Meet 13 of the next generation of rising YouTube stars from South Australia
From true crime to day-in-a-life vlogs, millions of subscribers are turning in to watch South Australia’s top YouTubers. Meet 13 rising stars.
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Every YouTuber has to start somewhere. From true crime investigators and home scientist to comedians sharing their shenanigans and day-in-the-life vloggers.
RackaRacka – aka Adelaide’s twin prankster filmmakers the Philippou brothers Danny and Michael – may be South Australia’s most famous exponents with 6.7m subscribers (300,000 of who joined in just the past two years) for their 170 videos.
However, aside from the trailer for their first horror feature film Talk To Me, which will be released in cinemas on July 27, the Philippou brothers haven’t posted anything new on their YouTube channel for a year.
Will there be more to come online, or will Hollywood beckon?
In the meantime, here are 13 of the next generation of South Australian YouTubers seeking fame – and possibly fortune – on the video sharing platform.
See each channel below, along with each YouTuber’s most popular video to date.
Fairbairn Films – 1.7m subscribers
Like RackaRacka, brothers Lachlan and Jaxon Fairbairn, better known online as Fairbairn Films, are a comedy filmmaker and YouTuber double act from Murray Bridge.
Their latest videos (they’ve posted 577 over the past decade) make fun of everything from Uber drop-off points, to sponging housemates, and the outrageous treatments doctors prescribed a century ago. Check out this channel.
MrMEOLA – 1.1m subscribers
Matt Meola’s channel is all about entertaining the world with video games in a positive manner.
“A large portion of my content is ARK: Survival Evolved,” he says. “Actually pretty much all of it is!”
ARK: Survival Evolved is a 2015 action-adventure survival game in which players must survive being stranded on maps filled with roaming dinosaurs, fictional fantasy monsters, other prehistoric animals and potentially hostile human players. You find an equally epic 3700 related videos here. Check out this channel.
Pestily – 689k subscribers
Paul Licari, alias Pestily, is an Adelaide content creator who also has 1.3m followers on Twitch. His channel caters mainly to the Escape From Tarkov, First Person Shooter and various other gaming title fans with more than 2000 videos.
The three-times EFT world champion also says he’s “Not afraid to jump headfirst down a staircase” and that he’s also “Done some cool stuff for kids”. Check out this channel.
Explosions & Fire – 373k subscribers, Extractions & Ire – 175k subscribers
Do not try this at home! The Explosions & Fire home chemistry channel investigates the “cutting edge of modern explosives science”, talks about classic principles of the energetics field and generally likes to blow stuff up.
It initially ran from 2011-17, with more than 90 videos on various chemistry and energetics, before it received three community guideline strikes in two hours (mostly for putting themselves in danger as children). Now they are back.
Tom also has a second channel, Extractions & Ire “where I do chemistry and mumble about life a lot, as opposed to just lighting things on fire for two minutes”. Again, do not try this at home. Check out Explosions & Fire and Extractions & Ire.
Vaping Bogan – 183k subscribers
Warning: This is pretty much what it says on the packet, as the heavily tattooed, pierced and sometimes mulleted Sam Parsons delivers his non-sponsored reviews of vaping equipment, products and paraphernalia.
For a bogan, he’s surprisingly eloquent, if you can forgive all the deliberately vulgar – yet frequently funny – expletives. Check out this channel.
Jenna With The Pink – 155k subscribers
A lover of all thinks pink, breaking taboo subjects and having a laugh while doing so is Jenna With The Pink aka Jenna Hudson.
The 25 year old is popular on TikTok with over a million followers and is also dominating the YouTube scene with her day in the life videos, Taylor Swift reaction videos and testing period swimwear videos.
The southern suburbs local is a regular contributor to her channel, which you can find here.
Joey Carbstrong – 151k subscribers
Joseph Dominic Armstrong is better known online as Joey Carbstrong. Born in Adelaide, the media personality and vegan animal rights activist joined YouTube in 2013, and is currently residing in the United Kingdom.
His YouTube channel has more than 900 films and mainly consists of vegan advocacy in many different forms. He often makes reaction videos, advice videos and stages public stunts to raise awareness about veganism. Check out this channel.
Dankpods – 1.47m subscribers, Garbage Time – 434k, The Drum Thing – 181k
Wade Nixon, better known online as DankPods, does various things to his iPods and MP3 players, including upgrading, repairing and tweaking the devices. He also dabbles in audiophile technology such as headphones, stereos, and amplifiers.
Nixon has branched out with two other YouTube channels, Garbage Time – on which he makes fun of dilapidated vehicles – and The Drum Thing, where he does much the same thing with vintage percussion equipment and even plays along with some backing tracks. Check out Dankpods,Garbage Time and The Drum Thing.
Bajo – 20k subscribers
Steven O’Donnell, aka Bajo, is an New Zealand-Australian YouTuber who is best known for having hosted the TV shows Good Game and Good Game: Spawn Point.
Now residing in Adelaide, he makes monthly stream highlights and separate videos all from his Twitch streams – where he has another 99K followers – as well as the occasional non gaming video. Check out this channel.
Nate’s Toolbox – 5.8k subscribers
A jack of all trades, Nathan Jenkins – aka That Roller Door Bloke – is SA’s go-to influencer for DIY tricks, tips and tools.
Nate started posting household and outdoors product reviews, unaware of how much attraction and engagement he would gain: “Now I know I’m helping my local community learn new skills and save a lot of money in the process”. Check out this channel.
Clio Crowhurst – 3.12k subscribers
From South Australian true crime videos to what she got for Christmas, a variety of content can be found on Clio Crowhurst’s YouTube channel.
Clio covers cases such as the Snowtown murders and the disappearance of the Beaumont children as well as takers her viewers into her life with videos on her deferring university and working as a waitress and content creator.
Find her channel here and catch a glimpse into her corner of the internet.
Elena Téa – 2.78k subscribers
Although based in Adelaide, Elena Téa’s YouTube channel boasts a European summer feel. With carefree and aesthetically pleasing videos of her adventures in Italy to her cosy night routine, and even videos on how she makes her cermanic art, one can’t help but feel a little envious of her day-to-day life.
Viewers can escape to the coasts of Europe and live the high life by watching her videos and following along with her day. Check out her channel.
Outdoorstype – 727 subscribers
Digital content creator Michael Genrich’s small but growing account documents SA’s railways and their history, features spectacular drone footage, and shows how making YouTube films is not just for young gamers and comedians.
He has a live stream chat every Wednesday and his YouTube channel also covers other historic elements and contemporary events such as the Palmer Sculpture Biennial, Illuminate Adelaide festival and even the house from Midnight Oil’s Diesel and Dust album cover. Check out this channel.
Did we miss anyone? Let us know in the comments.
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