#08 – Jim: The Accidental YouTuber

The empty chair, and the wall of records behind me. Its a bit like the proverbial blank piece of paper for the writer…. where do I start? What am I listening to? How NOT to procrastinate!

I was going to call this post “How Do You Make A Reaction Video?” but to answer that, I’d need to be someone else altogether! I think that how I make a video is probably a little different from other people. When I first started nearly 5 years ago, I literally had no idea what I was doing, how to make a video, how to use music and incorporate it into my video, how to record my voice, how to mix everything together. Rather foolishly, I didn’t think to search YouTube for tutorials on how to make a video. That would have been far too sensible! No, I spent days on end figuring things out, how to download a video from YouTube, how to record my voice, the frustrations of trying to use the bundled video editing software on my iMac.

The first video I made never made it to YouTube. It received a worldwide block and sent me scurrying terrified for hills, presuming that Devin Townsend’s lawyers would be beating down my door at any minute! But even though it failed to find an audience, I learnt how to actually make a video. My “studio” was a tiny box room upstairs in the house, 6ft x 7ft with a big desk, chair, and an overflowing abundance of all my old and collected music making gear. The inbuilt webcam, a battered and abused old SM62 stage mic clone from a knock-off Chinese manufacturer, a dodgy video downloading tool and the bundled iMovie software were all I had, but they worked, and that was my compete setup for 7 months. I played with angle-poise table lamps to try and light the scene, but they always looked awful!

I eventually moved the setup downstairs into a larger space. It was a screened off area of the family living room, so wasn’t ideal from a video-filming point of view! I was able to upgrade the microphone though and obtained my first real quality piece of hardware for making videos. The Røde Procaster is a fabulous microphone and has featured on 99% of all of my videos since then.

Early in 2019 we moved to a different part of Milton Keynes. Here, I set up my gear in the dining room of the new house, sharing my music making and listening apparatus with dining table and chairs, book shelves and at one stage a running machine (don’t ask why!).

Although the space was not ideal, I was now able to consolidate my operation a bit. I decided that I was going to try and make videos that looked and sounded as good as I could possibly make them. I wasn’t a videographer or trained filmmaker and everything I knew I was learning on the fly. But I knew that if I wanted my content to look engaging, clear and professional, I needed to invest. It was probably the right time, I’d been making videos for a year or so, I’d got some miles on the clock.

I took the plunge and bought a proper camera, a Canon M50 mirrorless proper camera, a proper one that you can change the lens on, a proper one that you can fiddle about with settings and confuse yourself endlessly. I knew that the bundled iMovie software wasn’t going to cut it anymore, I wanted more out of my video editor. As a musician I was completely immersed in the Apple ecosystem and used Logic Pro for writing, recording and producing music. I figured lets look at Final Cut Pro X, the Apple video editing suite. Although expensive initially, it was a one time purchase and the software is updated for free. There have been some HUGE upgrades to Logic over the years that are completely free, and in the same way, Final Cut Pro X is upgraded gratis for licence owners. This is actually a great deal when you realise that it’s closest competitor, Adobe’s Premier Pro has to be paid for monthly and if you use it for over 15 months you are now costing more than the Apple product.

I also bought a really, really cheap video light on a telescopic stand that spent the next 3 years collapsing at random moments. It drove me nuts, and I shouted at it a lot (yes I know, it’s an inanimate object but it made me feel better)! This set up started to look pretty good!

Soon after this I had a bit of a revelation, I could play vinyl, listen to it, capture the sound and film the whole thing. Records have always been my number one way to listen to music so this was a breath of fresh air to my ears! I brought out my record collection from storage, dusted off the turntable started with a dusty, scratchy old record Sky Two. 5 months later I listened to Hot Rats from Zappa… as time went on more and more of my listens were vinyl and album reactions.

In February 2020 before the pandemic hit, no one knew what was about to happen, what was to change, how the world would pivot. But everything changed. Looking back now it was completely surreal, utterly destabilising and wholly claustrophobic. Being restricted to the inside of the house, legally allowed out for 60 minutes a day, day after day, week after week, month after month… it was the stuff of dystopian science fiction nightmare. Aside from the catastrophe of the death toll the disease brought, another tragedy unfolded alongside it, the loneliness and mental health toll bourn by the population. Entire sections of a previously mobile population reinvented their working lives, their social interactions, their family time.

We needed more space in the house, and I looked at the garage with envious eyes as a potential studio space. At last I could finally create an environment that would be spacious, comfortable, bright and light and inspiring for creating and listening to music. Mrs Newstead agreed without any resistance at all…. I think she was very happy to move me lock, stock and barrel out of the house. My studio was on its way!

By the time I’d got the not inconsiderable volume of “stuff” into the studio, it was looking horrendous! I needed to organise and design the space, something that would have easier and more efficient before I populated the room with everything!

Somehow, through all this chaos, I was still able to make videos. By now, the making of videos, the discovering of music and the community of friends around the world was therapy for my fragile self, damaged and scarred by the isolation and existential fear brought on by the pandemic. It seemed I wasn’t the only one and the community buoyed and encouraged, supported and embraced me and the content.

As the authorities loosened their grips on us and the world slowly started to open up again, the channel remained at the forefront of my creative output. For hours a day I was immersed in laundry, cooking, household maintenance, child care, hospital appointments and learning about autism, speech and communication for out little boy, for the rest, I needed space and time for me… the channel. This remains the balance I have in my life now. I am unable to return to work properly as I would be a very unreliable employee, the unpredictability of our son’s health, melt downs, and ongoing need for support and care rules me out of having any kind of regular job. My wife still works and supports the family while I look after the daily grind. Running a small but perfectly formed YouTube channel is unlikely to ever replace the lost income from my old regular job, but the contribution it does make is still invaluable to our new normal and any donation, support or purchase is so genuinely appreciated, you have no idea!

Sometimes I am unable to make a video, I sometimes find it hard to make the video and very occasionally it starts to feel like a chore rather than the passion it usually is. When this happens I need to take a break! I still want it to be fun, to be the little haven where we can listen to music and chat. I am really quite proud of this little channel I’ve created and grateful for you, the audience who continues to watch, comment and interact with my content. Between us, we have built something quite special and I couldn’t have done it without you!

The first five years have gone past so quickly! I can’t wait to discover my new favourite bands and music with you, so I hope to see you on the next video, whatever and whenever that is and until then…. this is Jim, over and out!