EP68 - ESSEX CONTENT CREATOR - Olly Thatcher

Olly Thatcher AKA Olly Thatchh is a content creator from Basildon (or Bas Vegas, depending on who you ask). Starting out behind the camera as a photographer, videographer and music video creator, he built a production company creating on-brand content for businesses before stepping in front of the lens to become a creator in his own right.

Spotting a lack of Essex representation on social media, Olly set out to showcase the county's hidden talent, culture and character. He's on a mission to flip the tired Essex stereotype and show that there's far more to the county than teeth and tans. Essex is a place of many identities, from the coastline and countryside to its towns, cities and creative communities. As Olly puts it, Southend is basically the LA of England: palm trees, a pier, a ferris wheel and incredible sunsets. Canvey is Miami! 

Through his videos, Olly explores unusual places, local history and overlooked stories. Essex's past is so rich it could easily fill a 20-part HBO drama series. His approach to content creation is simple: keep filming. The best moments often happen spontaneously, and the more time you spend behind the camera, the better your instincts become.

Olly has been making videos since childhood. Armed with camcorders, he already knew what he wanted to do. He taught himself to edit, studied successful creators, and learned how to craft engaging content before building audiences on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. His advice? Ignore the view count and make the videos you want to make.

We talk about documenting local culture, why behind-the-scenes content often outperforms the polished final product, and how his social channels have become a powerful marketing tool for his production company, OVisuals. We also discuss Cash In Hand, the Essex-made TV show he's worked on, the rise of Essex pride and "geezer hustle culture", and whether a new South Essex cultural movement is beginning to emerge.

Along the way we celebrate the unique character of Essex's towns and cities, the importance of independent businesses, and the value of capturing a vibe rather than chasing perfection. We also hear about approaching strangers for interviews, the realities of content creation, and how his partner Jess helps bring many of his adventures to life while creating her own vintage fashion content - big up the Year 2K early 2000s fashion @jessicajoanlouise. 

Plus: South Woodham Ferrers facts, Rayleigh appreciation, and Nick's latest public artwork — The Dogs' Bollard for Concrete Canvas Chelmsford.

Olly Thatch instagram

OVisuals instagram

Olly on TikTok

Jess 2K fashion on insta

Cash In Hand

Are You Creative? recorded by Adam at Lawker Media, Chelmsford, ESSEX
Edited by Nick Hearne
Artwork by Alpaca Antenna

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Thanks to NGDA for their support

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

What's your last name? Thatcher. Fatcher? Yeah.

Nick 0:06

I thought he was Fetch.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

I shortened it, I'm too cool on it. Well, it's because of Margaret Thatcher is embarrassing, wasn't it? Yeah, no.

Nick 0:12

Yeah, Fatch. Fatch is better.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Do you know what I mean?

Nick 0:14

Do you know what? Fatch is one of the hardest words to say with an Essex accent. I can't do TH's. So you're just Oli Fatch. And I saw like Sonny Green's like, Oi Fatch.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Oh no. It's just like, why did I choose that? You know what I mean? Why did I do that? I used to go like Oli Thomas, it's Oliver Thomas James. Yeah, yeah. Um I thought it was too generic, isn't it?

Nick 0:33

Mate, Oli Fatch is wicked. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

It's my actual second name as well.

Nick 0:42

Welcome back to Are You Creative Podcast? Podcast about creativity in Essex. We are here in Lorca Media Studios in Chelmsford. Got another amazing guest. Got my co-host here, San Gate Mitchell. Wait, wait. Enough of that, Ollie. Enough of the clap in enough of the clapping.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

I've got to clap on the intro that deserved it.

Nick 0:59

Well, like that was like one step away from tumbleweed. And the cricket.

Lora 1:03

At least you got one.

Nick 1:04

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that is the first time we've been clapped on the adjoining.

Lora 1:07

I think it is actually.

Nick 1:08

Sangate, have you been having a creative week?

Lora 1:10

I have. We've got concrete canvas this Saturday. So yep.

Nick 1:14

I've been painting a concrete canvas.

Lora 1:16

I saw.

Nick 1:16

I was doing the dog's bollard.

Lora 1:18

I saw it. So fun.

Nick 1:19

It's so fun. It's a good bit of community engagement because anyone who walks past, I'm drawing their dog. And it's it's so fun. So like I I there are only a few dogs coming past, but I think now people are getting getting the wind of it, and then I think I'm going to be inundated with dogs.

Lora 1:32

Oh, that's amazing. Because your pictures were good. Your bollard was good.

Nick 1:35

Yeah, it's cute, right? All those dogs. The dogs look like they've seen things. I'm saying it looks like they're having it looks like they're having Vietnam flashbacks. Do you know what I mean? It's like this weird thing.

Sangita 1:44

I believe they are.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Can I just say I have no idea what's going on right now? What are you even talking about?

Nick 1:49

It's a street art festival in Chelmsford, concrete canvas. Fair enough. And I've been painting a bollard. And basically, anyone whose dog walks past it, I'm drawing their dog on it. Alright. But but I'm basically I'm not very good at drawing dogs, and all the dogs look look quite troubled.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Great, great. I mean, I've got a dog at home you can draw if you want.

Nick 2:07

But you have to walk in past the bollard. You've got to have rules, right? So it's only dogs that are walking past the bollard. Anyway, and yeah, uh sad gator, and then yeah, I did a gig as well. Did you? Culturist centre on Saturday, that was good. Oh wow, wasn't it? Yeah, with Lorne Modef. That was good fun. So yeah, mega creative week. Excellent. And a couple of award short lists. Yeah. So there you go. There's my creative receipts. I've had a very creative week as well. We have got another amazing guest from Essex whose name is Ollie T.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Oli Fatch. Oli Tchitch.

Nick 2:37

Whatever you want. And I love it. I love you say Oli Fatch because I can't say TH, so I say Oli Fatch as well. Isn't it the same with me? Ollie Fatch.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

What was I thinking? I don't even know.

Nick 2:46

Eventually, your surname, your family surname will evolve to just be an F, maybe. Can we talk about now? We're going to eradicate TH from the English language because it's pointless.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

Yeah, we do it the Essex way. Yeah, do it the Essex way. Everyone go Essex. Yeah.

Nick 3:00

We're going to do that. Eradicate THs. I'm going to start the campaign now.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Oh, we're. Oli Fetch. Here we go. From Should I just change it? Should I just change my username to F now? Yeah, do it right now. Oli Fat, yeah. Oli Fetch. Yeah, yeah. And Ollie, where are you from? I'm from Bazadon. Bas Vegas. Bas Vegas, born in Bazdin, Oswald. Seriously.

Nick 3:18

Oh, amazing. Our last guest was from Bas Vegas as well. Is it? I can't say his name because we're keeping this one clean. Yeah, I watched a bit of it. Yeah, so I know.

Sangita 3:25

Yeah, yeah.

Nick 3:28

And he's a man. So much good stuff comes from Bas Vegas. I know it actually does. Tell me about it. I love it, man. So much more than me to die, innit? Yeah. Mate, that's whole of Essex. Yep. No, literally. It's like, dig a bit deeper. You're going to find so much amazing stuff. So much good creative stuff.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

Yeah. Are you creative? Mate, would I be here if I'm not? It's yes or no. I am. I am absolutely creative.

Nick 3:51

It's yes or no. Are you creative? Yes. Now, right. What Sangeeta does now, Sangita's going to try and work out what you do. Okay, go on. Sangeet, what does he do?

Lora 4:03

Right, so now I've seen your Insta. Yeah. Um, and what I've seen is some lovely pictures, and I can't really make out what you're doing. I know it's something to do with content and videos, but what specific I'm in the blind.

Nick 4:18

Yeah, what do you call yourself, Ollie? Content creator.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Honestly, I don't even know. I'm a bit of an all-rounder. Yeah. I'm a bit of an all-rounder. Obviously, um, I do my stuff online with the iPhone, you know, my face and the influencer style stuff. Um, but before that it was uh I was running a creative flat production company sort of thing where it's say company, it was just me. Fucking with that.

Nick 4:40

Um mate, you've got to pretend you're bigger than you are in this like incredible company. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

That's how you say I've got 10 people working with you, mate. It's just me with my Canon 700D or whatever it's like.

