that 2022 What’s your year look like i’m serious like walk me through What’s your life like? Where are you? What kind of things are you doing?

1:19:56 Oh, I want to be your millionaire Uh, and I know that’s cliche, but I just I used to millionaire by meaning i’ve got no problems financially And I can make the videos. I want to make whatever that number is. I don’t know um Hopefully still making podcasts and I want to be I want to be the king of that in because right now i’m the king of podcasts in the uk as far as i’m So now i’m the i’m the pod father of the uk where’d you get that term? I think that’s uh javace used to call himself. It’s a stolen from him Another one of the people have uh sort of studied And but right I don’t want the struggle of getting guests I want guests to be coming to me by that point And I want to be getting top top level guests who want to share this story because it’s known That what I do is meet them look good But give the truth and paint their story the way it should be painted I want to make some documentaries i’d like to do travel videos I’d like to stick to new routes and still make football videos. I’d always want to do that because Never forget where you came from and um i’d like to help Up and coming youtubers because I feel like like I said, I know the game now and I could If I spot like good talent i’d like to be able to almost like sponsor them You know what I mean? I’d give them opportunities Um, i’d like to do something in new castle specifically where it’s given back with the community um and and Yeah, more more that sort of stuff. Okay advice to people who want to get on youtube

1:21:34 Be honest with yourself Because there’s some people who bullshit themselves on youtube Look at your videos the way you’d look at other people’s videos because I think people get delusions of like How good they are like there’s some people who send me videos and they’re like, what do you think? And i’m like you just want you just want to pat on the back You don’t want to hear the truth because if you knew how bad this was then you wouldn’t even be asking me Do you know what I mean? So like be honest with yourself my early videos Although there was a bit of potentially it was dog shit. They were recorded on a fucking potato They looked like shit for a very very long time and And you know, there’s only so many rants people want to hear there’s got to be more to us I’ve got it off and more so don’t limit yourself Don’t be a one-trick pony. I see a lot of youtube as who You’ve got your thing that makes you for me. It was talking about football for someone else that might be playing games It might be reaction videos of whatever it is But branch out and challenge yourself as well Don’t just confine yourself to one thing because you’ll come and you’ll go in my opinion All right They might some people might be lucky enough where they they hit on something that gets them five to ten million subscribers or whatever But just push yourself Because I just think it’s unhealthy to get in that comfort zone in general because when you do get in a comfort zone

1:22:49 YouTube’s always evolving times. Oh, it’s always apart from people who can start the test of time like a Joe Rogan A lot of people are going to get left behind in my opinion on youtube Yeah, how do you feel about youtube google this crazy company in silicon valley that allowed you? That made your life, you know there you didn’t have to go back to diving You didn’t have to do these things. I mean if it wasn’t for this technology company, it wouldn’t have happened, right?

1:23:15 It’s a love hate for me though Because it’s like i’m the bastard of youtube. Do you know what I mean? Like i’m the i’m the child, but i’m not their favorite son You don’t put me on the trending list. Yeah, maybe a few quid. Okay Maybe you’re paranoid about that too So like there’s certain events where like you just wouldn’t ever see me invited to and things like that Um, and not that I want to be a part of the cool crowd, but i’m just aware of it. I say what’s going on Um, that’s a tough crap, man What annoys me? So what what i’m grateful for is that what they started out on broadcast yourself Brilliant monetize the video is fantastic. But now it’s broadcast yourself as long as you make us money Um, because if you don’t make the money, they’re not fucking interested to be honest with you and if you swear um You know, they’re gonna demonetize potentially or they’ll if you’ve got a video that’s trending you’ll not end up on the trending list So for example, I did a video that got 16 and a half million views That wasn’t on the trending list. It was the number one video in the fucking world that day. Was this the Conor McGregor?

