Tabor Hill: The Youtuber you need to watch right now. If you play "Call Of Duty: World War ll" or "Fortnite" and you need a nice content creator, look no further, Tabor Hill has your back. I’ve been following his content for over two years and last year I was given the opportunity to interview this amazing person, here is how it went.
The interview
Gabriel: Can you tell me about your family? We really don't see too much about them in your Social Media.
Tabor: I’ve actually been contemplating uploading some VLOG type videos. In fact, I just recently did a “meet the crew” video where I showcased all my animals.
I’ve been married for 10 years now and I have 3 kids. An 8-year-old son, a 7-year-old daughter, and a 4-year-old son. They all three love video games. I let my two sons play "Call of Duty," which they absolutely enjoy.
Some people may think this is bad parenting, but I definitely monitor what they do. Both of them are actually fairly decent at the game. My daughter was born with special needs and was diagnosed with spina bifida myelomeningocele. She has quite a few complications because of this and has had 12 major operations in her short life. My wife does not appreciate the YouTube scene, nor does she like me playing video games. Every time I try to work on my videos, she just sees it as me “playing” on the computer.
It’s quite frustrating. I also have quite a few animals, including horses, ducks, chickens, cats, a dog, and even a bearded dragon.
Gabriel: How do you make time to record? As a father, your schedule should be tight.
Tabor: It’s definitely a complicated process. Normally, I have to wait until my wife and three kids are sleeping.
However, often times they want me to lay down with them and watch T.V. and I normally end up falling asleep. Most people see me as a YouTuber and expect that I can hop on and play the game/record whenever I wish, but this simply isn’t the case. Any free time I have that doesn’t involve my kids or wife, I’m doing my best to catch up on my YouTube duties.
Gabriel: Have you had problems while recording? Mess up a commentary or interruptions of any sort.
Tabor: Surprisingly, I don’t think I’ve ever had my Elgato mess up a capture. I hear about this happening all the time, but I’ve had a lot of luck on my side it appears. Commentary wise, though, it’s another story. My kids constantly yell and scream when they play, which all gets picked up on my microphone when I record. I’ve had to edit out quite a bit in a standard commentary. I also live right next to a train track and we get about 30 trains a day. I have to pause a commentary for upwards of five minutes until a train passes.
Gabriel: Can you describe your set-up?
Tabor: My set-up is definitely unique.
I play in my closet. It’s not that I want to play in there, it’s the only room in the house my wife lets me play in. I sit cross-legged on the floor and it’s as painful as it sounds. I have a laptop in there, my Turtle Beach headset and my Elgato. Once I record the gameplay in the closet, I usually edit the videos in the kitchen at the dining room table. Then, to record the commentary, I go to the basement (unfinished, so no office area or anything), as it has the least echo. If I had my own gaming room, I would do everything in there. Maybe one day!
Gabriel: Describe your channel, the content in it, days that you upload, what to expect and what is your main goal with it.
Tabor: My main goal would obviously be to earn enough money from YouTube to do it full-time.
However, with the recent ad issues on YouTube, I barely earn $200 a month, despite all the work and dedication I put into it. My channel mainly consists of "Call of Duty" videos, and in particular help guides. I love going in depth on a challenge or a recent change to the game.
As for the days I upload, it’s entirely random. Most YouTuber’s will swear that you either must upload daily or you must have a set schedule. I can confirm that’s a load of Mickey Mouse bullsquash. I don’t do either and I have successfully reached the 100,000 plateau. Since I can never plan my videos in advance, as soon as they get done, I upload them. Sometimes I’ve uploaded a video at 2:30 a.m. before. It just depends on when I get a chance to finish them.
Gabriel: How did you get the idea of creating a channel and uploading videos on it?
Tabor: I originally created my YouTube channel to showcase "Goldeneye" on the Wii, which is a James Bond game. I used an old handheld camera to record my gameplay “live” and then I’d upload it to some dedicated fans that would watch such horrible quality. I then discovered "Call of Duty" and was hooked ever since.
Gabriel: What personal changes did you have to do in order to fill the "Upload Schedule"?
Tabor: As I mentioned earlier, I do not follow any sort of upload schedule whatsoever, so I never had to make any personal changes!
Gabriel: What did your family think about it?
Tabor: My wife is not a fan of YouTube at all.
In fact, my kids also do not like it much. They think it’s “cool” that I’m a YouTuber, but they always want me to interact with them instead of work on videos. Editing a video can take upwards of 6+ hours. My kids and wife see me sitting on the computer nonstop and get quite frustrated, which is understandable. I always worry I’m missing out on family time and then I feel bad and stop working on videos to interact with them. This is another reason I don’t upload very often.
Gabriel: Who inspired you to make videos?
Tabor: I had no inspiration, admittedly. I never watched YouTube videos, nor did I even know what it was. I only got into it so I could upload my "Goldeneye" Wii footage, as it was the only platform to do so.
Gabriel: Did somebody help you? Or was it something that you built on your own?
Tabor. I have absolutely no help whatsoever when it comes to videos. I do everything myself, including capturing the gameplays, editing, and the commentary. The only thing I get help with is making thumbnails, and that was just a recent change. I used to do my own for a while.
Gabriel: What do you do in your free time? Any hobbies that are not recording.
Tabor: I’m a sports fanatic for sure. I played baseball when I was in high school. I watch the NFL, MLB, and NBA. I play fantasy football as well. I’m a huge World War 2 and Civil War (American) buff, so I have lots of books and love reading about both of those events.
Otherwise, I watch movies and TV and take care of all my animals.
Gabriel: Is Tabor Hill your real name?
Tabor: Tabor is legitimately my real first name, but Hill is not my last name. I’ve never met another Tabor in my life, to be honest, even in college. Some people mispronounce it and call me “Tay-boar,” which is fair enough as that’s how it’s spelled. However, it’s really pronounced “Tay-ber”.
Gabriel: Anything that you want to add?
Tabor: I can type 130 words per minute. I need to do a video showcasing this absurd talent, as I use only one finger on my right hand, essentially typing one-handed. It’s incredible.
Final notes
First of all, I want to center the attention to the medical condition that Tabor’s daughter has: ”Spina bifida is a congenital defect consisting of an opening in the spinal column.
Most children with this birth defect survive, but they can be left with many disabilities, including paralysis, difficulty with bowel and bladder control, a Chiari II malformation, hydrocephalus (excessive fluid in the brain), and developmental delay. In general, the higher the spinal opening occurs on the back, the greater the physical impairment.” According to the UCSF Fetal Treatment Center. So it is definitely a big problem, unfortunately, some people have to live with it and it is without a doubt a hard thing to go through.
I want to thank Tabor for giving me this huge opportunity and for being such a nice guy, he is one of the best human beings in this world and he definitely deserves some recognition for his hard work as a father and of course as a Youtuber. He is growing up and I’m really happy that more people are finding real content creators.You can watch his videos on YouTube and donate to his GoFundMe page for his daughter for her surgeries.