Nick 4:50

Yeah, my sister messed that one up. My sister, I'll do it properly, yeah. Someone told me that they'd have a company, they were a freelancer, and they'd have uh a separate email account and they'd say I'll get my um get my PA to sort that out. Yeah, yeah. It's just them, it's just them, but then they'd do all the hard conversations.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Yeah, that's business, isn't it? It's business, isn't it?

Nick 5:08

But um that's that's Molly. Molly, Molly and Ollie.

Lora 5:11

What to be honest, truth, I'll do the same. Do you? Yeah, oh my god, I've got three different addresses for the same company.

Nick 5:17

Can you give me your nice one?

Lora 5:19

So I've got one, Ollie.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Tell us. Um, yeah, so production company, um shooting on-brand visual visuals, on-brand visuals for brands, businesses, people, individuals, musicians, like a lot in the music industry. Okay. Um, just mainly working with cameras, so I'm not in front of the camera, more more behind it. Do you know what I mean? So um, yeah, that's that's me really. Music videos and stuff, that's been quite a big thing, shooting music videos.

Nick 5:45

So you're like a one-man Bas Vegas media hub. Sort of. That uh yeah, I guess so. So good. Um now what what what got you on my radar was these brilliant videos you're doing about Essex. You can like going to niche Essex Towns, I think was the one that got me. Yeah, yeah. And I what I loved about it, I just felt like, well, you were great at presenting as well, but I loved the camera work and the edit was so tight. Like I was just like, oh this this is sick, this guy knows what he's doing. We have Man About Country on here, who did his Essex Ways film, right? Really chill, a lot of folk music, really stuff. And then and then you're like the ADHD version where it's like that's exactly how you described it. Yeah, and I think we need we've got these two two different arms of the Essex tourism board now. Yeah, man about country, brilliant, tranquil, and you're like, Man about town, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

So, how did you start getting into doing this um content creation about Essex stuff? Do you know what it was? Like, I'd scroll the for you page on TikTok, or I'd scroll on Instagram, and there's barely any uh Essex related content, like there's just nothing on there. Yeah, it's just like there is the odd stuff, but there's no one really there going, I'm from Essex, I'm from Basil, and this is where I'm from, this is what we got here, this is the creative people that we got here, this is the talent that we've got here. Amazing. Um, and you know, we've got a load of rundown buildings, but um sort of bigging it up in a way, like bigging up the the things that people wouldn't usually do, um, sort of shedding uh the light on you know what people wouldn't really shed light on. Do you know what I mean? I mean there's so much so much creative talent here, like it's ridiculous. I thought I'd just you know document it. Um and I think it started from like running the business. I was always I'd be like based in London, yeah, yeah. Based in based in London, not Essex, like I'd just put the whole Essex thing out of the window. Um I say I'm in London, I go to London for work and stuff, but then I just had like this epiphany one day. I was like, why don't I just bring it home? Why don't I just create the opportunities at home? One, it's so much more easier for me to like travel and stuff like that and get around and um get work. Um but also it's just sort of um giving everyone a sort of platform to sort of maybe inspiration in a way. Yeah, I love that as well.

Nick 7:53

Well, you were working from Essex, but you're still saying you're in London.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

Yeah, we seem to do that. I don't know why. I don't know about you.

Nick 7:59

Mate, you're not Romford, you know, like this is like you know, you're in Basildon, that is Essex proper, you know. We we're we're we've got the flag there, right? Yeah, literally. It's not one of these on the border places, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I I I agree, I think like um, you know, being from Essex used to be a bit embarrassing for people where they thought like it meant you're dumb or something like that. Yeah. Because we used to get a bad rap. But I think now, like, everyone's reclaiming Essex, you know, from we've got our personality, yeah, yeah, and it's sort of trying to like flip the stereotype as well.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Yeah. Because it's always like the the Cash and An boys and that they say it's it's not the white stilettos, the white stilts. It's not just the teeth and the tans.

Lora 8:30

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

There's more than meets the eye. Um, you know, we're all we're all grafters, we'll come. We'll a lot of us come from London like families, anyway. A lot of like my family's my dad's side from the East End, so Stephanie Green. That is East End.

Lora 8:43

That is East End, proper East Proper Eastern, that is that's Poe Bell's, isn't it?

Nick 8:48

That is proper, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Um, yeah, uh proper East Enders. Then my mum's side's Leiden in sort of Basilton. Baselton, yeah. Um so it's that blend of proper Essex and East End. Yeah, man. Love it. So yeah, I've got love for London, obviously, but I feel like Essex is a different land. Like it is, mate.

Nick 9:05

I think we do things quicker here.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

Mate, you know we talk a lot quicker as well. Especially the girls. What are you talking about?

Nick 9:12

So London, London's got to catch up, honestly. Like everyone, everyone's moving east. I was gonna say you moved east.

Lora 9:19

I did. I moved to Chumpsford back in 2004.

SPEAKER_00 9:23

Nice, and I agree with you. Oh, right, wait, what wait a minute?

Lora 9:27

Yeah, so that's what bought me here. Wait a minute. There you go.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

There we go. 22 years later.

Lora 9:33

Here we are. But yes, I think you're right. Um, as be when we I was living in London, I had this vision of Essex, boring, why would we want to go there? Um, but actually moving up here, and the more I've got onto the creative scene, I've kind of found wow, we've got some talent and places up here that we don't really promote as much as we should.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

Definitely, 100%. And also, I feel like not to go too into it, but we're so much more multicultural than people think.

Lora 10:02

We definitely are, yes.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Like um, we think the demographic is like specific one thing, but it's really not.

Lora 10:07

It's not.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

I've got so many friends of different like cultures, it's it's crazy.

Nick 10:12

Like and there's so much different, like so many different things going on in Essex as well. You've got London Essex. You you guys like South Essex, you feel like different to uh Chelmsford. You got North Essex and cultures a lot and all very different as well.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Literally, you travel drive 20 minutes away from where you are, it's a different culture, isn't it? Like, it's just crazy. But that's what I love about Essex. I feel like it's the um well, I say the South End's like the LA of England. Yeah! But there's too many, there's too many similarities though. Yeah, yeah. You've got the P, you've got the Santa Monica P, you've got Batman. There's the um what's it the Ferris Wheeled film? It looks like um what's the what's the beach called? Um Venice Beach, yeah. Venice Beat, it looks like Venice Beach, you've got the palm trees and that you got a little bit in, it's like a bit of the ghetto and uh do you know what Venice Beach hasn't got no two P machines?

Nick 11:02

Mate, that's true. They need to sort it out.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Do they have you on a on a Saturday night? Have you watched the sunset on Venice Beach like you have in South End? I didn't think so. Nah, I didn't think so.

Nick 11:12

Um it's amazing, and and you know, when you I I was watching a video you put up the other day, and it was about things you could do in Essex, right? Yeah, star cinema.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

Come on, yeah, bargain, mate. I know absolute bargain date night. I mean Jesse's sitting over there.

Nick 11:26

Sankey, have you been to Canby Island? Yes, the cinema there is next level. It's it's so cheap and it's the same as Gundi Odeon or anybody.

Lora 11:33

Sorry, when you said next level, I thought, what? Is it that good? Why didn't no one tell me?

Nick 11:37

You know when you go to Odeon and they want to charge you 14 quid for a ticket, you go to Star, it's like four quid for a ticket or something.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

We rolled up, rolled up at like last minute and we just got a ticket for like two quid, I think.

Lora 11:46

Bamalam, we're going to Canby's.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

Fishing chips after on the beach.

Nick 11:50

So Canvi's like the Miami.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Yeah, Canvi's and South End's the LA. Canvi's and Miami, Basilden's the Bas Vegas, it was Las Vegas. Las Vegas, yeah, is it? Yeah, there we go. See what I mean? It's Bas Vegas. See what I mean.

Nick 12:03

Yeah, I don't know what I don't know what Champsford is. Neither do I. Let's just keep quiet about that for this. Minnesota or something. I don't know. I don't know. So when you when you get around around Essex, right? Yeah. Have you been to have you discovered some interesting places that you wouldn't have gone to normally?

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Yeah, I mean that's what I've like found so much joy in actually doing. Like going to like these random, like like these, you know, when go on Google Maps and you just you you you drive into this place and you see like this little village and it's like tiny and you're like, what what even is that place? You're just sort of like um intrigued what's there, like you don't you never go there, you just drive past it, you don't know what's there, and it's like these little places that I actually think I'm just gonna go there and film it and just film what no one actually sees or that's bothers to do.

