interviews
Daxflame Recaps His Early Rise As One Of YouTube's Top Content Creators And What His Plans Are For The Year Ahead
hen YouTube launched in 2005, the platform began attracting content creators in droves, but the early years were drastically different in terms of what this content looked like compared to today’s YouTube. In 2007, a young YouTuber by the name of Madison began initially posting his vlogs and comedy sketches under the pseudonym “Daxflame” and would go on to become one of the most popular creators on the platform. Eventually reaching the top 20 of all YouTubers, Dax then took a brief hiatus from the platform and starred in many notable films, such as Project X and 21 Jump Street, before returning in 2014 and expanding his channel’s content into a wide array of sketches, game shows and more. With big plans for 2021, we decided to sit down with him to hear more about his captivating story and see what he’s been up to lately.
Q: Welcome, Dax. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us. I’d like to start off by having you introduce yourself a bit for those who aren’t familiar with your content and history.
A: Hi, I’m Dax Flame. Many people know me from the “Diary 30: Superman is coming to school/Humiliation” meme! I began making YouTube videos in 2007 and quickly shot up to 16th most subscribed, then later was in Project X and 21 Jump Street. Nowadays, I host the game show “Smoothie Madness” in addition to pursuing one million subscribers on YouTube.
Q: You’ve got quite a well-known background on YouTube tracing back to 2007, but I wanna get some context on your childhood and how you got your start online before then. So how’d you initially get started on the internet, and what were some of your earliest online experiences that shaped your older content?
A: I was a very sweet kid who sometimes didn’t know what to do socially, but I tried my best to meet people and was immediately drawn to YouTube when I found out about it.
Q: You launched your YouTube channel in January 2007 and uploaded the first video, “My First Video Diary Entry,” a day later. Can you tell us more about the original concept or purpose for the channel and why you created it?
A: I simply wanted to express myself and find a community, and when I found out about video blogging, I was immediately drawn to it and began to film myself. I had no clue of the big, incredible things this would later lead to.
Q: The “Last Blog Ever” video was the first on your channel to hit a million views, uploaded shortly after the earliest one. How’d you react to seeing it break one million views, and what made it a viral hit in your opinion?
A: I couldn’t believe it. It was amazing. I remember thinking, “One million people are looking at me. They can see me even though I can’t see them.” It was an exciting time!
Q: That same year, your content went viral in a short amount of time and you were the 16th-most-subscribed channel on YouTube at just 15 years old. What did you make of that early success and why do you think it became so popular?
A: Because people related to me. They were like, “I see a lot of myself in this person. I used to embarrass myself back when I was that age, and I’ve experienced similar frustrations and whatnot.”
Q: You had a four-year break from YouTube between 2010 and 2014 when you also appeared in several movies such as Project X, 21 Jump Street and The Watch. Can you tell us more about those experiences of being featured in major films, as well as why you took a hiatus from the platform during that timeframe?
A: I then became more interested in movies than YouTube: movies and writing! It was so fun being in the movies. I was sort of like a sponge on set, taking everything in, and that’s why I’m able to make more professional videos/game shows and whatnot these days because I had such lucky learning experiences back then!
Q: Around that time when you began creating content again on your channel, you also published your first book I'm Just Sitting on a Fence: The secrets of life. What prompted you to write a book, and how was it received? Could you also share some about your most recent book, Ice Cream Man, from 2019?
A: I wrote the first book because I wanted to write a self-help book and wanted to help people. I’m always trying to offer help. I also just wanted to share stories from my life, so I turned it into a “Self-Help Memoir,” which had never been done before. People really liked it! In the end, what I initially set out to write transformed into something else, but I think it accomplished some things I wanted it to (i.e. offering help and inspiration).
And Ice Cream Man is not exactly my most recent book. It’s the second book in my memoir trilogy. It’s about my time working at an ice cream shop. I wrote it much faster than my first book, but it’s my most popular one because iDubbbz adapted it into a documentary! My most recent book is Dax Flame’s Guide to Making Money as an Influencer. It’s more of a memoir than a guidebook though. My first book required the most effort!
Q: You’ve clearly put a lot of heart and soul into “Smoothie Madness,” somewhat of a dream project for you, and the show has grown a dedicated fan base. What is the biggest challenge with shooting a game show like this on YouTube, and what’s been your favorite part of the experience so far?
