Someone with an audience in the hundreds of thousands isn’t something you come across often when it comes to this region; but “Hazz” is one of the few that has conquered this feet. Known mainly for his involvement in FaZe Clan, Hazz has also taken on things such as content creation via multiple platforms, competing as a semi-pro player in Counter Strike and also recently teaming up with Breakaway Esports; a New Zealand based esports organisation.
His journey to the top has been an interesting one, which made me want to sit down with him and learn more about who he is and how he got here. I’ve written this article in an interview based style, to make it easier for you, the reader.
Opening my line of questioning for Hazz, I asked probably the most basic of questions, but something that a lot of people may wonder; Who is Hazz?
“Originally I was a YouTuber, where I mainly uploaded Call of Duty “trickshotting” videos. But after eight years, I’ve now found myself taking a massive turn and mostly focusing on the likes of Twitch and the livestreaming career that comes with it.”
Hazz started his content creation career back in 2010 and later found success by being asked to join the world renown organisation; FaZe Clan. But there is always a road that someone must take to get to where he is, which lead to my question; How did you get into content creation and what made you want to do it?
“At first, it was just a group of us friends that were learning about the gaming side of YouTube. We started off making silly videos with each other and soon enough it actually started to form into a career path. I took inspiration from a bunch of different YouTubers such as Whiteboy7thst, KyleKJW and of course, the guys from FaZe Clan.”
Despite starting from the bottom and building his own community, the signing to FaZe Clan is what put Hazz on the gaming map. I wanted to know more about how he joined them, so I asked; What was the road like leading up to this step in your life and how did you ultimately reach this step?
“Grinding was a huge part of getting to where I am today. Everyday I would get home from work, I would upload a video to my channel; keeping a consistent schedule to go with this. But although I was uploading consistently, I made sure that I was enjoying my content and not forcing out videos that I just didn’t feel. Although I did ultimately join FaZe, it was weird. Even to this day, I have no idea why they took interest in my content, haha.”
As stated above, Hazz found himself in a constant grind day in and day out. So to follow suit with my previous articles, I asked; What advice do you have for those looking to get into the content creation side of things and or those looking to join the industry you are involved in?
“This is something that I have to remind myself about a lot of the time. But just have fun man. Some people come into this with the completely wrong mindset, all they care about is the numbers and the money. Sure use that as a motivating factor, but just genuinely enjoying yourself and making content at the same time is awesome. Your content will reflect that. Nothing is worse than watching someone who is blindsided by the numbers constantly. Find your path, be yourself, and just create whatever you enjoy creating. There’s an audience for everything, and if i’m not a weird example of that, then I don’t know what is.”
On top of that advice, I wanted to know how Hazz deals with criticism. Everyone can be faced with criticism on a daily basis, but coming from the internet… it can be hard. So I asked; What sort of criticism do you face in your shoes and how exactly do you deal with it yourself?
“Criticism is something you need to be ready for in this industry, especially within the content creation side. Everyone has their own opinions, not everyone agrees with your decisions, but at the end of the day, it is entirely up to you to either ignore, reply, or take criticism with a grain of salt. Keep moving forward. I get a ton of random people trying to send hate my way all the time, and the more I get, the less impactful comments become.”
Straying away from the mindset side of things, I wanted to know more about his recent online activities; You’ve recently teamed up with “Breakaway Esports”, tell us more about them and what your involvement is all about with that brand.
“Breakaway is an organization straight out of Auckland, New Zealand. This has been something I’ve always been super keen to get behind. I’m all for expanding esports and gaming in my small humble abode. I’m super happy that Breakaway is ran by like minded individuals with the same vision. It’s no secret that the Oceanic region is lagging behind the rest of the world, but Breakaway is the start of the climb for the APAC region. I’m super happy to be involved within the org.”
On top of his recent online activities, I wanted to know what he is working towards personally and professionally; What are you currently working towards as a content creator or otherwise in your personal life and what do you need to do to reach that step your working towards?
“Health, happiness and a god damn schedule. Also, relocating to Australia is something I have been working towards for a long time now. I’m getting closer and closer to reaching that goal every single day. At this point, I just want to grow my stream, get back into YouTube and hit the gym until I look like Zyzz, or skinny Jonah Hill… I don’t mind either way.”
With that being said, Hazz is a full time content creator. So how does one sustain such a life in this region? I wanted to know how he sustains himself and if he has any advice, by asking; How does one make the life of a content creator sustainable and what advice do you give to those looking to make the life possible in this region?
“Take care of your health. Make sure you prioritise your time to fit other elements in your life, don’t let the hours contain you. Sometimes you will have days where your stream is slow, or you can’t think of a video idea. There is nothing wrong with that. It’s all a part of the job. Also, don’t consider it a job like I just did eleven seconds ago. Have fun and let the numbers and money happen naturally! Constantly find ways to improve your content creation goals, I guarantee you that results will show.”
Finally, to close out the interview, I asked; What is on the horizon for Hazz?
“The sun… I guess.”
Spoken like a true wisdom speaker. It was a pleasure sitting down and talking to Hazz about who he is and what he’s about, I do suggest that you, the reader, stay connected with Hazz via his social media. He’s constantly active on Twitter and is constantly pushing that go live button over on Twitch. Thank you for reading and I hope you liked this piece!