“Just Upload” - Max Fosh’s Advice for Young Creatives
In a world filled with so much noise, Especially with the AI slop that plagues our “for you” pages, standing out as a creative - whether that's as a Musician, Filmmaker or Content Creator - Can be an incredibly daunting undertaking that can sometimes feel like you’re simply shouting into the void.
However, many do make it through this overcrowded space and are able to stand out and captivate the masses with their creativity. One such person is Youtube Sensation Max Fosh, a UK-based YouTuber and comedian known for his hilariously absurd stunts and witty humour. He has built a standout brand, gaining over 4 Million subscribers & more than 1.4 billion views across Youtube.. His approach to content creation holds valuable lessons for young creatives, who are looking to forge their own creative path.
Who are you? Introduction for our readers?
“Hello, my name is Max Fosh. I am a YouTuber and comedian based in the UK that primarily makes Silly content.”
You’ve got a very wide outreach & good branding, all your content seem to follow the “Max Fosh” style, whilst remaining incredibly varied. I’m wondering if you could walk us through that, and how that impacts your decision making along the way when it comes to new projects?
“So I've always, you know, been someone who's been doing these very light-hearted, silly stunts and events, even when, you know, a camera hasn't been following me. And so I try and keep that and keep that attitude when it comes to making the videos that I would be doing these things even if it wasn't being filmed.
When it comes to video ideas themselves, title is the most important thing. YouTube is a very active form of watching, so people have to actively want to watch what you've got, rather than kind of algorithmic-based content like TikTok and Instagram where it's kind of given to you, and so therefore your title needs to be incredibly interesting, it needs to be intriguing, and therefore we will come up with content ideas purely on what the title would be…
With (the) title, it's just about juxtaposition, really, So for example, ‘I cooked a meal in a volcano’. Cooking a meal is something that we all know how to do in a volcano. There's your juxtaposition, there's your difference.
- So that's kind of how a lot of the videos come about and how the ideas get formed.”
For Max, he works backwards from the title, first developing a captivating title, using juxtaposition, creating a focal point around the content. From there he then builds out the rest of the video.
As a musician, you may want to focus on these “Gateways” for listeners to be pulled into your releases. Ask yourself, What’s your hook? How will a listener be drawn in to give your music a chance? What makes your next track or video stand out before someone hears a single note? Titles, visuals, and brand imagery are all fundamental for this.
Yes, great music/content comes first but before you release your next work to the world, next time, think. Think how you will draw in people to give up their next 3-5 minutes to your new release.
Whats the biggest challenge you’ve faced whilst being a content creator? And how did you overcome it?
“The biggest challenge is understanding and learning how to build out a team and understand that you can't do everything. When you start out as a content creator, you need to do everything. You need to produce, you need to edit, you need to film, you need to ideate, you need to be the accountant, you need to do everything.
And once you get to a certain level where you're doing that regularly and over a number of years, you just start to burn out in a big, big way. And also, you're not going to be good at all of those things. So understanding to relinquish the control and getting people in, if you can afford it and if the business works, who can take things off your plate to just remain creative.”
Approaching this as a young musician, Yes, early on you’ll record, mix, promote, and manage yourself. But over time, building a trusted circle (whether it’s a co-writer, producer, manager, or even just supportive peers) can make your work more sustainable and keep your creativity alive. Without that supportive infrastructure you may fall into a burnout, so don't be afraid to collaborate with others, bounce ideas with people, bring others into the fold that understand your vision and let your creativity flourish.
Whats your best advice for young creatives?
“Just create”...“YouTube is an incredible platform in which anybody can be discovered. If you go to the Discovery page or the Recommended page on YouTube, there'll be lots of videos that have very, very few amounts of views. YouTube wants to push new creators.
And so the best way in which you learn what you're good at and what you're not good at in your niche is by uploading. Always press upload. Just keep ideating and just try to improve a video by 1% every single time. And over the course of, you know, dozens, maybe even hundreds of videos, you'll slowly get there. So it's an incredible place, YouTube, for young creators, but you do, there's no shortcut. There is no, you need to really, really put in the time and get good at your craft.”
The exact same goes for music, and you may have heard it a thousand times but its doesnt make it any less true, create, create, create, on whatever platform. Stop waiting for perfection. Release your music. Learn from each drop. The difference between hobbyists and professionals isn’t always natural talent, it’s persistence.
Without creating consistently, you’ll never learn from your mistakes and you’ll always be at square one whenever approaching a track.
So just create.
If you could feature or collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
“If you could feature or collaborate with anyone, who would it be? Bo Burnham, very short and sweet. He's kind of the inspiration to so many creatives and young people in the industry, whether it's comedy or YouTube, and so he's a real icon for me.”
Is there anything else you’d want to shout out or where can we find you
“So there are some creators I'd love to shout out, some fantastic creators that I love in the (United) States, people like Andrew Video, Preston Goes, who are two kind of relatively established creators in the UK, who I think are absolutely amazing. In the UK, There's a guy called Ali Gallop, who I think is fantastic. He makes more cinematic-style stuff, and I think he's brilliant. So, yeah.”
Finally, Do you know what a grapefruit is now?
“No. Famously, I don't know my fruits.”
What did we take away from the conversation-
Throughout the entire conversation there were a few key themes that seemed to resonate:
Be true to your creative identity - don’t chase trends, chase truth.
Hook your audience early - visuals and branding matter just as much as sound.
Build a team when you can - burnout helps no one.Keep creating - Always upload. Iterate. Improve.
Stay curious. Stay silly. And maybe... learn your fruits.
