#bryanstarstour

Q:Did you ever expect to be where you’re at today?

A: No, when I was in High School I remember I took a broadcasting class, and I thought I was going to be a news anchor, like you see on CNN or something. I remember I did an internship at the local TV station, and they sent me out to do all these random stories, like covering meat festivals, roller skating competitions,l all this random stuff that I wasn’t interested in. I went to this meat festival and went around asking, “What kind of meat do you like?” and, “How do you feel about this beef sandwich?” I was like this is not what I want to do for a living. So I decided to start interviewing bands, and I put it on YouTube, because I was like hey, people would like this. They did, it took off and when it started to get subscribers, and view I was just like man this is such a cool opportunity and I feel like this could be something. So I dropped out of college, and I quit my other jobs, and put everything into my YouTube channel, because I believed it could be my career. I had a dream, and it worked out. Its very similar to bands they just start playing shows, and hoping for the best. Its kind of what I did except instead of going on the road, and making music I just sat in my basement all day just editing YouTube videos. It definitely payed off, and I’m really excited about my future.

Q: When you first started off did anyone tell you that your channel wouldn’t go anywhere?

A: My Mom and Dad actually told me that my YouTube channel would never succeed. I think they told me that because they were worried about my future. They wanted me to go to college, and have a stable income, but I argued with them. I told them “Hey, if you make a lot of YouTube videos, you can make a lot of money. If you have ads on your videos you can make money.” So I kept making more and more videos, and getting more views, and subscribers. I honestly believed that if I kept making videos, and working hard that eventually it was going to pay off. I remember also my friends would joke “Oh Bryan has 5,000 subscribers he’s famous.” Then it was 10,000, and then it was 50,000, and then it was 100,000! At first no one believed me, my parents, my friends. I just kept working hard. No one believed in me at first except for myself, but I was determined to prove everyone wrong, and follow my dreams. Everyone seemed excited about it, so that’s really cool.

Q: Now that you’ve reached 300,000 subscribers how do you feel?

A: It’s pretty crazy most of the time it doesn’t affect my day to day life. I still hang out with the same friends, and go to my parents house once or twice a week. Most of my time I’m at my house editing videos. The only time when I notice it is when I go to concerts, and tons of people ask me for autographs and pictures. Every once in awhile when I’m at Chipotle someone will come up to me and be like, “Hey are you Bryan Stars?” or you know sometimes at the airport I’ll get recognized. I remember at a water park I was recognized, sometimes I get recognized in weird places. Thats pretty cool. I realize that there are tons of people out there that support me, but I try to stay grounded, and humble. I still keep the same people in my life that I had before I was YouTube famous, so to speak.

Q: What was your first interview like?

A: Well I guess my first big interview was with a band called Slipknot. It was terrifying. The reason it scared me is because if you don’t know Slipknot is one of the most hardcore, extreme bands ever. Their music is angry, and they all wear crazy masks. I remember when I got into the room there was a guy that looked like he was a serial killer. He had crazy teeth, a nose that stuck out, and he was like twice my size, like 6’5. You couldn’t even see his eyes, he had like a death mask. He seemed very angry too, like why do I have to do an interview with this 18 year old kid. I remember being like, alright I can do this, I can handle this. I felt like I went in and did a good job. That was kind of the start of my career, because once you’ve done Slipknot no one else can be intimidating. It was definitely a great way to start my career.

Q: How did the Bryan Stars Tour get started?

A: The Bryan Stars Tour started because I wanted to experience what bands experience on a day to day level. A band called Late Nite Reading invited me to go on tour with them for a couple weeks. They are really good friends of mine, and I remember thinking well if I’m going to go on tour why don’t we put my name on the tour. We kind of brainstormed, and decided why don’t we call it the Bryan Stars Tour. So we added five or six bands to it, and we booked and promoted it ourselves. We went around playing shows just like a band. It grew and grew until the point where we had up to 300 or 400 kids at the shows. It was all through us, we booked it, and planned it. It was our idea, and skits, and thats kind of how the Bryan Stars Tour got started. The cool thing about the Bryan Stars Tour is now we have Fueled By Ramen behind it, and we have the biggest booking agency in the US, The Agency Group. I definitely see big things in the future for the Bryan Stars Tour.

Q: Are there any big event, or interviews that viewers should be looking out for?

A: Obviously there’s going to be the South By So What in a month. The cool thing about that is that its going to be headlined by Sleeping With Sirens, Crown the Empire, Memphis May Fire, and Issues, so I’ll be getting a lot of hardcore interviews then. My new interview with Black Veil Brides will be up in December. This summer I’ll be back at Warped Tour, hopefully getting more interviews with everyones favorite bands. I definitely have a lot of things in the works, and I can’t wait to keep making content for my viewers.

Q: How did you feel when you booked your first big interview?

