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Net-creative Trymacs, UnsympathischTV and Varion: »We are actually only offline when there is no other way«
Photo: Jan Captain
Many people have probably never heard of Varion, UnsympathischTV and Trymacs, although they are among Germany's biggest internet stars. With clips between click stimulus and madness - such as "Apprentice vs forklift", "The rabbits are counted at the end of the hunt" or "€ 40,000 Pokémon display from 1999 bought ?!" - they get tens of millions of video views. Their content on YouTube and the live portal Twitch is the television equivalent for many young people who are not interested in traditional television.
Varion delivers original and peculiar one-man skits to its 1.6 million subscribers on YouTube, UnsympathischTV presents escalated chats to its 2.8 million subscribers, and Trymacs streams video games for 2.7 million Twitch followers all evenings long as a kind of spoiled Gambling buddy who made it to great fame on the net.
The audio portal Spotify is now bringing the three together for a weekly podcast called »Offline + Ehrlich«, which started this Tuesday.
They spoke to SPIEGEL beforehand.
SPIEGEL:
Bibi and Julian podcasting, Rezo and Julien Bam, and recently also MontanaBlack and Simon Unge.
Now comes the next format that promises unfiltered insights into the everyday life of web stars.
Why?
You three could just chat on the live stream, couldn't you?
Varion:
Max - Trymacs - and I had the idea for the podcast almost two years ago.
We like to listen to podcasts ourselves, and to some extent it is prestige to have one.
And I'm just really up for it, because the communication is different when you meet two friends than when you chat about something in the livestream or in an Insta story while you are constantly receiving news from the audience.
UnsympathischTV:
A live
stream
always has to be jagged.
You always have to talk about new things, you have to answer questions.
A podcast makes it more enjoyable and easier to dig deeper into topics.
Conversations and thoughts develop so differently.
SPIEGEL:
Your podcast is called »Offline + Ehrlich«.
How good are you at being offline?
Varion:
We are actually only offline when there is no other way.
In the cinema, for example.
Or even with the podcast recording, when the three of us chat.
Nobody gets their cell phone out of boredom.
Trymacs:
When I'm out with friends or family, I sometimes don't look at my smartphone for six hours.
SPIEGEL: In
an interview with
SPIEGEL,
Julien Bam told how he overworked himself as a web video maker, and Rezo also reported panic attacks.
How do you deal with the stress of constantly having to deliver videos, streams or stories to your fans?
Varion:
Fortunately, I wasn't at the point where it got too
bad
for me.
I do my sport and when my girlfriend is around I don't work either.
Trymacs:
Sport and
spending
time with my girlfriend, that's my balance too.
I already stream a lot.
Recently I drove home for four hours after an eleven hour shoot, then watched the stream.
Too much fancy it.
But sometimes, when I stream eight hours of gaming, I too feel: It's no longer running, what am I playing together here?
UnsympathischTV:
The output is better when you have a clear head.
If I have too many projects open, like this year, then I have to slow down in some areas so that it is still healthy.
That's what a nervous breakdown taught me three years ago.
SPIEGEL:
You three are a new generation of video makers who are following YouTube pioneers like Y-Titty and Gronkh.
What do you do differently?
UnsympathischTV:
The content has changed, it's looser.
Y-Titty was much more scripted than mine.
Varion:
I think our generation has not reinvented the wheel.
It is also good that the old generation is still there.
Y-Titty is history, yes, but Phil Laude keeps making videos.
It's kind of awesome that everyone has space on YouTube, that you don't have to argue about views.
Everyone knows YouTube by now, but Twitch has not yet reached its limit.
It's still a new thing.
SPIEGEL:
Each of you has millions of followers, you are where many children and young people dream.
But you, for example, Varion, said in an interview that you are actually a quiet guy who doesn't have parties at home.
Not in the mood for excess?
Varion: Nope
.
It's not that I have any gross desires.
The main thing is that I can earn my money and my brother, who is employed by me, also has a good life.
I'm more of the type who always plans the future than living in the here and now.