1:24:20 Yeah, it was not the trend. It was the streaming Yeah, we’re all sitting there boozing and cheering and swearing and uh, you know The next video down was like, I don’t know 2 million views. We weren’t on the trending list that day. So i’m a bit I understand that i’m a bit of the bad lad or whatever, but that is a frustration for me because You know We did a talk about terrorism on one of the podcasts where we really spoke honestly But we were sensitive to the subject But we didn’t hold back like a lot of people did and we didn’t do the whole Our thoughts are with the family’s victims. Like we really try to go in on it And and I thought you know The the feedback was unbelievably good and yet still demonetized all because we said, you know muslim You know muslim or terrorism or whatever and it’s like come on man. Like this Freedom of speech and what people say is well, it’s still freedom of speech I’m like, yeah, but I can’t make fucking money off it man Like and they say well, it’s that’s their way you’ve just got to and it’s this is the whole I don’t like anyone Tell them there’s what I do thing coming out again. Yeah, so I get a bit frustrated by the system, but I do appreciate they’re gonna enable me to Put food on the table and for people that don’t know you too like the back of their hand And I always say the only person that cares about how many youtube subscribers you have are other youtubers because the rest of the world

1:25:35 It’s like what are you talking about? Yeah, um, but uh, but they’ve now recently maybe last six months or nine months Demonetize videos more aggressively than they used to it’s whereas if you you don’t even know sometimes what you do Squaring or terrorism or whatever. It’s just not advertiser friendly And so that’s hurt a lot of youtubers. I think or certain types of youtubers. I don’t know People like me and other people yeah, what percentage of your videos are demonetized half Not not that many Just a few but I was still pissed off by it to be honest But i haven’t been hit as bad as some people have But um, the money has definitely gone down generally generally as well But to be fair that wasn’t their fault technically in general. You mean just general. Yeah, the money is going down on youtube Yeah, it is the scandals and the wall street journal and all of that shit Oh, oh with like pd pie. You know once they got involved in it was I think they had a screenshot of um A terrorist video that and they put a cola coca ad on before I don’t even know how true it was that the coca cola ad Was on before but that was the way it appeared and next thing you know Everyone’s pulling sponsorship from youtube which affects people like me. What percentage of your income is youtube related?

1:26:45 Um Up until coral got involved very very high. Sure. Um, but coral obviously Uh made things a lot easier Okay, so much less now, but still it’s significant. No, i’d still say it’s a high percentage But not nowhere near as high as it was. Okay, and I do agree with what you say because you say freedom of speech But yeah, they’re but whether they monetize or demonetize, it does affect the message. It affects what you do So it’s gonna change like you’re gonna have to people like me and you trying to I mean make some money out of this even though sponsors aren’t going to be the main thing It’s it still pisses you off when you make a damn good video when you’re heading it’s Coming up with this demonetize logo. Yeah. Yeah, it’s never been our game here for doing that So like only recently i’ve noticed it and it’s crazy because we’ll have an interview like you in here Or someone like a scientist or whatever and i’ll put 10 clips out in like half of them or a third of them Be demonetized. I’m like, what the hell did we say? I don’t know Um, so yeah, it’s it’s interesting like you’re saying and it’s somewhat subjective and now it’s being very treated suspiciously as well Well, I think yeah and imagine like imagine someone Oh, they went to work and then you go home and you’re like, oh, we’re done your day is paid Why is that? Oh, you were talking about terrorism that day. Sorry, but just can’t allow that Like it just feel that way to me sometimes. Yeah, it’s that weird combination because

1:27:59 So I look if you look at youtube as a as a sass platform software as a service if you’re paying them 45 of your revenues, you know, you’re playing them quite a lot of money to use that product every year Oh youtube are fucking making it right once you start making views, they’re making great money out of it And then you’re looking at that platform saying okay now you’re restricting me. You’re not paying me So yeah, it’s like golden handcuffs. It’s like they’re saying you have to do this to get the money I feel like youtube kind of started out in the idea was for the little guy You know for everyone to have their say and uh, and obviously it’s become a business and I respect that But equally just don’t lose sight of what you were when you started out as well And I hope that it feels like they are I don’t know a lot of youtubers feel like they are And it would not surprise me if at some point the big boys on youtube pulled their audiences and went yeah Let’s make we’re on up go somewhere else fuck off and make we’re on and I tell you what shit would get very interesting We would have a you know, remember the old school wrestling was wcw versus w I couldn’t see that Problem is is it’s one of the hugest companies in the world and like their apps and their tech is so good If it was a small company, maybe but I don’t i’m just saying it will happen at some point I think that someone will try to take them on who’s got a big audience