Nick 12:44

So what where have you been? What what was like an amazing revelation for you?

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Um Southminster. Yeah, I've never been there. Okay, was and and also I love a bit history, yeah. Love a hit love a bit of history, um, and like Essex history is just unmatched.

Nick 13:00

Like we go back far. I saw you at St Peter's, the uh the oldest church in England.

SPEAKER_00 13:06

That's it's just fascinating, like you're just standing there like in the same place. I'm gonna sound like probably Essex dumb, you know what I mean? You're definitely not I'm standing, I'm standing in this exact same spot where people thousands of years ago were standing and building like sounds stupid, but it's just fascinating.

Nick 13:24

The Vikings came down from Lindisfarne.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Exactly, that's what I read. Yeah, yeah. Down down there to the Dengue. Yeah, I can't remember what the geezer's name is, but yeah, he came down on his own on the boat, yeah. He found a Roman fort in ruins or something, he used those to build the chapel and that.

Nick 13:38

Mate, that was Ben Benfleet as well, was like a Viking, was like a Viking stronghold as well.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

It's just quite like the witches in Cheltsford and stuff like that as well.

Nick 13:45

And we had the and we had Colchester was the capital of England, Chelmsford was the capital of England for like one day, yeah. And then they realised how boring it was. Yeah. No, oi, don't be no, we were allowed to we're allowed to stay Chelsea, not you. Yeah, you're right, yeah.

unknown 13:56

You're right.

Nick 13:56

But you know, yeah, there's all this mad stuff. Like Hannibal, the Roman guy, Roman guy, the Roman Emperor, he walked elephants through Colchester and stuff, you know, it's enormous. Came on her chariot, chariot and like chopped her boob off and then like fired arrows at the Romans. Oh, messy.

SPEAKER_00 14:11

That's a new one, I didn't know that one. I know she had a showdown with the Romans in Eppin Forest, yeah. That's where she died, or something like that.

Nick 14:19

Mate, this I I think we need to make Essex the series, you know, it's gonna be like a 20-part series on HBO. Mate, soon come, soon come. It's gonna end up with Ollie Fetch, like being being like the king of Essex. Big God statue in Vas Vegas.

Lora 14:41

So can I ask then, Ollie? Um, because you look very young, don't mind me saying, um, what really made you get into this kind of stuff? Like to I know you just said you thought you'd try something different. So, how does a day of travelling work for you? Do you just get in your car and I'm doing something at random today, or do you do a bit of research before you go for a trip? Um how does it work?

SPEAKER_00 15:02

Well, I don't drive at the minute, okay. Rear-ended somewhere, so that's um Is that is that a ongoing legal case? Uh no, we're all good at it. Okay, we're gonna work at that out. It's being settled. No, you're alright, that's all settled.

Nick 15:11

Did you get any content out of it though?

SPEAKER_00 15:14

A little bit. He's on the back of a uh pickup truck, and I was like, oh yeah, that was a that was a sad day. Um so yeah, it's been public transport at the minute. And you're still doing it though. So yeah, of course, yeah, you've got a graft, you know what I mean? I love what I keep trying. Do you know what I'm saying?

Nick 15:28

Do you know what my mate said at the weekend? He said that he'll shoot anything on any day because it's like reps, right? Yeah, so like you've got your paid jobs, yeah, and then on your down days, you've just got to go and shoot stuff, and you've got you've got to be out doing things because it's reps, you're getting better, getting better.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

And the bet the best stuff just comes spontaneously, like just comes out of nowhere. Sometimes I'll just whip out, I'll just be walking through Basilden. I've done 100 videos in Basildon, but I'll film anyway. Um, I'll walk down the high street, and then something would happen, and I'll just film it and put it together and just documenting the culture and the life and the area, but um obviously back to what you said as well like planning the day. Majority of the days planning flipping transport, yeah, planning um the buses and that, and then we're running for a bar.

Lora 16:09

It's not that easy to travel around Essex and that's one thing as well.

SPEAKER_00 16:13

If you're planning on moving to Essex, maybe get a driving licence.

Nick 16:16

Yeah, but I I sort of like you started out because you put a video up, it was like growing up in Essex, so you were like filming yourself from really young.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

I know. It's mad that video was amazing. I'm so glad I did it. It's like it's sort of obviously we've got so long, we've got so far to go. Like, we've got the journey's just begun. I've only been doing like the the iPhone stuff since um the end of June, 30th of June, with my first video I posted. What last year?

Sangita 16:43

Yeah, oh amazing, I've got meat up for that.

Nick 16:45

I think I've been in since since the ground level then because I've been following, I feel like I've been following you for that long.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

Possibly, it might be a day one. Um but um yeah, where was what was we just talking about? Yeah, so you you were filming yourself when you were a kid, like what were you filming yourself on? Um anything I could get my hands on. I couldn't pay pay for high-end equipment. Do you know what I mean? I just wanted to film like playing out with my mates and just documenting life and stuff. Um I feel like I sort of not matured really young, but I sort of had an idea of what I wanted quite young. Yeah, didn't know what I was doing, obviously. Obviously, I didn't know what I was doing, but I just sort of winging it anyway. Um, so yeah, from literally about year six, like since I was like 10 years, I would have been filming stuff. That's mainly YouTube videos.

Nick 17:29

How would you get something when you were 10? What would you film on?

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Uh just like an iPad or not an iPad, I didn't even have that, but like um just anything. Like a little camcorder, flip out, and I'd just film that. Mate, I'd just beg my mum and dad for it. I'll be like, please gonna have it. I'm gonna, I'm gonna trust me, I'm gonna be somewhere with it, you know what I mean.

Nick 17:47

You like you felt like okay, this is my thing, this is what I really love, and I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_00 17:51

Yeah, yeah.

Nick 17:53

Mate, because I've got to say, your your stuff that you've got on not your Ollie Fatch channel, your actual videography and photography channel is brilliant.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

That's that's a whole news. Yeah, but like a different thing, as well.

Nick 18:03

To be 22 and be making stuff that high quality is incredible.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

No, I appreciate it a lot.

Nick 18:08

And the great and and that footage you got of you as a kid, the way you cut it and graded it now, honestly, it looked like some sort of like Hollywood secret. You know, like it made me feel emotional.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

Yeah, no, I've taken what I know now and sort of re-uh cycled my old stuff. I'm so glad that I kept it all in folders. Incredible, it's crazy. Like, obviously, there was a whole other time before like that section of video that you saw, I was like around 16 probably. There was a whole time before that, like I was doing stuff, but I just lost the I don't know where the footage is. Like, obviously, time goes on, doesn't it? Um, but I'm grateful I've got the footage that I got, and I can I've actually documented like stuff with friends, and like some friends in that video have moved away, I ain't seen them in like years, like absolute years. So it's good to have like those times on record and like I can look at them. Do you know what I mean?

Nick 18:56

I've got so many mini DV tapes, yeah, and I don't know what's on them, and I've got nothing to play on, playing them on and stuff. Like I think now like the everything's backing up in the cloud and stuff, people are lucky. But you know, you've got to be like back in the day, you had to be a fastidious archiver, yeah?

SPEAKER_00 19:10

Usually like the SD card protect like protected with my life, like um, but yeah, like I'm so thankful that I thought to do that, but I was sort of making YouTube videos at the time. Like, Instagram wasn't the big thing, TikTok was didn't even exist. Yeah, I think before TikTok was like musically, you know, all the all the girls dancing and all that. Um and then they I think TikTok bought it or something new owners or something, rebrand. But before that was all Instagram and YouTube, everyone wanted to be a YouTuber, uh so I was just filming loads of YouTube videos. Um you heard of like parkour and free range? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was into my flips and all my gym and that.

Nick 19:46

I saw you on I saw you on the ramp. Yeah, I had some backflips. That was one of our mates.

SPEAKER_00 19:50

Yeah, yeah. Um I I I mean, I ain't got a backflip now. Yeah, I could try, right? I mean we'll do it at the end, Sag gear, just call an ambulance. Maybe, maybe.

Nick 19:59

Um what I think's amazing about that though, it's like this cultural archive, you know, like it doesn't feel that important at the time, but you know, you could put that in the Essex Records office now and say this is what it was like to grow up in Essex in the early 2000s.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

Yeah, no, because I was saying to Jess the other day, um, when I was looking back at that footage of my old self, I was like, everything's actually like coming together. It's always like falling into place. Like the stuff that I did when I was younger without realising, it's benefiting me all now like so much than I can actually imagine. Yeah, yeah. Um this is what I say to my kids everything you do now, you'll have for life, right?