A: I love Smoothie Madness. It’s my passion these days. The most difficult part is that I lose $400-plus each episode! I don’t want to lose any more money making it, but for the episode we shot yesterday, I had my first ever brand deal! So I had all the expenses covered, which is amazing, such a big accomplishment! Patreon doesn’t yet fully cover it, so hopefully, the brand deal keeps going (a popular YouTuber with a coffee brand sponsored us … very exciting collaboration). The only other hard part is coordinating sooo many different people’s schedules and finding the right location during COVID, but it’s all super worth it because I love it so much!
Q: Could you share some of your creative process with us? How do you come up with new ideas for your content to keep things fresh and interesting, especially since you’ve been doing it for so long?
A: Thank you! I don’t know any other way to come up with ideas other than sitting and thinking, “Hmm … what would be a positive and fun sorta video to make today that could also be sorta popular?” But honestly, I think the best ideas pop into my head unexpectedly.
Q: Although you first joined YouTube back in the day when it was one of the few video-hosting platforms available, you’ve stuck with it since then as your platform of choice. Why is YouTube the primary focus for you, and what are some of the biggest positives or negatives of the community you’ve noticed?
A: My Hollywood career fell apart eventually, and YouTube is so fun because you can do whatever you want. There are no negatives about the community that I know about.
Q: It’s been about six months and 5.3 million views since iDubbbz “Ice Cream Man” documentary dropped on YouTube. What was the experience of being a documentary subject like, and how did the whole thing come about? Did its success have any significant effects on your life or career?
A: After it came out, I was pumped. It allowed me to start making my game show, so that has been my focus for the past six months. My gameshow sorta spreads a healthy and positive message and is so fun to make. Ian (iDubbbzTV) is a super nice person, and I was so thrilled to shoot the documentary with him. Filming stuff is just fun.
Q: You recently challenged yourself to reach a million subscribers by the end of 2021, otherwise deleting all your social media accounts. What prompted you to do this, and how is the journey going so far? Are you worried about the possible outcome?
A: I didn’t say I’d delete all of my social media accounts, just YouTube. But that’s not going to happen because I’ll reach one million. This was prompted by my desire to grow and spread my positive message further, and if I have a million subscribers, I’ll easily be able to make "Smoothie Madness" without losing money, plus it’ll very likely lead to movie acting opportunities. But ultimately, it’s just a way to keep myself incredibly motivated by creating unbearable consequences.
Q: Aside from YouTube, you’ve also been finding success on TikTok as of late, and had a number of videos go viral on the platform. What do you like about TikTok as opposed to YouTube, and can you see yourself sticking around on the platform long-term?
A: I’m doing incredibly well on TikTok, I’m not sure why. It’s quite fun though! What I like about it is that sometimes a video just goes viral out of nowhere, which doesn’t happen so much on YouTube. But I don’t like how short the vids are.
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/6922574865115417862
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/6916962644805029126
Q: So what else is going on these days for you? What sort of projects and things do you have going on that we should know about?
A: Nothing else is going on. Just the journey to one million subscribers. Absolute focus.
Q: Care to share with us some of your favorite memes? Do you ever create memes of your own? What about those depicting yourself? How often do you see your image in a meme, and how do you react to those?
A: I like when people make memes about me because then more people will watch my videos and whatnot. My favorite meme … I just like cute animal videos and TikToks. I don’t know if I have a “go-to meme.” I am trying to become more internet literate though.
Q: Before we end this, I’d like to know about something you’ve probably been asked a hundred times, but remains a frequent curiosity by many. So, because it’s such a common thing for YouTubers or other internet personalities to have a “persona” that they use for their content, how much of your on-camera work is just your natural self vs. a character? Is this something you did more so in the past with older content or has it simply evolved over time?
A: Everything is my natural self.
Q: Any final word or additional info to close out on?
A: Thank you for interviewing me! I look forward to doing another interview at the end of the year to update everyone on the journey!
Madison, better known as Daxflame, is a content creator on YouTube and TikTok, as well as a published author. You can follow him on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Twitter to check out all of his content or find more on his website at Daxflame.com.
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