YouTuber and Musician, Multiplier, has been spreading knowledge and creating a variety of educational tools that aid in the growth of fellow musicians and producers worldwide through capitalizing on the the wonders of YouTube. I caught up with Adam to discuss how YouTube has served as a platform that has enhanced his life experience, the paradoxes of creating his dream job, a day in the life of filming a YouTube tutorial and much more.
Tell us about the most recent YouTube tutorial that you put up and a day in the life of filming it.
I generally film in the morning, first thing. Then I go for a walk or get lunch whilst my computer processes the audio and video. Then I spend the afternoon/evening editing it. For simpler videos I might batch film and edit a few, but for more complex edits and sponsored videos, it tends to be one video per day (at a leisurely pace). Time-wise, from idea to upload, a video takes between 2 and 20 hours of work – on average about 4 or so. Maybe 3. It’s hard to measure time spent subconsciously thinking and synthesising thoughts about videos and/or the process of making them. The biggest shift recently though has been to using my Panasonic GH4 and Final Cut Pro X as my main filming setup. Last year it was a GoPro and ScreenFlow. I could probably do a two hour course explaining all the nuances and reasons why, but the simplest and maybe most honest reason is that- it’s an exciting and new creative process.
Tell us about your experience with YouTube and how the platform has served to enhance your life.
YouTube facilitated my career, and lifestyle. It started off as a gimmicky marketing hack to get more followers for my music (posting ‘How to Sound Like Skrillex’ videos before there were thousands of them). But over time, it became my primary creative and productive output. For years now I’ve been able to live comfortably off music, working when I want, on what I want, having fun, and that’s all been off the back of YouTube. It’s an interesting story to tell at parties too.
Showcasing the human in you, what is a challenging thought that you recently had and were able to overcome over time?
I still struggle with how I’ve created a dream job for myself that requires me to spend most of the day sat indoors. I want to spend more time standing up, and being outside. I don’t have a solution yet, although I do want to move to somewhere in the world that means I can sit or stand outside with my computer and work. England’s weather doesn’t really allow for that.
What is your perception on the digital world that we live in and social media culture?
Like alcohol, it can enhance the human experience, but needs to be used in a considered and intentional way. The brain chemistry for social media addiction is the same chemical reward system as for things like alcohol addiction. But either way, best keep the analogy as an analogy. Most things can enhance someone’s life, but taken too far, can worsen it. Best thing is to take control of the whole situation, and not just let it settle where it settles. E.g. if you’re making a conscious choice to check a feed, great. If you find yourself scrolling without consciously choosing to, stop, and take control of that behaviour.
No career path or amount of followers negates the fact that you are a human being that has feelings. Tell us about some parts of you beyond being an artist that you take pride in.
By default, I assume that everyone is trying their best. Everyone’s the product of their life experiences, and the choices they made. Even if someone made a bad choice, I don’t think they wanted to make a bad choice, it’s just how their brain ended up making the decision. Maybe that day the emotional monkey brain overruled the rational brain – it happens. One of my favourite books is called Incognito, and it explains how the brain works. Once you know how the brain works, the world starts to make sense, and you stop judging people. The brain is just trying to make good decisions, with imperfect information, and a different data set to you.
As you are exposed to tons of stimulus working in the music industry, how do you proactively take care of your mental and emotional health?
Daily walks and exercise. Reading (actually, listening on Audible) to books on Stoicism. Having interests and other passions outside of music and YouTube. And carefully curating what inputs (newsfeeds, social media, people, environment, etc..) I expose myself to.
If you had any words of wisdom that you can share with individuals who are attempting to maximize the potential of YouTube and share their talent with the world, what would you say?
Strip the emotion out of the process, and try to view the situation objectively. If you’re looking to grow for example, be very specific, how exactly is your view count/follower count/etc. actually going to grow? Think through every step. You upload a video. Then what? What steps happen between that and ‘growth’? Remember that every platform/person does something for a reason, and so make sure each step has a realistic reason for happening. If you’re unsure about a step, do more research. Most of it you should know though. E.g. how do you know what makes someone click a video? Well, what makes YOU click a video? Start there.
How old would you be if you didn’t know how old that you were?
34. I’m actually 28, but years of skateboarding, BMX, skiing, rock climbing and such have taken its toll on my joints.
Last but certainly not least, any closing messages for your fans?!
Question everything, test assumptions, challenge popular beliefs, keep asking why, enjoy everything.