Nick 20:32

Anything you learn, anything you do, it's reps, reps, reps. You know, do things, experiment, have fun. Can you think, oh, I'm not learning anything from drawing that stick, man? Yeah, you're getting better at controlling your pen, everything.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

Literally, yeah, literally, every little thing that you do in life affects everything later on. Like all those nights where I was sitting there editing on crappy software, all sort of led up to sort of obviously I'm not where I want to be yet, but I'm led up to who I am now, and it's all sort of benefited me now. Like now I know basic things like how to edit, how to make a decent, engaging video, and that's the bit I guess I wanted to ask you.

Lora 21:06

When you learn how to do all of this, did you actually go to college for it or did you are you self-taught?

SPEAKER_00 21:10

No, I was just sitting in my room, yeah. Oh, I love that just come from watching other people and then it reflecting on you and you just doing it yourself.

Nick 21:19

That's what you are you are you seeing what's working as well, like when you're posting stuff, you're thinking like oh that worked, that hook worked, that that hood worked.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

Yeah, like I s I sort of look at things, but I sort of enjoy it anyway, so I try and black blank out the view count and stuff. It's hard when you get to a certain point.

Lora 21:36

Because it's like a job, right?

SPEAKER_00 21:37

Yeah, you want to maintain it, especially when you're starting to get paid from brands and people wanting you to promote stuff and they're expecting a certain engagement or pull from you posting it. Obviously, it's a bit of um what's the word, um, pressure to maintain the views. But um, and also when I make a really good video that I believe really deserves to do well, and I'm and I'm like, this really deserves to do well. I want people to actually see it and it doesn't do As well, and I'm like, it's a bit of a letdown.

Nick 22:02

It's crashing, isn't it? Yeah, but you can't rank it out. The algorithm is is so tough. I've made so many things in the past where I thought this one's gonna go viral and and then yeah, it's just crashing that it doesn't.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

I think it's so random, I think it's just random now.

Nick 22:15

Yeah, I had I've had 50 million views on a video once. Crazy, it's mad. That is crazy, it's mad, and then yeah, the next one be like 50,000, and it'd be like, What? Yeah, no, it's how how this one's better than the last one. Yeah, it's it's just it's kind of the luck.

Lora 22:30

Has that happened to you where you've produced something that you don't feel is great, but actually the outcome other people have just really of what you're talking about, your 50 million viewers.

Nick 22:40

You've always got to cut for yourself though, I think, anyway. And you've got to be your own critic, yeah, and then just always put out stuff and think that's the best I could possibly do.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

Yeah, yeah. And you're always gonna be like your biggest critic as well. I was gonna say you're gonna look at your stuff like sometimes I hate watching myself sometimes. I'm like, I'm tired of seeing this guy on the screen. Piss off. Um, especially when you're sitting there editing it for four years, like and then you post it and then you're watching it again, and it's like, oh mate, I'd listen to my voice like 24 hours a day.

Nick 23:06

You get over it though, don't you? A bit like I edit the podcast and stuff, and this podcast, and it's just like after a while, you just like get because at first you're like, you know, you think you're talking like that.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

No, because I was looking through, like, I was not thinking of things to say today, but I was sort of uh having a look through my old stuff to get a bit of a refresh on what I was doing. And I was looking at my old stuff, I was like, oh my god, cheer up, mate. Not cheer up, but like, God, your voice, like you're not putting on a voice, but you're just like, it ain't who you are, mate. I'm so glad you're getting better, yeah. 100% so much more like fluid in front of the camera, but um, yeah, you've got to think like with like running the business and that the camera stuff, I was not in front of the camera at all. But I always wanted to be like obviously I said to you earlier, I did drama GCSE. Um, so there's always a part of me that wants to sort of like have a bit of a not image, but like a bit of a presence in front of the camera as well as behind it. So I know what I'm doing.

Lora 23:59

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 23:59

Yeah, so I've got um a bit of both worlds going on.

Nick 24:07

I love that, and actually, you know, being a you've got to do self-promotion now as a like a a camera person, videos, photos behind the scenes pops off like more than the actual video or an actual photo a lot.

SPEAKER_00 24:19

Like you can't even like I say to my I've got so many mates that make music and stuff, and I'm I say to them all the time, like you you can't just be a good artist anymore, you can't just have a good song anymore, you've got to know you've got to be a marketing genius. Yes, like you've got to like it's it's ridiculous, but it's just how the how world how the world's um moved on these days or so how do you market yourself?

Lora 24:39

How do you like for your company as being the CEO, regardless of whether you've got it or whatever it's like, that's you. Yeah, how do you go about now getting all those brands to to commission you? How did that start for you?

SPEAKER_00 24:53

With the the actual camera stuff, like the the high quality, like advert style stuff, um like the production company, it was hard marketing, like getting jobs was so hard, and I think you've got to think a bit more outside the box in regards to that. But when you actually do social media, you pick up the phone, you start filming yourself, it's like a whole other stream of marketing in a way, it's marketing in itself, both accounts. So I sort of um like I've got a couple videos on my Oli Fatch stuff where I talk about um like my video and my photo and what I do, and I think that's sort of marketing in itself because people see that they've like people that watch me they know what I do as well. And then if brands reach out to me on the OliFatch page, I'll say, Oh, I do camera stuff as well if you're interested in that. And then if they hit me up on it's the business called O Visuals. Um so if they email me on that, I'll say, Oh, I also have a bit of a presence online with like the influence or yeah, man, more stuff. So if you like that, then I can do that as well. You know what I'm saying?

Nick 25:53

This is like laying multiple breadcrumbs, you know, and it's just like, oh, you came here for the O visuals? How about the Olifets?

SPEAKER_00 25:59

Yeah, so it's just it's business, and it's business.

Nick 26:02

I was gonna say versus oh man, feeding those feeding those feeds with content is like such I've got I've got like six Instagrams, and it's like oh it's exhausting.

Lora 26:12

I don't know how you do it because I've got one and I can't keep up.

Nick 26:15

No, it's exhausting. Yeah, let I've got five neglected Instagrams, I should say. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I've got one, I've got one loved Instagram. Yeah, that makes sense. You've just said like you did drama, right?

SPEAKER_00 26:29

Yeah.

Nick 26:30

I think I've seen you in the background of cash in hand acting. We we should talk about what cash in hand is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

But have you you've been acting in that as well? I was briefly in a nightclub scene. Did you see me in that? I don't know.

Nick 26:42

I thought I saw you have a hard hat on in the in the background of a shot or something.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

Not for that bit, unfortunately. But next next next time it comes around filming, yeah, may I um may I not have a role. So I don't know.

Nick 26:53

So Cash in Hand is this Essex comedy series?

SPEAKER_00 26:56

Essex-based TV show.

Nick 26:57

Yeah, yeah. Really?

SPEAKER_00 26:58

Where do I watch it? It's not out yet. Oh, it's not just they're in the editing phase right now. Okay.

Nick 27:04

Ollie's been there. He's involved. I've seen you of the improvised boom arm.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

That look heavy. That was like that was literally the biggest weight I think I've ever lifted above my head.

Nick 27:14

Well, I get it. Normally a boom arm's like carbon fibre, and Oli's there with like two metal poles strapped together. Like you're the ones that they use to like hold up studio lights.

Lora 27:22

Like the proper ones.

Nick 27:24

Yeah, or the walking studio light. Yeah, he got like a C is it a C-stand, isn't it? Yeah, just like over your head.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

So heavy. Yeah, I'd go gym that day.

Nick 27:33

But this this Cash in Hand looks really interesting. Um it's it's directed by Tommy, what's Tommy's surname? Tommy Davis. Tommy Davis, Tommy D, I know his Tommy D. Luxurious Thomas. Luxurious Thomas. Absolutely amazing. He does loads of really great music videos as well. He's done stuff for Rat Boy and um Softplay and some really cool bands like that. And and also it's got Sonny Green in it, Essex's poet laureate.

SPEAKER_00 27:55

Yeah, it's got Jude Moore, big up Jude Moore as well. He's from Basilden.

Nick 27:58

Yeah, yeah. Representing Basildon, big up Jude. And and it's sort of celebrating kind of like geyser hustle culture in Essex, right?

