WHAT DRIVES YOU?

INTERVIEW W/ VIDEOGRAPHER DANIEL KARJADI

Since Daniel featured my car for my very first Stay Driven Video, it only seemed right that I returned the favour and featured his neat MX-5 for my 'What Drives You?' series. The video we shot together last year, ended at Palm Beach in Sydney (which just so happens to be one of my favourite places to drive, and where Daniel first took his car the day he bought it) and I thought it would be the perfect location to shoot his car. He agreed, so we set out for a sunrise shoot early Sunday morning.

Despite the sweltering 35 degree heat, the shoot went perfectly, and he even handed me the keys to his MX-5 before we grabbed a bite at the Rukus Cafe! It was my first time driving an MX-5, and you can see how I found driving it in the vlog at the end of this post.

Daniel runs a wedding videography company, and also does weekly vlogs where he shares his adventures with his cars and travels. He is also the co-founder of OFIM, which will be re-launching in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for that! But for now, please enjoy Daniel's story below...

1 | WHAT DRIVES YOU?

I am driven by my Faith, Family & Friends. In addition, my videos are driven by my passion to create. Videos and photos are such a big part of my day to day that sometimes I find myself always being behind the camera during the big moments of my life. I just love how the visuals can evoke certain emotions and thoughts to the viewers. Watching Petrolicious videos can make you wish that there was a Ferrari Lusso in your garage for every sunrise drive to the mountains. I think the cars I choose to own and drive reflects a lot of the above, the visual and emotions. From the Mini Cooper S to the Clio RS and now the MX-5, they all have one thing in abundance over a lot of other cars out there, which is character. For me a car can't just be fast and it also can't just be all about quality/luxury, it needs to have a lot of character that creates certain emotions to the driver.

Those three cars, and especially the MX-5, simply puts a massive smile on my face for a very long time. Driving the MX-5 with the top down on an empty road, the sun rising on my right, the sight of the pop up headlights in front of me, the super notchy, perfectly balanced short shifter going through the gears, en route to the beach; see you really just can't beat that moment..... for under $10,000!

Since having the MX-5 I have changed a lot of the aesthetics to make it look the way I have always wanted an MX-5 to be. Changed the front bumper to an OEM one with the Garage Vary Lip, it is now also sitting on Enkei Apache II to further the retro look with the 4 spoke design. The interior is on its way on a complete overhaul with custom gauge clusters, and a bunch of chrome trims to match the wheels.

Oh and let's not forget my trusted Clio RS of a daily.

2 | WHAT MOTIVATES YOU?

I am motivated by the next challenge. I am always trying to look for something new to occupy myself with. There is this constant thought of 'Ok, I now have done this and doing pretty well, what's next? What else is out there for me to grab?' It's important to not ever stay in one comfortable spot for too long of a time.

Last year I took on one particular challenge that I have been wanting to do for a while, which was to start a YouTube Channel. I wanted to create a constant content that takes the channel to my work, travel and car adventures. Over the last year, the feedback has been quite well, but growing the audience has proven to be a bit lacking for me. The challenge was to create content and share it on a weekly basis, and I was able to do it quite well, but the next challenge now for me is to be able sustain the content in the community to build a bigger audience constantly.

Throughout my career I was lucky enough to come across so many inspirational people that have helped me in one way or another so I want to share what little knowledge I have to others that are looking to start. This vlog enables me to do that so I really do hope that I am able to grow it to a good sized community.

3 | WHO INSPIRES YOU?

This is a really hard question because I do believe that everyone around me in different areas of work and life inspires me in different ways. I think that every person that has found any kind of success has something that I can learn. But first and foremost, I find my biggest inspiration in my own faith every day.

Now in terms of Photography and Videography, my inspiration comes from people like Casey Neistat and Chase Jervis. I respect Casey for what he has done with himself, to be able to create something enjoyable and creative (content) out of nothing is amazing. And he does it daily! He has taught me so much about videos, films and changed a lot of perspectives. His crazy notion of hard work and then do more is what drives me sometimes to keep going no matter the situation. Chase Jervis is famous for the words "The best camera is always the one that is with you" but I personally get inspired at what he does for the creative community. I love that he shares all his knowledge to his viewers and community, and he also co built the website Creative Live, which I find myself using from time to time. And I think this is how I have tried to do with the creatives around me, that is to create a bit of a community rather than seeing everyone as competitors.

Locally, I love the work of Michael Carroll and I keep telling him quite a bit actually (HAHA). I just think he has mad talent in visual work from a young age when we first crossed paths. But it was inspiring to see someone able to evolve and establish their own look/style by listening to all the advice around him. Sometimes I find myself blocking useful advice around me as I think that I'm too established to learn new things from others. It was awesome to see Michael take every bit of criticism positively and improves his work completely by the next shoot, even until now.

Petrolicious as a brand, is also something that inspires my creative drive. I just think that their videos are still one of the best out there for anything automotive. It doesn't just focus on cars or camera work but also focuses on how the narrative, sound, music and colours can evoke emotions out of the viewer.

Oh.....and Lebron James for just being the undeniable KING.....the G.O.A......(TBC)

@dkarjadi

A huge thanks to Daniel for taking the time out of his busy schedule to be a part of this series, and for letting me drive his car! As you can tell by the video above, it left the biggest smile on my face!

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