ZEN PODCAST 25 - Alexi Smith of NORIYARO

[@premixedbean]

Just wanted to say to see this for me is actually massive. Been following Zen Garage and Noriyaro for years so to see this from the both of you guys is awesome

[@ZenGarage]

Awesome Austin thanks for the feedback! Much appreciated!

[@JDMism]

Super interesting conversation

[@kennytheamazing]

I came here from Alexi's instagram post. I've never heard of this podcast before, nor do I know if I would be interested in episodes without Alexi, but this is amazing content. Good job.

[@ZenGarage]

THANK YOU so much for the feedback, it's what fuels us!

[@tajypops123]

@@ZenGarage Yeah +1 for me, I'm a big fan of the Noriyaro channel but haven't been into any of your content, but this podcast is fucking awesome and i'm only 3/4 through right now. The depth you two go into about random yet interesting topics is really entertaining. I think we have a couple mutual friends in the Sydney area so it'll be cool for me to find out more about the cool stuff you've been doing locally that I haven't heard about!

[@ZenGarage]

@@tajypops123 Awesome man cheers for the feedback! Much appreciated!

[@tajypops123]

@@ZenGarage p.s. I wanted that to read as though I'm looking more into your stuff now! Started the Andrew Hawkins podcast haha

[@ZenGarage]

@@tajypops123 yeah 100% the podcast with Andrew was a lot of fun for sure! Ian Baker from WTAC next!!!

[@DriftLifeAus]

Well done running that conversation, it flowed well. The old school Aussie scene stuff was fun too. Cheers.

[@MatthewWeekley]

In HS my backpack was always full of Import Car mags, we would pass them around the classroom and not do class work.

[@Ratcher.]

Its good to see Alexi just talk about stuff. He always tells us about other people but never himself.

[@WagwanHappyPappyHapPap]

This is such a great, insightful video, thanks to zen and alexi!

[@jonny.rollhard]

best podcast episode! so inspiring as always when Alexi goes on about anything and everything. Thank you for the podcast, will check out all the others too!

[@ZenGarage]

Welcome, thanks for the feedback!

[@RJLightning68]

Heard of ya years ago after Alexi mentioned you in a video, well after donating some stuff to him.

[@og33vo]

Great Cast! Bring back Speed/ASM !!!

[@merlz89]

Aussie OG's. This is great!

[@Rhys1600]

I remember when Autosalon mag was fortnightly

[@Rhys1600]

SPEED magazine could come back out tomorrow and it would still look current.

[@ZenGarage]

@@Rhys1600 SPEED WAS SUCH A GREAT MAG!!!!

[@101SQUADRON]

Very inspirational chat guys and really spoke to me as someone who is trying to build a KZbin channel. Alexi is such a down to earth guy and I feel we both come from the era. My channel is based on the same thing as an Aussie living in Norway and attempting to document the car scene here.

[@ZenGarage]

Rad channel man! Subscribed and all the best!

[@aleks4098]

Always great to watch any sort of content alexi is in 👌

[@Xwizz3rdX]

Just wanted to say thanks for the podcast ;) It was an enjoyable episode! I like the natural flow of the conversation, 2 hours went by so fast

[@noyiian6734]

Such a proper interview man, looking forward to the next one

[@popsprojects6726]

Loved that tour back in 2014 41:47 Justin !! I don't think I thanked Alexi or yourself enough for all the hard work put in for us... Your spot on about getting us access to all those rad workshops and car meets. The sad reality is I didn't know how good we had it at the time. ( That R32 tho !!!! I'll never forget that moment on the Wangan )

[@ZenGarage]

HAHA Right?! Great memories man, such great times. Miss you guys!

[@popsprojects6726]

@@ZenGarage I can’t believe it was 6 years ago 😮 been hanging to go back since...

[@ZenGarage]

@@popsprojects6726 same here man I can't wait to be able to go back!

[@secondstage4272]

Another great convo to listen to while keeping busy in the work shop. Keep up the great interviews and guests!

[@secondstage4272]

Alexi if you are looking for more content to watch im building a Corolla panel van into a dedicated drift car. hope you enjoy it! kzbin.info/aero/PLh9btNqiunfLFmq-P_JVPwZumAR3kQgOW

[@ZenGarage]

Cheers man, SO RAD that you listen to these at your workshop!

[@SuperMatiz]

Great work, this deserves more views! Sorry to say, but all this years I thought that ZenGarage is a part distro, like buletproof automotive. Sorry for that Justin. Where to find story what happened? As I understand ZenGarage is no more? Greetings from Poland!