SPEAKER_00 28:05

And Alex Heyman, sorry. I know they've they might watching this, like big up Alex. Big up everyone involved, you know, you know.

Lora 28:11

Everyone that knows your Lee. So I big you.

Nick 28:13

I I back this, I back this on Kickstarter or whatever it was. See, I put some money in, so I hope to see my name.

SPEAKER_00 28:20

Very nice.

Nick 28:21

I don't know if I pay for that level. Did I pay for that level?

SPEAKER_00 28:23

I don't know. There was tears, weren't there?

Nick 28:26

Do you know what though? I just loved it. I was just like, come on, let's do let's promote Essex, you know.

Lora 28:30

Like that sounds really good.

Nick 28:32

And and the little they made this trailer and it was on a forklift truck with like the uh you know, like Sunny Green was on the forklift truck saying, like, back this Kickstarter and riding NLBMX's.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

I did really well, like the first initial um promo video it did really, really well. Um and everyone's been the Essex people have been backing it ever since, so it's been good. I'm sort of big. I'm part of like the crew. Um obviously I'm a bit behind the scenes to the other lot that know a bit more than me, but um, yeah, it's been a pleasure helping out and setting that. It's been good, yeah.

Nick 29:01

I feel like you know, you're part of this like South Essex movement that's going on at the moment. There's there's something to do I think. There's something happening, you know, like round like South End, Pitsy, Basildon, like that area. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Chelsea's got to catch up because you've you you've got this creative crew at the moment and you're doing amazing things.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

Yeah, yeah. I feel like we're all um we've got all types of people from all different areas of Essex and all sort of coming together, building this sort of movement, everyone's doing like their own thing. Yeah, I think this year it's time to just take it to the next level and just like really come together and just promote Essex, put us on the map, you know.

Nick 29:35

And and these guys are calling you in when they want to make some content as well. So you've been shooting for Sunny Green, yeah, who's probably like Essex's most viral person in the last year and a half. Yeah, probably. So he did he did um what's the poem called? Uh What uh Britain Means to Me. What England means to me. What England means to me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's brilliant. Yeah, he's brilliant. So so Ollie's been making videos with him. Yeah. Um, did you shoot any of his um poetry videos?

SPEAKER_00 30:03

Um, I've done some promo here and there. Yeah, yeah. Um he's posted quite a lot. I can even tell you what I've what I've done and what and you've been doing with his uh his music videos as well. Yeah, yeah, he's been doing yeah, I've been doing some stuff with him and that.

Nick 30:14

Um is it like 50p?

SPEAKER_00 30:15

What was it? I didn't film that one. I think Tommy filmed that. Tommy did that.

Nick 30:18

Oh, Tommy. Tommy D has he's got his fingers over.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

He has, he has, he has. Um, but yeah, nice. So cool to like just unlock all the it's like collecting infinity stones. It's like all these all these different people, and one day like it's really gonna pay off. I feel like Essex is gonna be like the hub of creativity, you know what I mean? And and the hub of just everything.

Lora 30:38

It's amazing he said that, right?

SPEAKER_00 30:39

Who's wearing the gauntlet though? What area we can share? I'll have it one week, the other doctor have it the other week.

Nick 30:46

But you know, like um that they've got um they've got a big studio, it's like side men film all their stuff in Essex now. There's like big big studios in Farrick, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:54

And there's stuff going on.

Nick 30:54

So I I think more and more film stuff and more and more TV stuff's coming over this way.

SPEAKER_00 30:58

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

Nick 30:59

Come on, man, we've got to be the kings of Essex.

SPEAKER_00 31:01

I think there's a big studio in Basoden, actually. It's got like a big underwater studio. They filmed like some big high production film there or something like that. Yeah, Basidon's got loads of little little gems actually.

Lora 31:12

Oh, we've got Basidon, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

Um there's T White Gold TV series called White Gold was filmed there.

Nick 31:19

That was great with James Buckley.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

Yeah. Um uh the other geyser, what's his name? Yeah, between us. Yeah, that's the one. Chance for boy. Yeah, yeah, Champs for Boy. Yeah, White Gold was pretty cool. Like, it's like you see um like all these buildings in the background and like the street, the street's still there, like walk down it all the time.

Nick 31:35

Do you get Baz Pride? Are you like you know?

SPEAKER_00 31:36

Yeah, 100%. Like, yeah. I mean, I'm trying, I feel like I'm trying to like bring that as well.

Lora 31:41

I was gonna say, did you always have Baz Pride? Or is it something that's really kicked in now that you're the artists?

SPEAKER_00 31:47

I was a little bit no, I'm joking. I like I w I was I don't know, I was alright. I was a bit naughty, but I still had respect for my elders and all that.

Lora 32:00

I guess what I'm not personally about you, because you always seem like a lovely young man. Yeah, of course. We love the cheeky chappies, but you've seen your town change for those years. But was you proud as you were little? Did you did you kind of think, yeah, I live in Baselton, I love this, and grown as you've got to know.

SPEAKER_00 32:20

Definitely grown, yeah. Everyone said, Oh, Basil's that.

Sangita 32:25

It's our size, mate, mate.

Nick 32:27

But you've got to try and if you think that you've got you've got to you can't move to a nicer place, you've got to try and make where you live better and more creative. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 32:34

True. And it is paying off. Like people actually do like these little younger lot, they actually do don't mind being from there so much now that they see the content and stuff like that.

Nick 32:44

Do they recognise you?

SPEAKER_00 32:46

Yeah. Are they like, Ollie? Yeah, it's pretty hot in Baseball. Oh, wicked. Like, it's all over Essex now.

Nick 32:52

Yeah, it's bad.

SPEAKER_00 32:53

It's pretty cool. Do you get that?

Nick 32:54

Do you get that people recognise you a lot of places when you go to? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do they try and give you free stuff in cafes and stuff? Yeah.

Lora 33:00

Oh mate, I want to go hang out with him once.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

Like, feels guilty though. Yeah, yeah. I'm just a regular geezer. I'm just a regular bloke, you know what I mean? Like, I don't know. I feel like because I've made videos such a young age, I've always lived this sort of online personality. I've always like been this online guy, I've just never got any traction from it. I've never I've always been posting videos online since I was like 10 years old. So what's that like 12 plus years? Yeah. With no one well feeling like no one's acknowledging it in a way, and now everyone's sort of acknowledging it. And people like you post the video and people will comment, oh, I'm first comment.

Sangita 33:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

And then and then people like acknowledging what you do, like even just like liking your story and just doing things like that. And do you get like a lot of suggestions? Like people are like, Oh, you got got you should go and check that out. Come come here, go here, I live here, come here. Like the best things is like when you get messages from people and they're like, Oh, I've I moved to Australia, but I was born in Baswiden. I love seeing your stuff, it's the coolest thing.

Lora 33:59

Well, I've just sent a shiver down my spine, and I don't even live in Bas Vegas. What a lovely feeling.

SPEAKER_00 34:04

No, it is it's actually amazing. Like, I mean, like you get people, like I just said, like people messaging me saying I moved to Australia. Um I'm moving back. Yeah, people are saying you're giving me um what's the word? Um homesickness. Yeah, you're making me homesick. Like who would ever thought that was about Basilda? About Basil.

Nick 34:23

Yeah, my brother my brother lives in Tokyo, and he gets homesick when he thinks about Essex as well. If he sees if he sees my garden or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 34:30

Yeah, because it there is no place like home really.

Nick 34:34

Has anyone asked for your autograph?

SPEAKER_00 34:37

Uh yeah, I've had a few, yeah. Younger ones. I was gonna say, I think younger ones.

Nick 34:42

For young for younger kids, like I think if you're big local, big locally, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 34:46

That's another thing as well. Like, that's a sort of another reason I was doing it as well. There was no one really about obviously there was Jude and there's there's people like Depeche Mode. Yes, straight out of Bazadden. Yeah, big up the pesh mode.

Nick 34:56

Mate, layer the Baz crown jewels, yeah. Well, apart from apart from Kay and the gang.

SPEAKER_00 35:00

Yeah. Now the name we're not allowed to say on this play one. That's true, that's true. Um, but yeah, there's there's there's some big people that are come out of Bazodon, but it's very few. And I sort of like don't not like oh I want to take the crown, but it's like I could be the pioneer of um really bigging up um Basildin and just Essex in general.