Trymacs:
A few months ago I went to Mykonos with colleagues who live a little excessively.
It was interesting to experience.
The colleagues have already been there again and want to go somewhere else, they take four such vacations a year.
I'm more of the one who can do that once a year.
SPIEGEL
: At the beginning of 2020, however, you surprised many of your viewers when you presented a Rolex for 60,000 euros in the stream.
You have been wearing them regularly ever since.
Trymacs
: I bought it because I didn't indulge in anything else.
So I said to myself: I'll get one.
But I'm not starting to collect such watches.
SPIEGEL:
Mr. Hellinger, what makes you tick: Do you prefer a live stream to a party?
UnsympathischTV:
I don't need to spend 2000 euros in the club on a Saturday evening.
And whenever I've seen something like this, it doesn't end well.
Then I can predict the future for myself if I lived like this.
SPIEGEL:
There has been a lot of discussion recently about the income from streamers.
The occasion was a leak full of Twitch data, which made it known, among other things, how much exactly the platform paid you as one of the most popular Twitch artists in Germany, Mr. Stemmler: more than a million dollars for almost two years.
How did your fans react to the leak?
Trymacs:
It was all full in the chat.
That annoyed me that such a barrel was opened.
Because it's actually no secret what Twitch pays us.
You can estimate that based on the subs, i.e. the paid subscriptions.
We streamers are also really transparent, especially compared to Instagram influencers: Every December - this is the month with the highest income - I show my viewers what I earn on YouTube.
UnsympathischTV:
I can understand that a number like that
looks awesome
when you see it for the first time.
An insane number of people would like to become a streamer or YouTuber.
And maybe they want it even more when she flashes such a number.
SPIEGEL: The
fact that you talk so openly about money in the first place also differs from the generation of video makers before you, right?
UnsympathischTV:
I think we are also more transparent because our generation includes
creators
who show a lot of what they have achieved.
It starts with shoes for thousands of euros and ends with sports cars for hundreds of thousands of euros.
The question arises: How can they afford it?
SPIEGEL:
Awareness also has its downsides.
The streamer MontanaBlack recently said in his podcast that if he had the choice today where his life would go, he would not want to become just as famous again.
His private life is restricted too much.
How is it with you?
Are you besieged by fans every time you go to the supermarket?
UnsympathischTV:
What I do I would do again at any time.
I can't go to the outdoor pool in summer, yes, but there are worse things.
And I usually don't go shopping until 10 or 11 p.m. - or I use delivery apps.
They are very helpful to me.
Varion:
The personality cult around MontanaBlack is much bigger than mine, I can still go anywhere.
Nevertheless: if I could do the same thing and be unknown at the same time, I would prefer it.
SPIEGEL:
Your channel Varion stands for skits with figures that sometimes seem borderline dubious.
Do people often address you as if you were one of those characters?
Varion: Yes
.
But it always depends on how you do it.
If someone shouts "Ey pen!" Or "Ey Günther!", It is weird.
Of course I prefer to be called Flo.
Kaya Yanar certainly doesn't always want to be addressed as Ranjid.
SPIEGEL:
Mr. Stemmler, does dealing with fans on the street get easier over the years?
Trymacs:
The problem is that there is only one direction: people who have watched my videos for years think they are meeting a friend.
But of course I have no idea who they are.
But that's exactly what happened to me when I met Klaas Heufer-Umlauf while filming.
I knew all sorts of things about him and what makes him tick, but he didn't even know me.
SPIEGEL:
Where are you most annoyed by your familiarity in everyday life?
Trymacs: Sometimes
I stand at the intersection - and suddenly ten 15-year-olds are filming in my car.
Or other cars follow me because someone wants to know where I live.
It's annoying.
In the city, my girlfriend and I are also often followed by spectators, some screaming all the time.
It's really annoying, especially because I'm not really an extrovert.
UnsympathischTV:
Such moments in which one would like to remain
anonymous
are part of it.
But we can also be quite proud of ourselves.
And we don't have to hide from anyone.