1:29:14 Yeah, boy. Yeah, we’ll see if it wasn’t owned by google. It might be more interesting, but I don’t know We’ll see. Yeah, I agree with you. Um, do you have any mentors in your life?

1:29:22 Um older people, I mean I’d say Lawrence is a bit of a mentor in some respects because he’s sort of he understood that I was a Quite an aggressive person and quite a My way or the highway and he sort of talked me down occasionally off the ledge and I’ll do the same by him occasionally But like sometimes if i’m angry or wound up or whatever or this company’s pissing us off or whatever I’ll go to him and say oh, this is what’s going on or not like so i’ll bounce things off him a lot of the time um And other than that no, not really he’s me. He’s me sort of He’s like a brother to us, to be honest And I think that we’re together We’re going to help each other have a very good future. So Uh, we try and look after each other if anything’s going on in the in the in the life Me or him will tell each other and We sort of try and lean on each other when one of us is having a bad time Do you know what I mean?

1:30:16 And that really helps things does he have his own channel and does he do other things? No He’s never made it i’ve encouraged him, but I think I don’t know like I think he’s really suited to what he’s doing because he’s so skilled in the other areas of youtube behind the scenes as well that it He’s brilliant at playing both sides. Do you know what I mean? Um But yeah, i’m gonna try and talk him into getting more monday Uh when he’s finished helping me out with mine What scares you?

1:30:48 Yeah failure failure definitely scares us. Yeah going back to where I was which is Sometimes I realize that’s impossible now because i’ve come so far but uh, it still really motivates us Uh, and i’m also feel like i’m sort of I’m not i’m nowhere near to where I want to be. Um like financially so um I’m heading in the right direction, but I could still slip back. I’m not i’m not there yet. I’m not nowhere near there yet. So, um Just getting complacent. I don’t want to ever get complacent. I’m quite frightened of that And yeah, that’s that’s pretty much that when you think of the word successful besides guys like joe rogan and howard stern who comes to mind um Successful Do you mean like people I know personally?

1:31:40 Yeah, or someone even in history or someone personally or just someone you look up to where you’re like that person is successful I guess apart from uh, joe rogan McGregor and people like that dorian year to someone i’ve looked up to a lot, you know His attitude in life and the way he transitioned From bodybuilder to businessman. There’s now he’s I mean i’ve seen yesterday on instagram He’s got his new clothing line and all that and i’m like Only dorian year to like 50 could have his own clothing. They were like young men. I still want to buy that. You know what i mean?

1:32:14 Um I just admire anyone. It’s not just about money, but anyone who could go through shit And still be standing at the end of it and uh And I know how hard that can be sometimes. So That’s success to me. If you If you can just look yourself in the mirror and say you know it is i’m all right I’m doing all right. I’m quite happy When you’re being rock bottom Then that is success to me like and then it could be anything from a single mother or whoever Yeah, well, we’d be surprised to learn about brian Like you’d be like there’s no way the true joey does that um