Nick 35:18

Do you know what? You and Sunny, I think you went on Radio Essex like uh last year or something, and you were having um a cook breakfast down in the Hive Cafe at the museum. Yeah, and I thought a bit of Starstruck as well. I was like, oh my god, they're in the Hive Cafe. I could just go down there and I'll be oh hi guys. Fancy seeing you here. Yeah, yeah. It's so exciting.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

That was a cold day. That was a cold day. It was snowing that day. It was snowing.

Nick 35:43

Yeah, good fry-up, though.

SPEAKER_00 35:44

Yeah, no, it's nice. It was nice. Nice little place in there. We love it. Hey, but posh actually is a little bit. I know you like the breaky's alright. I'm used to your honeywell. What's it your honeywell? What's it called?

Nick 35:56

Honeywells.

SPEAKER_00 35:57

Honeywood sandwich. Honeywood sandwich. Big up honeywood sandwich. Hey, I think allegedly, allegedly, I've been told it's honeywoods. Is that right? Is it actually honeywoods or?

unknown 36:05

I don't know.

Nick 36:06

She called oh, is that what the posh people say? Honeywoods. That's what North Essex say. Honeywoods.

SPEAKER_00 36:11

South, haven't we? We say honeywoods. I mean, we don't even pronounce that.

Nick 36:15

Paul Le H down. Let's get rid of the T's and the H's. All T's and H's.

SPEAKER_00 36:19

Let's go Honeywood Sammy.

Lora 36:20

Skull Honeywood. Yeah. We want a bit of Honeywood. We want Honeywood. I like that.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

That's a lovely place that is.

Nick 36:26

Apart from um apart from Bas Vegas, where's the best place you've been in Essex?

SPEAKER_00 36:32

I haven't explored the north as much.

Sangita 36:36

I need to venture around because of the car thing.

SPEAKER_00 36:39

Yeah, man, you need mainly.

Nick 36:40

You need to have a look. I'm I'm from Colchester. You need to have a look around Colchester. Oh, 100%. That's that's like probably top of the list at the minute. There's so much good Roman stuff there. Oh yeah, 100%.

Lora 36:49

But it's also really, really um popping up there now. Ever since they've got their city status, um, they're doing some really nice creative stuff.

Nick 36:57

Mate, Project Lando, like Art of La Roads, Project Lando, there's so much cool stuff going on there, there's good venues, you've got first sight, you've got mineries, you've got cultural arts centre. Absolutely. Light's a good stuff.

SPEAKER_00 37:09

Jumbo the first village in England, wasn't it?

Nick 37:11

First first town. First town in England. And and and now it's what we call a pity city. Not a real city, but it's been given city status. That's South End. And yeah, South End's a pity city, and Chelsea's a pity city as well. We don't really have any real cities in um Essex.

SPEAKER_00 37:26

It's not do you know it's not a city, is it? Well, this is the thing.

Lora 37:29

I feel like I was driving yesterday and it was around about nine, ten o'clock, and I was with some young people, and I looked at our city at our time, and it was dead. Yeah, there was hardly any cars, and I'm like, how did we get this status?

Nick 37:44

It's because we lost jukes. Ah, could be bring jukes back, bring jukes back.

Lora 37:48

I've never been there, but I want to go, so recreate jukes, please.

Nick 37:51

Yeah, probably about half of the people in Essex your age were like conceived of jukes.

Lora 37:57

Oh god, block you here, guys. And that was novel.

Nick 38:01

No, no, yeah, and seriously, everyone from Essex would all come together. Like everyone from culture would go to Jukes. Yeah. Jukes was hot.

Lora 38:08

Yeah, I remember the first year I moved here, and unbeknownst to me, I'd never heard of Jukes. But oh my god, the men in my life. My old man and his mate, are you moving up Chumpsford? Yeah, we can come and sleep though, we can go Jukes. I was like, We're with. Then when I found out, I was like, mmm, it-computer says no, doors locked.

Nick 38:32

Have you been to Vange? I've been to Vange many times. Vang. Have you ready to content there? Because I feel like just that would go viral just for the name.

SPEAKER_00 38:41

Like I haven't like specifically highlighted it, but I've done stuff in the world. I think you need to go to Vanger. 100%, 100% will.

Nick 38:47

Can I cut can I commission that?

SPEAKER_00 38:49

Yes, absolutely.

Nick 38:50

Go to Vang. I don't think Man About Country went to Vonge.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

I don't think I think he avoids it. That's what I'm saying, didn't he? I think he's a bit more of a country. Country enough.

Nick 38:59

No, no, no, no, no. No, he went pretty he went proper dirty. He didn't go he'd got the docks and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 39:04

Alright, yeah, yeah, yeah. He needs to come bazadin. Yeah. I'll walk him around the uh uh the Craylands estate or something. You should do that. Oh, hang on.

Nick 39:12

I've done work at Craylands. This is the collab that the world needs. Yeah, for real. Oli Fetch, man about country, together.

SPEAKER_00 39:19

Yeah, no, we should make that up.

Nick 39:21

I would like to see how exhausted James would look at the end of that. Spending a day walking around Baz.

SPEAKER_00 39:29

No, literally. No, I'm not sure.

Lora 39:31

I wouldn't mind coming, actually. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:34

We should do like a in real life like podcast or something like that.

Lora 39:37

We done our first outdoor one with Man About Country, and it was brilliant. It was so good, wasn't it? It was really fun. It really was fun.

Nick 39:45

And you know, like because I I saw you walking around um Southwood and Ferris the other day. Yeah. And you were saying, Oh, oh, in a video.

SPEAKER_00 39:52

Yeah, in the video, yeah.

Nick 39:54

No, not in writ not in person. I would have shout!

SPEAKER_00 39:56

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nick 39:56

Um I saw you walking around and you were saying, Oh, it's a bit like Harry Potter and stuff here, right? Yeah, no, it is. And you were discovering stuff. I've got an amazing fact for you. So Asda at Southwood and Ferris, do you know this fact about the architecture?

SPEAKER_00 40:12

Yeah, like the tower thing.

Nick 40:13

Yeah, so like when they were building Southwood and Ferris, the architects in the uh 70s or 80s, they were they had to make it look like barns to be sympathetic to the to the to the rural to the rural area, right? So Asda there was the first ever supermarket that looked like that. No. And then every other supermarket in the country copied that Asda. So that Asda was the first one designed to look like a barn. Because you know, like when you go to other countries, they just have big square glass boxes, and we've got these barns with little clock towels and stuff. South Woodham Ferris. I'm gonna look at that as a it was the OG. That was the original the OG supermarket, the one that everyone else has copied.

Lora 40:52

I actually work in the school attached to that as dark. So next time I go down to South Woodham, I will be looking at Asda's.

Nick 40:59

Yeah, you should do. And just think what an architectural marvel it is. Let's have a blue plaque on it.

Lora 41:03

Oh wow.

Nick 41:04

Yeah, so I'm I that's gonna pop up. No, they should do, they should do Sangita. Oh, they should have to do that. They should do, they should do.

SPEAKER_00 41:13

Um yeah, remember you saying my my favourite place in Essex?

Nick 41:17

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:18

And then I got distracted by uh the fact I ain't never I ain't explored the north yet. Um, but Rayleigh was a surprise. Yeah? Oh yeah, what's happening in Rayleigh?

Lora 41:26

What do you like about Rayleigh?

SPEAKER_00 41:27

I don't know, it's just like the high street's really lively, especially when the sun's out. Like it's just everything going on.

Lora 41:32

Somebody else has said that, and I find it.

Nick 41:35

Well, like beard is lively, or just like people walking around in a given.

SPEAKER_00 41:39

Walking around doing all sorts of things, like you look to your right, there's someone digging and building down there, some old ladies having a coffee outside, you go there, some bloke's playing guitar, you go over there, someone's walking their dog, like it's just like and everything's open, like as a thing with high streets recently, everything's shut, isn't it? Yeah, that's everything's shutting is so true.

Nick 41:56

Actually, this is really interesting, right? So if you go around a lot of places in the country, right, everything's getting homogenised. Yeah, right. You go down the high streets, every high street's the same. But I feel like when you go around some of these Essex High Streets, you've got different shops, and even if it's boarded up and stuff, it's places still have their own character.

SPEAKER_00 42:13

Yeah, yeah.

Nick 42:13

I think that Chelsea's quite homogenised, but a lot of these places other places you're looking at, like Rayleigh, feels a bit more independent, like a bit. Leon C. Yeah, Leon C's good, yeah, independent businesses. Yeah, there's tons of them.

