There's something infectious about Sam Carr's laugh; if I made a bad joke or sarcastic comment, he'd laugh, then I'd laugh. We'd originally wanted to sit down and talk about his channel, how he got his start on YouTube, and his inspirations and goals, but we spent two hours talking about everything else (from music to traveling to life in general). The 20-year old British student and filmmaker grew up close to London and is grateful for the accessibility he has had to the city. "I've visited it loads for many different reasons and every single time I end up finding somewhere new that I haven't explored before, even though I'm usually there a lot of the time now for university," he says.
"I have the biggest love for traveling, I just love exploring somewhere new and seeing what the world is really like and it's definitely something that I aim to do a lot more of as I get older." -- Sam Carr
Sam explains that he takes his camera everywhere just in case something worth capturing catches his eye. He adds that YouTube holds a special place in his heart because of how many close friends he has made through the platform. "It constantly amazes me how talented they all are," he says. "They've all got channels and upload videos regularly so it's such an amazing way to see what they're up to."
A media and communications student, Sam has just completed his first semester of university. Although he didn't originally want to go to university, he says he is glad he did. His course combines film, photography, and different mediums--all subjects he is passionate about. When asked how he got his start on YouTube, he tells a story of how he has always wanted to start a channel, but also wanted to wait for the right time.
"When I was younger I used to make silly videos playing with my toys, creating stories with them. I also used to love going on families holidays and playing around with my dad's video recorder, I've always loved playing with cameras." -- Sam Carr
His first upload on his channel was a video he'd shot at Pixie Lott's album launch for her third studio album. "I spoke on camera for the first time in my last year of sixth form and I was so nervous to upload it, but I'm so glad I did!" he says enthusiastically. He adds that he uploads videos because he enjoys the entire process. Whether it's filming or editing, Sam is ready to go through it all to produce the kind of content he loves.
"I'm still finding my feet with my channel and the content I create. I love experimenting and trying different types of videos but I'm really feeling the cinematic artsy type at the moment and I've got some really cool ideas and concepts for some possible videos this year." -- Sam Carr
He cites his biggest inspirations as his parents, happily saying that he had been brought up well and that his parents had ensured he and his sister had always lived a comfortable life; he hopes to repay them someday with a house or a holiday. The first YouTubers he'd ever watched were twin brothers Jack and Finn Harries of JacksGap, who create videos based off of their projects and travels. Another one of his inspirations is YouTuber Connor Franta, with whom he hopes to collaborate with in the future. Franta's artistic style, down-to-earth personality, and ambition has driven Sam and inspired him immensely. Other inspirations include Grant Gustin (The Flash), Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Perks of Being a Wallflower), and Justin Bieber, whom Sam explains has made mistakes but still continues to be extremely successful after making a comeback. He also finds inspiration in smaller creators who are fairly new to YouTube, many of whom have become his close friends.
Q: What's your favorite kind of music?
A: My music taste varies all the time, I like pretty much anything and everything. Music is something that I love loads and if I ever got the chance to do something with it in the future, I would love to give it a shot. At the moment, I'm listening to a lot of The Vamps, Justin Bieber and James Bay. I love The Vamps! They're such a good band and I met them before they were famous so it's so weird to see them doing so well around the world. And Bieber...he is the king of the world, I still listen to his new album like 10x a day. I'm currently obsessed with finding new artists on Spotify at the moment. The other day I recently found Hoodie Allen and he's great.
He also enjoys creating memories by vlogging. Although still fairly new to YouTube, he has already learned that the video sharing platform allows creators to reflect on special moments in life. "I love looking back on some of my vlogs from days out to reminisce about it," he states. He adds that he is learning more and developing as a creator with every video he makes (his favorite types of videos are the "cinematic film" type rather than the "talking to the camera" type) and enjoys having a variety on his channel.
Q: Describe yourself in three words.
A: Creative, positive and hard-working.
Besides creating videos, Sam enjoys watching TV shows such as The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl; as a huge superhero fan, he enjoys every movie and TV show from Marvel or DC Comics. He also enjoys traveling. "I've been all around different parts of the UK, America a few times to Orlando, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, as well as Spain, Ireland and France. America is definitely my favorite place, I'm going back to LA for 10 days in the summer this year and I'm so excited."
Sam also encourages anyone who's interested in starting up a YouTube channel to do so. "I'm so glad I started because of the people I met and opportunities I've had - they've literally been some of the best days of my life and I'm so grateful."