1:33:02 I suppose people think i’m quite a manly man. So it would be something the opposite of that I’ve cried in a few songs before I’m quite an emotional person. I think Like whatever I feel There’s it’s very rarely So if I love someone I really love them and i’ll die for them Like I’ll really really will like for like say we talk about Lawrence For example, if anyone ever picked the fight with him I’d fucking kill them Do you know what I mean? Like I really care about people so I think people might be surprised that like when I take someone to heart or whatever I really care about them and I think that might surprise people because they some people come across us and think he’s like He’s a fucking doorman, you know, whatever like the textbook sort of if you’re not You’re not getting in and I’m a bit more emotional than what people might expect Yeah, yeah Um, I had a guy in here named Kevin Kelly. He was a founder of wire magazine really smart old guy told me to have lots of kids Um, but he said you’re only as old as the last time you changed your mind And I thought that was a pretty cool thing coming from a 70 something year old guy And I was wondering what have you changed your mind about say in the last six months something you just think differently about Now than you did say six months ago um success I was always ashamed of it a little bit at the start when And I sort of thought if I ever get any success on money or any good times

1:34:36 Hide it from people because I’d known when things had gone well for people and it even still happens to this day. I I mentioned I was getting a big guest on my podcast and uh A family friend. Oh, I hate him a family friend who i’ve helped out a fuckton said that And I i’ve always hid success for that reason because I know people will not be happy for you But lately I thought fuck it If I have any success i’m going out and i’m going up guns blazing like I’m going to be proud of that. I’m going to show people. You know, it is i’m making a damn good Go with me life here and um People don’t like that and they’re not happy for us. Fuck them uh I made like back when I was a deep-side diver was a big deal about getting the Rolex watch and I never managed to get One when I was a diver and one of my goals in life was To manage to afford a Rolex and a really decent one at that And now i’m approaching being able to have a dive in Rolex ironically And I sort of told the people watching me channel that and and if I get one i’m going to be like Here’s me fucking Rolex lads I’ve done it because I know there’s a lot of them out there who’ll be delighted for us And we’ll say that journey and support that And if people don’t then they were probably never a real supporter of you anyway so that’s Yeah, if I get good things i’m not going to be like two in your face about but i’m going to share me success with people Rather than hide hiding it. Yeah. Yeah, I think your fans will respond well to that, right?

1:36:04 They they are really supportive. I think Of all the youtubers who’ve done brand deals a lot of them get a lot of shit You’ve sold out, you know, the content’s got the shit. I think my subscribers on the the video we did We did a reveal that we’ve been Sponsored by coral the support was absolutely astounding and I don’t think any youtuber would get that kind of love And the love coral got from it because i’d be insane to me subscribers for so long I want to get a good sponsorship deal. So Being honest has really helped us a lot You know one thing I noticed with with connor He’s gotten up to like almost 20 million instagram followers and something that he does said to me He’s like brian if you look through at the at the outside It’s like wow, that’s huge But he says if you look through it when you get to that size of an audience He’s like half of its hate and when you get to a certain size audience almost by definition It’s not going to be your tribe anymore There’s going to be lots of different people in there and i’m just wondering like, you know As you go to five million subs and ten million subs You know, are you okay with that or is that going to happen or is that not necessarily going to happen?

1:37:13 I mean I’ve been through some really dark times and i’ve obviously haven’t shared all of them here But uh, I know i’ve been through far fucking worse than anything that anyone can ever say to me on it on a piece of uh On a screen or anything like that. I just No one You know, they might wind this up a little bit maybe but like it would take a lot. Um I’ve been through way worse than what anyone can say on a comment. So Bring it on bring the fucking money with it Uh last question numbers whether it’s a million dollars a million subs sometimes that can become an obsession in itself And uh, it’s easier said than done and you know can always say the millionaires you can easily complain that he’s not a billionaire but How can you try to make sure when it gets to a million then you don’t need the five and then the five doesn’t become The ten and it doesn’t become this crazy obsession in a means to itself Because it’s when you’re on the other side of the bathroom door No one wants to hear that because you’re like, yeah, well tell me when i’m a millionaire I’ll tell you if i’m unhappy, but you know, I know for a long time around here. We were obsessed with uh subs on youtube It was like 100,000 subs 100,000 subs and I got there and I was like, yeah But you got no fucking business brian Like what are you doing how you want the views you want the subs and then you realize well What do you really want?