A: I remember I was surprised that they got back to me, imagine being like I want to interview Slipknot. How do you even do that? I just called their record label, Road Runner Records, and someone actually answered the phones. “Hi I’m Bryan Odell and I’m from Channel 6 Omaha, and I want to interview your band.” They were like, “Alright lets do it.” They actually just set it up that easily. I was surprised how easy it was to set up an interview if your with a TV station. I think its insane even now that these bigs stars on stage with thousands,sometimes tens of thousands of people, will talk with me for 10 or 15 minutes. I’m very blessed and very lucky. In my experience people in the hardcore, and rock community are more humble than just about any other scene.

Q: What are some things fans don’t know about you?

A: I don’t always wear blue, I wear blue when I’m doing Bryan Stars. Sometimes I wear my pink bunny pajamas, and cuddle up, and eat ice cream while watching How I Met Your Mother. On a serious note, maybe people don’t realize how much time I spend on this channel. I work 12 hours a day 6 to 7 days a week. I’m always working on my YouTube channel. I want to be the biggest YouTube channel for this kind of stuff, When theres a big story, I want a band to come to me. I put so much into this, I’m going to keep going until I’m the biggest. Until my dream really comes true, when I’m as big as Alternate Press or something.

Q: Why do you always wear blue? A: I wear the blue shirt because my favorite power ranger is blue ranger. I remember I wore it to a bunch of interviews for a couple weeks, and then uploaded them back to back and people started commenting, “Bryan you always wear blue.” and “Why are you always wearing blue?” They thought it was really funny. I thought man that’s a cool thing, everyone needs a thing. Black Veil Brides always wear black, Blood On The Dance Floor wears their makeup, and Slipknot wears their masks. I feel like a lot of the big bands have a thing, and I wouldn’t mind mine being that I wear blue. I feel like thats my thing and now if I don’t do it people freak out. So I kind of have to wear blue.

Q: What is your biggest fear?

A: My biggest fear is becoming irrelevant. I’ve worked so hard to get to where I am, and I don’t want all that hard work to go down the drain. I literally poured 2 or 3 years of my life, literally every day into this YouTube channel, to this idea of bringing fans closer to their favorite bands.I hope that people continue support me, and understand how much I genuinely care about the bands, and the fans, that I’ve worked with. I think the fans understand how much I appreciate them.

Q: What is your current favorite song? A: My current favorite song is Hit Me Baby One More Time by Britney Spears. I love the way she hits me. My current favorite song on a serious note is probably Ghost Town’s whole album Party in The Graveyard. I hear it every night, and I’m sure by the end of the tour I’m going to hate it. Right now I can’t get it out of my head, and I’m listening to it every night on stage during tour. It means alot to me that they were willing to do this tour, and I’m very proud to have Ghost Town on the Bryan Stars Tour. I love their music, and I believe in their music. I hope to see them become as big as they deserve to be.

Q: Is there anything else that you would like to add? A: Thank you to everyone that's supported me. My goal is to eventually meet every single person that’s supported me. If you haven’t heard of my YouTube channel its YouTube.com/BryanStars I’ve probably interviewed one of your favorite bands, and asked them really inappropraite questions, just check it out, and until next time this is Bryan Stars. I love you. *mwuah* (kissy noise)

I can remember it quite clearly, the day I met Bryan Stars. Many people wouldn’t understand why that day was so wonderful to me, but that doesn’t matter. Bryan helped me feel welcomed into a community of music that I had never ventured into. I was curious and soon found myself completely submerged into the world of rock music. I was watching every interview I could find, and downloading every album I could fit on my phone. Bryan has the wonderful opportunity to interview some of the many bands that helped save my life.

When I got the opportunity to interview Bryan myself I couldn’t believe it. I’m on my school’s newspaper staff and emailed Bryan on a whim hoping to talk with him about the work he’s been doing with the Bryan Stars Tour. I couldn’t believe my luck when he not only replied to my email but gave me information to contact him further and make my dream of meeting him become a reality. When September 24th finally arrived I could hardly sit still in class, and was buzzing with excitement. One of my closest friends and I made the journey from Tampa to Orlando to meet Bryan at the venue they would be playing at that night.

I felt completely out of place standing in the dim light of the bar while Ghost Town went through their soundcheck on stage. I will be completely honest, I was so starstruck that I couldn’t even bring myself to take a picture with any of the members of Ghost Town. It’s really embarrassing now that I think back on it, and I regret not taking pictures with anybody other than Bryan. Once the tour manager (who was really shifty and would stand way too close to you when he spoke) told us that Bryan was getting ready to come out for the meet and greet, my nerves started to amp up. I could not believe that I was actually there to interview one of my idols. The nerves vanished however when Bryan approached us cheerfully, and hugged us. I immediately felt safe in the sketchy venue, and could finally breathe properly. We sat to the side watching as Bryan took pictures with fans, before finally following him out behind the venue to interview him.

Bryan Stars is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. He’s funny, sweet, and a lot taller than I expected. I can’t even express how thankful I am to have had the chance to not only meet him but interview him as well. Thank you Bryan, you really are the best person I have ever met.