The Man Behind The (Cursed) Macs - A Chat With Action Retro

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In this video I sit down to chat all things KZbin and retro computing with Sean from Action Retro, one of my favourite KZbin channels. Since the channel started in early 2020, Action Retro has rapidly grown thanks to a relentless release schedule and consistently high quality, entertaining videos covering a variety of retro computing subjects. He's also the man behind retro search engine FrogFind and 68k.news, a news site targeted at older computers.
Support The Channel:
Patreon: / ctrlaltrees
Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/ctrlaltrees
Relevant Links:
Action Retro: / @actionretro
Sean’s Band: open.spotify.com/artist/4L8n8...
My Band: open.spotify.com/playlist/34u...
FrogFind: frogfind.com
68K News: 68k.news
Dan Wood: / @danwood_uk
RMC: / @rmcretro
Cursed Mac Series: • Opening a CURSED Macin...
Readability GitHub: github.com/fivefilters/readab...
World’s Worst Steam Deck: • I Built the World's Wo...
Weird Wooden Media Center PC: • This Was a Real PC in ...
VIP Superfan Steves & Executive Producers:
Action Retro: / actionretro
Arthur Ludwiczak
BitterBlitter
Endzs
Has Beard, Plays Games: / blcollier
Justin D. Morgan: / jdmcs
Karl Bate
Kevin Leah (AKA Zoinks!)
Laurent
Mark 'Kurbeco' Simpson
MarkCentral
Naokia Saito: / @naokisrc
Peter (Melair)
Ryan Mercer: / @ryanmercer
ScarlettMarseille: / smarseille
Simon Green
Steve's Tech Shed: / stevestechshed
stween
The Byte Attic: / @thebyteattic
Tim's Retro Corner: / @timsretrocorner
Vanessaira: / @vanessaira-retro
Socials:
Official ctrl-alt-rees Discord: / discord
Twitter: / ctrl_alt_rees
Instagram: / ctrl.alt.rees
Chapters:
00:00 Intro, Comparing Mess & Being A Rockstar
02:29 Action Retro Story, Day Job & Secrets To KZbin Success
06:57 On SEO, Those Solar Videos & The KZbin Algorithm
11:22 First He Was Arms, But Now He Has A Face
13:14 All The Gear, No Idea
16:09 Exclusive Action Retro Basement Studio Tour
18:41 On Studio Envy & Our Undying Love For Neil From RMC
21:43 FrogFind & 68K News
25:22 The Future Of Action Retro & Plans For World Domination
27:37 VCF SoCal… And VCF UK?
30:39 What Are We Working On Right Now?
33:38 Better Living Through Shenanigans
34:33 Outro & Whatnot
Royalty-Free Music From Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicsound.com:
Outro: Yomoti - Before Chill

[@ActionRetro]

Awesome chatting! Please don't tell your ducks I called them chickens...

[@ctrlaltrees]

#duckgate

[@flibblesan]

"Nobody - calls me - chicken" - Marty McQuack

[@CRG]

A lovely chat, please do more of these Rees as its always a pleasure to listen.

[@ctrlaltrees]

Certainly will!

[@RetroTechChris]

Sean is a National Treasure. It's a pleasure to know him, and he's such a friendly and down-to-earth individual!

[@DOSStorm]

You're a really good at these interviews. Action Retro is always a fun watch.

[@ctrlaltrees]

Oh thankyou, that's very kind. It's just an informal chat between two likeminded people rather than an interrogation so I guess that's why it flows so well... That, and clever editing 😁

[@datassetteuser356]

He comes across as a very nice, funny person, so cheers to him! His channel is indeed a great one. Good talk there!

[@WilsonJonesMusic]

What I love about channels like these is their success in the face of the established TV providers who would never have produced things like this or let the presenters we love anywhere near a camera shot!

[@Mac84]

Great video, it was nice seeing a chat between you two! So when are you starting up your new musical duo? 🎸

[@RetroBytesUK]

Really enjoyed watching the chat, I also had an Oh that's what he looks like the first time he appeared.