[@ZenGarage]

Greetings! No need to be sorry man! All good! Yes, we shut down the actual ZEN Garage shop/warehouse space quite a while ago now. I bought my business partners out and just keep it going online only now!

[@SuperMatiz]

@@ZenGarage Glad To hear! Also great backstory about NFS2015! Now we know why theres Nori and Zen logos ingame! :) for me it was great game. Not perfect, It was very frustrating in many aspects, with kinda dumb, kinda "woody" driving, but had great vibe. Climate. First up- it was during nightime. I can't handle illegal racing games in daytime. Can't stand it. No one doing this IRL. That was Underground 3 that we all awaited for... a bit reatrded but heh :) Crash cam was biggest pain. Its almost imposible to play near endgame when cars becomes superfast. It was middle tier for me. Had fun, but it was unpolished compared to old ones. BUT when I played this shitty Payback, 2015 became a good game instantly! And Justin- as a some kind of beta testers- HOW can you missed unlimited amount of gears? I know where it comes from- it was easy for devs to manipulate stats/ top speed of the cars... but gimme a break- 930 had 8 gears, and even more- seventh is somekind glitched, because its only for 100rpm (6-> (cough,exhaust flame)->8. For car guy it was suspicious since first minutes of play: Civic EK9 have 6 gears and 250kmh top speed (stock) Looks like I have to catch up and watch more of Your videos. Also You can be sure that I'll make Zen logo for my car next to Alexis. (photo was taken 10 years ago but Impreza still runing. She has holes in wheel arches but running :) ) noriyaro.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/ruf7l48i.jpg Imagine what a honor was to be featured at NoriYaro... that was great time- life was not that fast and intense. I even wrote some emails with Alexi, but now it's almost impossible to contact with him. NoriYaro grew too big :( I'm even thinking about car sticker says: [small font]I knew NORIYARO [small font] before it became mainstream. hehe my hipster soul knocks from inside :) But I miss wordpress/ blog era of Noriyaro. Not because it was better than youtube that we see now. I think its becuse it reminds era when everything was a bit slower, when we can take from the source, not being bombed from shower of info that we often dont even want... (Im pointing to you facebook) Aww sorry for long write up Justin but You toggled a couple of flashbacks. Feel a bit sorry that I did't follow Zen like I follow Nori back in the days. Makes me feel that I missed something Cheers again!

[@ZenGarage]

@@SuperMatiz hey 100% agree that the game didn't turn out as awesome as it could have. The concept of incorporating the car scene of the time, and the community, into a game was the best part of the game IMHO. I'm truly not sure how much of our feedback was taken on board in the end, we had so much feedback but I got the feeling they were also on a very tight deadline and perhaps unable to make such massive changes without more time.

[@r-spec715]

This was great 👍🏻 , I can see why it’s 2hrs....Noriyaro gets off track easy 😂 🤣😂

[@ZenGarage]

Ahahah.

[@meanddrew4364]

Who was Alexi talking about with the youtube beef?

[@navysk1es]

100% agreed with Alexi @ 1:18:00. Really tired of people talking any kind of shit about any car just because they can.

[@renz1013]

41:12 basically he means what bob ross did

[@ZenGarage]

Bob Ross Forever!

[@mellowrockmusic]

what video is yall talking about at @53:00 ;)

[@ZenGarage]

We were talking about a guy + car!

[@mellowrockmusic]

@@ZenGarage just curious if u have any footage of guy + car

[@ZenGarage]

@@mellowrockmusic we wish!!!

[@majster_styl7712]

Can someone tell me what camera does he use ? Like the exact name ? Thx.

[@JDMism]

Looks like a Sony FDR-AX100, but like he says in the video. It’s not as important as what you’re pointing it at

[@majster_styl7712]

@@JDMism thanks mate, I ask mostly because I think it looks hela cool 😂

[@markcolt1114]

1:24:35 ill be back

[@fourthpanda]

Why the black and white? kinda just takes away from it.

[@ZenGarage]

As a brand we've always been black and white/less is more!

[@Bronckus]

Have we seen Alexi's wife before?

[@ZenGarage]

I haven't!

[@yodeuces3935]

Alexi is married?

[@Bronckus]

I thought he said his wife calls him the ojiisan killer...maybe I misheard though

[@The_FS13]

@@yodeuces3935 Married with kids actually XD

[@JDMism]

Does it matter?