1:38:24 Do you want a business that sustains and then when you have that you’re like well Then what do I want you want you want to do something you love, right? Or you want to have meaning or put out content that means something as opposed to Gets watched by millions of people. Do you think about that? Yeah, I do. I mean obviously we all want it all but you can’t have everything and um

1:38:45 I I stopped thinking about the subs a while ago to be honest Yeah, because I realize it yeah I’ve got enough to go on now and it’s going to keep growing and I know with what i’m doing it’ll happen So that you can forget about that. We’ve got that sorted because the content’s good enough that it’s going to come um and Ideally, like I say, I want financial security. That’s my priority as well as making good content, but Uh, regardless of any of that what I want is to feel in our day As much as I can possibly get where I interviewed Eddie Hall Strongest man in the world a hero of mine, you know, I I was literally I I told him about a message I sent him five years ago and I said to him how can I get stronger Eddie and he replied Eat your wheat mix and do your push-ups And so and now he’s sat in front of us and I can literally ask him all the questions I want and when I walked away from that Um, you know yourself when you’ve done what you feel is a really great interview the buzz I’ve got that banked when people when that comes out people are going to love that and i’ve created something with Eddie People are going to love for years and years to come Uh, that’s the feeling More than anything else that I really love about what I do But the rest are just really good bonuses That’s what I love. Yeah. Well, that’s good It’s good you’re better than that because it’s hard not to get caught up in the numbers And the buzz and look at the rogan’s views and the this subscribers and then forget why you’re doing it

1:40:09 Yeah But I agree the buzz is crazy And then when you someone stops you in the street And doesn’t want a selfie but wants to say that that interview changed my life And I and I say thank you so much and like no, no, no It really it kept me from going this way to this way And that one thing you said in minute 44 when you were interviewing banya or edo and um Someone else will say no, it was that thing you said in minute 53 because they were going through something else in there I’ve got a quote for you. Yeah And it was gary v on your podcast who says it’s about the process And when he said that I thought myself That’s exactly how I feel I’m not in it for the end goal as much as that’s going to be the icing on the cake I’m in it for the fucking process and that’s what I love about what i’m doing So that’s there’s a quote for you, man. Yeah, I like it. It’s a good quote right there Um brian, you know at the end always ask people a few questions. I’m gonna hit you with those If you could pull out that mobile phone and ring up the 20 year old brian davis He’s smiling because he’s heard this before Um and give that young man a bit of advice. He was I don’t know after the engineering degree still hadn’t gone through diving school. I was about to go through a hard period of life. Yeah So I would say um Quite an emotional question. It’s actually because uh, I feel quite sorry for that broke to be honest with you looking back on it

1:41:33 And um I just say Things are gonna get better simple as that as cliche as it is Because I just didn’t really know if they were or not and I just needed to to know that But I never did but I never give up at the time and as bad as things did get at one point like I never never gave up and uh I’m proud of myself for that, but I could have done with someone to tell us that And I did have someone tell us that actually it was a close friend was one of me mates mothers Who said that it was um? But yeah, I could have done with that as well from me You said you felt sorry for him. What do you mean?

1:42:19 Um, I was just gonna end you had a lot of like Unsure and just Feeling really down about things and a few I lost some people close to us. It was just really dark and hard um and I had no self-esteem and I and I felt like I feel like i’m I don’t want to say special, but I don’t know better way to describe it right now I feel like I’ve got something about me that I don’t think that like a few other people around us have like I feel like i’m different And like I feel like it can be something, but I just don’t believe It’s ever going to happen because I kind of fucking find the right thing that i’m supposed to be doing with myself So I would have just said it’s something like along the lines if it’s going to come just just Just keep going don’t give up. Yeah The thing is if if someone had told you that you might not be the same guy you are today, you know Yeah, maybe not but I just I don’t think I needed as but much of a love. I feel like i’ve had some lows that some people never ever get So if I just had it someone just put us a little bit higher Not much just a little bit of a word in the ear. It would have helped us a lot. Okay Best advice you’ve ever received could have been from your mom from Sheer from gary v Um, maybe someone who actually told it to you I don’t know if it’s advice but my mom when I was a little and and and my whole life told us Everyone’s going to know you one day And she convinced us of it and I never believed it