SPEAKER_00 42:25

I feel like Leon C is quite a quirky little little town, it's quite a close like community there as well. Everyone sort of knows everyone. Um yeah, like it, Leoncy.

Nick 42:33

Yeah, Juno, the skate shop and coffee shop there's wicked as well. I love the skate skate park down at Leon C as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I feel you know, it's I guess it's like the it's sort of like the people that give town these towns in Essex and stuff like their own spirit and things in don't.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

100%, yeah. I don't think Essex would be what it what it is about the people. No, 100%.

Nick 42:51

I did this mad thing, right? Like before Christmas, I walked around the whole of Chelmsford in one day. I went to get every cost of coffee in Chelmsford, like there are 37 of them or something. And so bouncing off the walls after that was like but what was mad was to walk around, you know, no one would ever walk around the whole city in one day. Yeah, no, and talking to people and like experiencing like what different areas felt like. I just loved it. It was so mad like to to realise like how different all these different areas of Chelmsford were. Yeah, exactly. And how some areas were a bit more friendly than other areas, and yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 43:21

You sort of see it for yourself, like with your own eye.

Nick 43:23

Yeah, I'll tell you what, Melbourne, so friendly. Big up yourselves at Melbourne. It was so good.

Lora 43:28

You take them in.

Nick 43:29

No, I had the best banter, I had all the best chats in Melbourne, and then when I was up at channels, you know, they bit up themselves.

Lora 43:35

Oh, you see?

Nick 43:36

Yeah, apart from apart from your lovely relative.

Lora 43:38

No, no, no, well, yeah, well, he worked in Acostas. I know, yeah, yeah.

Nick 43:41

Yeah, he he he tried to disappear in the back when I came here. I I saw him. But being but I think that's so interesting, like you know, going out and talking to people, and you must get that experience now that people recognise you. Want to come up and have a chat.

SPEAKER_00 43:53

Yeah, yeah, no, it does help when you want to like do interviews and that.

Lora 43:58

Do you ever get um People kind of say, like, what are you doing here? Or did you think that they might some of the locals, you're like where you're filming, or you might be talking, they think that you're up to something.

Nick 44:10

Or are they probably? Well, because of what he looks like.

Lora 44:13

No, but you know, like you're you're filming a cafe or a or yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:17

That's what I'm saying. Like, and it leads back to the whole reason I'm doing it. It's just ain't been done, is it? Yeah, that's sort of that's a gap. And and like obviously, if you go London, you see people, you see a thousand people filming themselves and setting up tripods, but when you're like in like a rural town in Essex, you're seeing some young gee, like young bloke going around like that. It's like, what on earth is he doing? Like, especially with all these old older, older old people. Yeah, like especially with these little villages, it's all just like little little old ladies and just do gardening every day.

Nick 44:46

There's a high energy hoodie over there talking talking to himself.

SPEAKER_00 44:49

Yeah, like like even in South Woodham, like I will I can't even walk walk up the street wearing a hood without people, someone thinking I'm like shotting or something.

Lora 44:57

Yeah, you're about to muck them or you're gonna shot, yeah.

Nick 45:01

I love that, but you know, like in now, like we're looking, you know, imagine like in 20 years' time when you go back and look at your footage and stuff and think like, oh look at that, look how much Essex has changed. Oh my Honeywoods or what Honeywoods is is is still there, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:14

I don't know. But just like documenting the cut documenting everything as well before everything changes, like that's a big thing actually. That is so true. And it is, and it's like I feel like it's my sort of duty to document it, even if people don't really care. I'm sort of But you care, I care, yeah.

Nick 45:33

It's like a video time capsule, but but people don't realise what they're gonna care about now. Yes, and it's really funny when you look at photos from like 20 years ago, yeah, all the houses are always the same, but the cars are different, yeah, and you're like, oh my god, it look I didn't even notice the cars changing. Yeah, yeah, that's true. If if anyone else thinks, oh, I want to go out and make some content, Ollie's making it look so easy and fun. What's your kit that you take out when you're shooting in the street? Phone. Just a phone.

SPEAKER_00 46:01

Power bank. Yeah, power bank.

Nick 46:03

Wow, I love this guy.

SPEAKER_00 46:04

Yeah, he's essential.

Nick 46:06

No, no mic or anything like that. You're just shooting straight out.

SPEAKER_00 46:09

I'll carry a mic, yeah, just in case. Because I've got like different types of videos that I do. So I've got like uh niche towns, interviews in Essex, food reviews, yeah, yeah. Uh well highlight like a little business or something, um, like selling food or whatever they're doing. Yeah, sweet and sour chicken is your biggest chicken. I knew that was gonna happen. Is he your biggest spiral? Uh my biggest one. Is he your biggest spiral hit?

Nick 46:32

Is he like sweet and sour guy?

SPEAKER_00 46:34

Not quite.

Nick 46:34

No.

SPEAKER_00 46:35

There's a little bloke in Baltimore called Lewis, he's like this little ball bloke. He's gone now, I don't know where he's gone, but he was he used to used to shout and sing in town. I I asked him a few questions once.

Nick 46:44

So you're taking your mic out there. What have you got like a zoom filled recorder or something?

SPEAKER_00 46:48

Um what with the mic? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I literally it's literally just off TikTok shot. Really? It plugs into your phone. You plug the uh transmitter or whatever it is into the into your uh where you charge your phone, you turn the mic on and you can see.

Nick 46:59

So listen, people, listen, people, minimal, minimal viable product.

SPEAKER_00 47:03

You can make videos as cool as Oli. I used to think so much when I was younger, like, I need all this equipment, I can't procrastinating to the extreme. Like, I can't take that job until I've but you know, like the amount not the amount of jobs, but that I can name a few jobs where I've hired a camera that day, yeah, and I'm behind the scenes figuring out how to use it, and then I'm a ten minutes later I'm actually shooting for a paying client and I'm like, shot, what do I do? But it worked out and it's fine, but stuff like that that rebuilds character, doesn't it?

Nick 47:33

Mate, I I borrowed Adam's A7 uh here, like is and and I was just like, Oh mate, there's too many switches and buttons on it. I just got my phone out and filmed on my phone instead because I felt overwhelmed.

SPEAKER_00 47:43

I went and it was the A7S that I had.

Nick 47:45

Yeah, A7S. Mate, I wasn't a tutorial. It's like driving a steam train, there's like no or flying an airplane, it's like yeah, there's too many.

SPEAKER_00 47:52

And I was it was like this tiny little setting that I was just adjusting the aperture or something, and I was literally in the middle of the street in London, like buses like I'm just looking at YouTube, this tutorial holding it against my ear.

Nick 48:04

Like, how do I change this setting? Sometimes you don't have time though. Like you you've just got to be like, it's like we had a guest uh photographer before, and he said the best camera is the camera you've got with you at the time, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:13

And sometimes it's like double click on the button, you're filming, right? Especially these days with phones. Like, I don't think it's um necessarily to do with quality as well. It depends what you're really trying to capture yourself. Like, if you like, I like a bit of grain, like I like a bit of perfect, I like my stuff is um like perfectly imperfect. Yes. That's how I put it. So I love a good shot that's nice and sharp and that, but um, if it's got a bit of grain or a bit of blur or bit of rubbish in the background, I don't really care. It's just I love it. I love it when I like it when someone's going to the camera. Yeah, it's real, but I like it when someone's in the moment in their emotion, how they are.

Nick 48:48

You can you can really lose the moment sometimes when you're fiddling with settings and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 48:52

And another thing as well, what it's difficult with the iPhone stuff. I feel like I've been going a bit back and forth with the camera and then like what I actually, but it's a bit of a blend between the two, anyway.

Nick 49:02

It's so much easier to shoot on your phone these days, and um like you just people don't freak out as well, because you know when you've got a big lens, people start acting like they're on TV or something.

SPEAKER_00 49:09

Yes, that's what I was gonna say. Sorry, before I for because I literally just forgot what I was gonna say. It's so much easier going up to people in the moment and you get their raw reaction, but it's hard because you want sort of their permission to film and record. Yeah, people are all down for a chat, but when it when you get whipped the phone out, they're like, Oh no, sorry, mate. Another day, catch me on another day if I see you, I'll do it. And then um, but it's so much more authentic because I go up to people and I'm like, Do you want to get in a video? I just want to talk about Essex, I want to talk about the where we are right now and and and stuff like that. They talk and they talk, and it's what I want to capture on on recording. I'm like, you just need to say that on the film, but they're like, No, no, no, I don't want to do it. But what they're saying in that initial first interaction is what I want to capture. Um Gotta get your meta glasses on as well, then yes, maybe something like that.

