Pro gamer and YouTube star, is there anything sWooZie can’t do? Apparently not! Adande is known as “sWooZie” in the fighting game community. A professional DOA player that has appeared on such shows as The Championship Gaming Series and WCG Ultimate Gamer, sWooZie’s more recent success can be witnessed on YouTube. He is known for his enticing vlogging and his animated shorts; he is a charismatic gentleman that can’t be stopped. I was curious to see what his plans are for 2012 and I was given the privilege to interview him.
NR: What is the story behind the name “sWooZie”?
SWZ: There was an explosion in a science lab. TCRI, the same place they made the Ninja Turtle Ooze I hear. That’s the real story, but the story I use in interviews is that I used to wear a lot of Nike clothes in high school- they called me sWoosH and when I got on XBOX Live sWoosH was taken so just went with a remix of the name I’d use when freestyling with friends… boom- sWooZie.
NR: What’s your personal mantra, if any, that keeps you focused and motivated day by day?
SWZ: “No one around you can stop you… BUT you” — that and “why”… It might sound silly but “why” is a big one for me. Whenever that negative inner dialogue pops up saying things like “You can’t do XYZ,” I ask “why?” then answer… then ask “why” again until I realize there isn’t anything really stopping me. A number of people never ask ‘why’ and just stop after they tell themselves “oh you can’t do that.”
NR: Keeping things positive… that’s awesome, not everyone realizes how powerful a positive mental attitude can be. Do you consider WCG Ultimate Gamer your big break into the gaming scene?
SWZ: NOOOooooo. The Championship Gaming Series w/ DIRECTV was definitely my ‘break’. Before then, only the DOA community knew who I was. I love WCG- It introduced me to people I prob would’ve taken much longer to reach but after the show started airing, I had SOOO many people from Australia hitting me up, it was crazy- but CGI was def my big break.
NR: Your YouTube channel has a lot of hits; what was the deciding factor in switching from the regular video blogging to the animated shorts?
SWZ: I still do the regular vlogs but my boy Jacob Patterson noticed I did some animation vids back in the day and I was drawing, scanning, drawing, scanning… it took FOREVER! So he pointed me to DeviantART Muro and said, ‘Dude this is way faster’ and he was so right. A lot more animation vids started rolling out but no plans to stop doing the regular vlogs any time soon; think some of my YouTube friends would kill me. After every animation vlog I get about 10 or so emails from female viewers saying, “haha, you cheated in high school… funny, but I wanna see your cute face next video or else!”. Then when I show my face, I get a dozen comments saying ‘DO ANOTHER ANIMATION!!” lol.
NR: Wow, I guess it’s a constant struggle to keep the fans happy.I personally enjoyed the FTW series. What was/is the inspiration behind the Press Start channel? What are the future plans for Press Start?
SWZ: Me and Michelle were at a party in LA and we were talking about the gaming industry and she never knew I traveled as much as I did for it; she’d seen EVO and different events, but she and I never got to sit down and chat for an extended period of time about gaming, so once we both ended up on the couch, she was just like, “Dude, we need to start a channel!” I was SO down. We had flirted with the idea via text message about a year prior but it was just for a collab video, but we realized, why not just do a channel. As for future vids- they’ll still happen but just not as often as they did in 2011- we’re both getting a lot busier with our main channels.
NR: That is understandable as I do like what the channel has to offer. Are there any tournaments coming up that you are looking forward to?
SWZ: Devastation of course, every year– other than that, I like watching EVO. Might go this year if DOA5 has a presence. The FGC (fighting game community) is my home so I try to support when/wherever I can.
NR: Man! I missed Devastation this past year, EVO is always fun to watch… DOA5 would be Boss. Besides gaming, what are some other passions that you have?
SWZ: I love to cook; I love to make beats also. Blu rays… I’m all over them! And don’t get me started on people watching; that’s like my favorite pass time, lol.
NR: What do you have planned in 2012?
SWZ: Prob the biggest collaboration I’ve ever had the chance to work on (think that’s all I’m allowed to say) — also trying my hand at stop-motion Lego animation. And just trying to step up my vlogging. Want to keep making you guys laugh and think but also entertain the crap out of you guys in the process.
NR: Lego animation? Can’t wait for it! Which do you enjoy more: competing or spectating?
SWZ: Arg! Good question, man. Well, they both have their perks, but competing has such a high! It’s like a high that no substance can take you to. Losing sucks, but when you get up to those clutch moments and pull out a W- aww man, words can’t really describe the feeling of that rush.
NR: One can only imagine that level of high. Did you happen to see Kelly “MrsViolence” Kelly win the 50k on The Controller? What are you thoughts on her victory?
SWZ: I cried when she won. Don’t tell nobody. LOL. When I see people I know cry- I can’t hold back the water works… Kelly is my homegirl. At the start of the season she told me “Awww, sWooZie, I came sooooo close to winning!” So I was like ‘crap, way to spoil it for me!’ then to watch her win!? Once she started balling, I lost it… I was also having some girl problems that day to so it might have been a combination of the two.
NR: AWW, that was a sneaky move on her part; it was great seeing her take the win. What is your next major goal in life?
SWZ: It’s a surprise. Have no problem saying but I kinda want all you guys to be surprised if I pull it off ^_^
NR: I will be looking forward to it. Good luck on your success, I have no doubt that you will pull it off! Final message to all your fans?
SWZ: Stop camping out in my driveway! It was cool at first, but now its getting scary. LOL jk. Uh, the only message off the top of my head is to bear with me on the emails. I know what it’s like to email someone whose work you enjoy and not hear back from them… it turns to a ‘this guys cool but forget him! He never replied to my email’ — my inbox is crazier right now than I’ve ever seen it. The Flirtationship video really sparked a light inside a lot of people because the email response from it is wilder than any other response I’ve gotten from any other video- so trying to get to every single one but if it takes me awhile… don’t think ‘this guy is ignoring me’ cuz thats definitely not the case!
NR: Lol you are too funny! Well that’s all I have for you, enjoy!
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Nesto Rox
Contributor
Contributor
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He now got one million views
Congrats bro