1:43:57 But she was like you believe in yourself. You can be anything that you set your mind to and I always wonder When I look at some of my friends and people I’ve grown up with who Their parents sometimes do the opposite they squash that they kill their self-belief Get they they they have their life expectations so low and they they They bury their confidence. Do you know what I mean? Because they don’t want the kids getting above their station And that I understand you don’t want to owe a confident kid or you don’t want someone who’s too much of a dreamer but My mom gave me the self-belief to like roll the dice and keep rolling and keep rolling until it finally came in for us So that was what I Needed more than anything like that’s what I got Last part of that question to that 20 year old that’s watching us or that 16 year old on your channel or that 13 year old um, who wants to grow up one day and be like the true Geordie, you know who wants to Have some self-esteem, you know, let alone be a millionaire or feel like they’re successful or feel like they can contribute to the world What advice do you give to them?

1:45:03 My challenge as that lab was to find out I had a certain qualities about myself And rather than think What am I good at what have I got the off of the world? I thought what do I want to be? And I should have reverse engineered it and I should have thought what am I good at and what can that be fitted fitted into And in of those options, what do I love and what’s going to make us happy? And by doing that I would have been a success because when you like something and you really give a fuck Is when you’re willing to put that extra um inch in extra and then eventually the extra mile and change your life and I think that um A lot of lads need to start doing that and a lot and schools don’t don’t teach that They teach Science maths english do it What what are your skills? What are you what are you got going for you? What are you naturally good at?

1:46:00 So think about what value you can give yeah, do you think we can all do what we love? every Obviously, there’s some people just need to suck it up and they’re not going to have the best run of it But why not try? Why not try and for as long as you can Until you can’t roll the dice anymore and you’ve just got to you know, accept whatever you end up with but I I think lads couldn’t the lads and young lads and lasses can When you’re young take the use of that time You know by the time you’re 30 you want to be you’re settled in whatever you’re going to do Ideally sometimes maybe later, but ideally you want to be settled in that time from when you’re leaving school to then Fucking try things say what you’re good at find out who you are And that’s one of the hardest things for me is to find out who the fuck you are when you know who that is Then you can then you can find out what you should be doing and rather than just Bimbling around and ending up in some fucking job that you hate and because you know You’re going to do it almost every day for the rest of your life. You might as well find something you don’t hate at least Yeah, I think that’s the one thing that shaped you the most I think growing up in new castle You saw a lot of people that settled and that were just end of the day not doing things They enjoyed and they were doing it because maybe that was the only gig in town Or because they never had the self-esteem to go out for something better

1:47:29 And I think that shaped you hugely new castle made me yeah, and it really That was the one time I ever got upset about comments and that was when I first started youtube And there was a lot of people from new castle and to be fair the style of videos I was doing was very aggressive and and I looked like probably a football hooligan, but I was like, how can you be? Ashamed of me you made me. This is that fucking city. I come from so I really want to Turn that around improve to people that can be a good influence on people from new castle and be someone that they’re proud of Well, you’re the most famous jordie. I know so That’s all good. I’ll do for me, man You know, I always bump into people and they always say to me One day brian i’m going to be in that leather chair and um, I always say to them Uh do something to where I can’t ignore you You know, and um, I think you said you might have sent me a message back in the dorian days or something like that I actually searched my mail. I couldn’t find it today But um, you know, you’ve done some things that nobody can ignore now So I just wanted to take my hats off to you and uh, you know, you’ve worked hard for it I was on your show, you know, that was a real conversation that you me and lawrence had it wasn’t bullshit It wasn’t uh, it was everything I I look forward to in a long-form Conversation, you know, you know the qualities I see in rogan, you know in marin and you know in great shows