Nick 49:57

Oh no, no, no, that's not like there's too much stuff in the news about that, like people filming without asking permission.

SPEAKER_00 50:01

True, yeah. Um, but yeah, the first initial reaction off camera is so much better sometimes than people that want to be on camera.

Nick 50:08

Um I find like sometimes you know, if you've got a camera on your face or something, you're putting like a barrier in between you and the other person's like your interaction as well. Like when people are just used to having a phone.

SPEAKER_00 50:16

Yeah, yeah. But I feel like yeah, like when they see the phone, it's just different. I feel like we all become different people in a way. Sometimes it depends if you're comfortable on camera or not. But yeah, when I initially first talk to them, I'm like, you just literally need to say that on camera. That's all you need to say, like that's perfect what you were saying. Just say it again, yeah. Just say that again, and sometimes it might be not as authentic or um, yeah, but uh you might have to redo it or something, but sometimes they're just not up for it. But you do get the the person that are really down for it, and they really get and it's hard like approaching people, like the interview thing, and trying to tell them everything that you're trying to do, yeah, and everything that you're trying to do it for, and you it's hard to prove it to someone, be like, I'm really trying to do this for Essex, like this is a really positive thing, but they can't see that in the moment in that first five seconds of this get this bloke coming up to you, being like, didn't get my video now.

Nick 51:04

You're famous, it shouldn't shouldn't matter. Oh people should run over and want to be in the uh do you know what love I've I've noticed in a lot of your videos that Jess pops up as well and she's like often running out. Jess is here today. Sitting running running out of shot or getting made to hold the phone while you're doing something.

SPEAKER_00 51:22

Yeah, yeah, she's my camera woman a lot. Very often, but I like that. She's like your sidekick for like exploring Essex, yeah, literally, and then obviously I help her out with her stuff as well. She's got her fashion year 2K, she's trying to bring back the year 2000. Come on! Let's do it. So, if there's any girls out there that want to get into their bring back the year 2000 fashion, they're into their um classic year 2k films and all that and all the girly stuff. What's what's Jess's handle? Uh at Jessica Joan Louise on TikTok and Instagram.

Nick 51:49

Uh so yeah, if you're into your fashion and nice, and that and that's so you so you're at you you guys are like a content machine, so you're out and and um Jess, you're out hang on, Jess is I'm talking to Jess now, she's in the studio. Yeah, she's she's busy, is it? You're you're out in the um sort of secondhand shops, like looking at Y2K clothes and stuff, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:07

Even even she's trying to bring back the whole because I when I was young guys, I I grew up on charity shops and secondhand hand me down the loads and that. Hey, come on, please. But we weren't broke, but we weren't poor either. We weren't broke, but we were no means rich at all. So I grew up on the charity shops and I was sort of ashamed of it back in the day. My mum would be like, come, let's go look look in a charity shop, uh, or let's go, you know, get you a pair of shorts or well. I don't know how it went down back then. Um, let's get you a pair of shorts. Or some of that. Let's have a look in a charity shop. That's just how it was. And like I sort of like a little keep your head down. I don't want to don't want no one to see me going to charity shop.

Nick 52:43

Mate, now vintage, you want to get some vintage in vange. It's all about second of 1G. It really is, it really is.

SPEAKER_00 52:49

And it's all about sustainability and that's these days.

Nick 52:52

So Matt Love, our previous guest, has a pre-loved store in Brightonsea. You should go and have a look at that Brightoning Sea's banging at the moment as well. Good love presents. Yeah, it should be.

SPEAKER_00 53:03

I'll go and visit. We gotta wrap up. 100%. Shout out to everyone in Bazadon. Shout out to all my people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh let's name a few. Uh we've got Jude Moore, shout out to Sonny Green, um, Slims, T T Marley, Pee-Wee, um, who else we got?

Nick 53:25

You're just making up you're just making up names now, aren't you?

SPEAKER_00 53:27

No, no, trust me, they are my these are these are my people, these are my people. Um if I forgot you, I'm really sorry, but we'll dab it in later.

Nick 53:35

I'll get on 11 Labs. I'll get on 11 labs and clone his voice and put more names in.

SPEAKER_00 53:39

I'll send you a voice note. I'll get a voice note later.

Nick 53:41

Alright, and uh do you want to thank anyone else like Oscar's? Uh shout out to my mum.

Sangita 53:45

I love that! Big up, big up mum. Big up my dog, Stan.

Nick 53:48

I've got to say, like, you know, big up your parents for getting you a camera, letting you use the camera when you're 10. Yeah, yeah. That's nuts, man. So good. Look at look at look at what you've created.

SPEAKER_00 53:56

Absolutely.

Nick 53:57

The pride of Essex. Yeah, yeah. The Essex Tourism Board. Love it.

SPEAKER_00 54:00

We're gonna keep we're gonna keep going. Yeah, mate. We're by no means at the final.

Nick 54:04

What is your ambition though? Like, you know, like because you're 22 now. Yeah. Where do you want to be when you're 30?

SPEAKER_00 54:10

Loads of land in Essex. I want loads of land. I want a creative studio like this. I want a basketball court, I want a 5G astro, I want a nice house, I want chickens and that. I just want a nice little corner in in Essex. I think I'm gonna probably gonna stay in Essex. Like, depends how successful it is. I love a couple houses everywhere. You never know.

Nick 54:30

But the main little s aside from your uh material possessions, creatively creatively, creatively, where where what you know, what are your ambitions?

SPEAKER_00 54:38

Where do you want to build yourself up to? Um, maybe on a less personal thing, doing stuff more for the community, yes, putting Essex on the map, really creating a sort of um creative hub for creative people to come along. It'll be cool to have like a big factory or something where everyone can come in and just you know do what they need to do. Oh mate, listen. That's what's sick.

Nick 54:58

I say like creativity should be like Robin Hood, right? You're taking some money from the big brands and then you're helping people in the community do other stuff. Exactly. Let's do that, man. 100%. I mean Fatch Studios with an F.

SPEAKER_00 55:07

Let's just do it. Any investors in uh they just need some fun. Let's do it.

Nick 55:11

Yeah, well catch Cashing Hand's gonna pop off, so we'll uh we'll get some money off of that. Yeah, Wicked Sankey, what a great guest! Oh, amazing. Thank you very much for having me. I appreciate it. I've got your podcast.

SPEAKER_00 55:22

My podcast virginity. You smashed it, it's really good. I was gonna say who's got the shots. Who's got the Zambukas?

Nick 55:28

Oh, this is what we should have done. I think you remember. We'll have we'll have an after party later on.

Lora 55:36

We'll have to.

Nick 55:37

Um, thanks, San Gator. Thanks for coming along.

Lora 55:39

Oh, thank you, Nick.

Nick 55:41

I do you know what? I've I've actually like I've been inspired all the way because I was watching his content and I thought I've got to cut faster. So actually, like I've been doing videos for a long time, and I watched your stuff and I was like, I'm gonna cut faster, so I'm being like a bit more Ollie myself and be.

SPEAKER_00 55:56

Sorry, you've got to think as well, people got that the attention span. Like as years go on, the attention span is just going down. You've got people got to keep people intrigued at 24-7.

Nick 56:06

Social media is mega ADHD, man.

SPEAKER_00 56:07

Like you've got just gotta keep bam, bam, bam, bam, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut.

Nick 56:11

Don't even finish the word. Cut yeah, literally. All right big up, Lorca Media Studios. Whoa, whoa! The absolute legend. He is a legend. Um, you can follow us on at our.u.creative.podcast. Hey, quite a few people have told me they've been listening, which recently, which is really, really cool. Yep. Our listener numbers are going up, especially because we had a superstar guest before. Well, you did. Mr. K. You can't say his full name because we're keeping it clean. Um, and I think that's it. Ollie, do you have any sort of like um catchphrase or anything you say you're gonna do videos? Not really. I'm not not not yet.

SPEAKER_00 56:41

Unless your tea will come naturally. It will come naturally as well. It will come naturally as well, yeah. Uh definitely Bosch. Um, I'll just rob that one. Yeah, go ahead. Shout out, big J. Big up, yeah. Big up