[@igorperuchi2114]

A very pleasant, light chat with two of the greatest in the retrocomputing KZbin world! You guys ROCK (but not in a band anymore) !!!

[@mitduschzentrale]

Love your shenanigans !

[@hardlyworgen71]

The coolest thing I ever heard about someone bringing to a retro event was at the Southern California Retro Gaming Expo in (I think) 2019. There was supposedly a Soviet computer running the original Tetris.

[@jasonmarvel]

Fan of Sean's for a couple of years now. Going to start watching your stuff too Rees!

[@Flaps1978]

Great stuff, interviews like this are great content to watch. I like that there's a certain camaraderie in the retro KZbinr community, rather than seeing others as the competition. Really appreciate your channels!

[@travlinmanmark]

Enjoy both of you, watch both of your channels. I have a buddy who used to help keep old machines running and this whole retro thing takes me to that very happy place for me, Some of the other well meaning producers that KZbin has thrown at me do not have the same togetherness. KZbin gets it wrong sometimes but when it gets it right…:)

[@RetroBytesUK]

We do have retofest at Centre for Computer History in Cambridge, now twice a year. The first one in the year normally has a particular theme (this year its portable systems), the 2nd one is more what the exhibitors choose. The 2nd one each year is such a mix of home systems, early 70s mircos, mini systems, unix boxes, all sorts of stuff, from what I've seen of VCF it has a similar mix of stuff.

[@ctrlaltrees]

Oh yes, I've heard of Retrofest but never managed to make it down so it never comes to mind. I'll have to pencil it in to my diary for this year 😁

[@flibblesan]

That was extremely enjoyable to watch! Two brilliant youtubers having a good old chat.

[@dmug]

Good stuff, kinda in the same class you guys on KZbin, since 2021, web developer/hobbyist musician who made a go of KZbin as a pandemic hobby. I subscribed to Action Retro somewhat early and dig his projects. I’m in a slightly different space as retro Intel Mac guy even though I lived through the PowerPC with system 7. Funny how similar backgrounds people who do this have. Very cool.

[@JimsRetroStuff]

Great video! I love the behind the scenes stuff!

[@iSamYTBackup]

damn I've been watching since he was at like 30k subs seeing him get to 100k is great i like his content alot

[@BatteryPoweredBricks]

Great interview! Be sure to make a video when you get to see the chickens!

[@ArJorge1987]

I love the content from the two of you. Amazing chat you guys had!

[@WhatHoSnorkers]

What a lovely chap!

[@smayds]

Ancient computers doing inadvisable things? Tattoos? Muso? Frogfind? What DOESN'T Sean have on his CV?!

[@ctrlaltrees]

VCF UK... For now 😂

[@RyanMercer]

🤘

[@keyboard_g]

The Rees-Rambl-verse.

[@RichardTroupe]

I enjoyed this! Great video!

[@RockwellAIM65]

Rhapsody and Rhapsody DR2 are more fun on a Dell. I like to use the the Pentium 3 machines. Just to chime in... I used NeXTStep full-time in the 1990s + have it running on Intel+HP-PA RISC so y'know... fun stuff!

[@jamesmelody]

You should have introduced him with the Action Retro arm thing…

[@ctrlaltrees]

Ha! Definitely missed a trick there

[@fnjesusfreak]

I've seen Adrian Black do the hyperactive arm thing too, when his face is off-camera.

[@RockwellAIM65]

Why on earth is VCF in southern california when all the vintage machines+so much expertise+past experience are up my way in the Sillicon Valley? Seems very very very (three veries) strange. I grew up in Orange where they are having VCF... it was busy but a nothingburger compared to the Silicon Valley.

[@Aardvarkdk1]

You guys will never figure out how to pronunce the danish word "RØDE"...LOL

[@ctrlaltrees]

They're an Australian company aren't they? Edit: Interesting, I never knew the founders were Swedish. TIL! I shall have to update my vocabulary accordingly 😉

[@Aardvarkdk1]

@@ctrlaltreesWell close enough to danish, we think we make all the good stuff in Scandinavia...including our "holidays" in Britain in the year 965 LOL