1:48:49 So, um, and I I can see the work you’re putting in and I know how hard it is To build a business as a new media company I mean, I don’t think there’s many harder things in the world to try to do that without some edge or something to give you a Upper hand let alone trying to make long-form content for god’s sakes, right? So where no one knows if there’s a business model there And so it’s like this pioneering place of doing things because you want to do it, you know And and I I love the fact that you’re going ahead and having these long conversations and putting that up with a three-minute Football rant because it’s what you want to do and um, you said something earlier, which is so true You know if you can do what you love That that’s all that’s that’s the winning game You know, you can really do that every day and be like intrigued and be fascinated like a woman you had today With a strong man or be proud of yourself or be giving back Like that’s the ultimate win. So how you say yourself? I think it’s so important and there’s a few lessons i’ve learned and Yeah, one of one of the lessons i’ve learned recently like go with me Over me life, but especially recently, uh after a chat I had with a guy who’s um, his mother was the first victim of peter sucliffe who’s Yorkshire ripper, um He he said basically It’s not about What happens to you in your life?

1:50:06 It’s how you view it and how you how you act on that and and i’ll just be able to be more aware of that lately like Yeah Just take it on the fucking chin, but give it back. Do you know what I mean? Don’t don’t become a victim of life I fucking you know, some people haven’t really got much of a choice in it But you know those people who opt to be the victims in life Fucking pisses us off to be honest Yeah, and you can hear it with like a few beats of language they use I can hear the tone of voice Sometimes I can hear someone’s being the victim even before I get close enough. But yeah, don’t be that person And um, look, I think there’s something special about these long conversations And like I said after six years i’m starting to even see this whole thing differently and I I think this is about the art Of listening. I think it’s about truly having empathy for like a point in our lives Well, we don’t have time for empathy anymore social media. You watch videos you watch youtube you watch um TV You watch a movie. Yeah, but when you listen to someone for two hours talk about someone on death row Talk about an undercover cop talk about uh a bodybuilder you thought was a meathead Talk about some mover with a man bun who you think he doesn’t do anything important But you actually listen to the humanity in that person. I don’t know. I think we all become more human And it’s something that I can’t explain yet

1:51:21 But I think it’s why you feel so special after you have that connection And I think the more people that we can get listening to these long conversations the better So I want you to be massively successful I want more people in the uk to do what we do and have these long conversations in all the ways that they want I want a 70 year old guy doing it. I want one of your fans the next 13 year old to start doing it Um ex-bankers ex-lawyers It is it’s about the attention span. I think that’s my battle because we are fighting We’re almost fighting the war against the the five minute clip of videos because I get some comments on my podcast Saying it’s too long. I’m like Fuck me, mate Like you know like if i’ve had a great guest in and i’m like you there’s some life lessons There’s some shit you can learn shut the fuck up And I had to learn that when I started doing podcasts because I was so used to being the class clown The center of attention everyone looked at me That when I did have a death row Didn’t come in who’d been wrongly jailed for 23 years I shut the fuck up and that and you learn a lot more when you shut the fuck up Yeah, I learned that about three years. Yeah, if I have a great show i’ll be mostly shutting the fuck up You know and the same with you like for the first three years people said it was too long And then later they started saying it’s too short So uh, but look we got to fight the good fight

1:52:35 You’re always fighting attention spans all the time and a lot of the gold that we’ve gotten here People won’t make it through the first 45 minutes the first hour maybe today But maybe a year from now two years five years from now, maybe they will so yeah It’s just a fight and uh, and I love fighting it. So, um Just wanted to say thank you for everything you do Uh, love seeing what you’ve done was loving on your show and I can’t wait to see what you can do in the next five years It’s great stuff. So, uh, uh as we say on London Real it’s about the journey and uh, I wish you well on yours, man Thanks very much. Appreciate that Thanks a lot