Today I got to sit down with Miles "UberGuitarDude" Roozen and Sonny "Sonny Psydup" Williams of The Yordles. They are a long standing YouTube content creator group that makes original songs about League of Legends.

How would you describe your job to someone unfamiliar with your work?

Miles: “We are a content creator for YouTube” would be the professional way to say it, but in layman’s terms we make songs and videos about a videogame.

What got each of you first interested in music?

Miles: I started listening to music when I was super young. My mom always had stuff for me to listen to. I started playing violin in fifth grade switching to alto saxophone in sixth grade, but in eighth grade I started listening to Linkin Park and that was the band that got me interested in playing guitar. So I told my mom that I wanted a guitar for christmas and that was what got my guitar career started.

Sonny: I grew up listening to music like anyone else, but my parents are super religious so I grew up singing songs in church. My mom pushed me to be a song leader so I ended up singing many different things. That continued until sixth grade where I met Miles because I also played the alto saxophone. Miles and I became friends after that and even decided to pick up guitar at the same time, though I didn’t stick with it. Eventually in ninth grade my schedule couldn’t continue to have music in it though Miles continued with his guitar playing.

What got you guys first involved in League of Legends?

Miles: I was playing WoW at the time and all of my friends were slowly disappearing. One day one of my buddies logged into WoW and said “Dude, why are you still playing WoW?”. I asked him what he meant and he told me that everyone was now playing League of Legends. I told him the game looked pretty stupid and wasn’t for me. I had seen so many advertisements for it and the game didn’t really interest me. Eventually though, something clicked and I decided to try playing it, but then none of my friends wanted to play it with me. About a year later though I managed to convince Sonny to join me.

Why did you decide to start making original music about League of Legends?

Miles: So I saw there was a contest for League called Songs of the Summoned and it involved just making a song about League. I thought to myself “Yo, I can do this” and maybe win some RP or something if I’m lucky or just have some fun. Then I asked Sonny if he would like to sing some songs with me and be a goof. So he came over to my makeshift recording studio bedroom and I just played guitar and we sang about whatever goofy thing we felt like. To submit a song to Songs of the Summoned we needed to upload songs to YouTube. So I came up with the “Genius” idea to call ourselves “The Yordles”. Made a Facebook and Twitter and that’s what got us started. Funny side note, when we first submitted our songs to the email address we were given, we got a normal automated response, but a bit later we got another email from a Rioter saying “This is great guys, don’t stop” and that made us really happy.

Does your music take inspiration from any musicians in particular?

Sonny: First off, our music takes inspiration from everything we hear, but we do have some favorites. I’ll let Miles talk about it more cause he went to college for music.

Miles: At the very least one of Sonny’s biggest influences is Tenacious D.

Sonny: Yeah, people used to tribute us a lot to Tenacious D in the beginning when we did a lot more acoustic stuff like we were “the poor man’s Tenacious D” for League of Legends.

Miles: Sonny really loves Tenacious D. I also enjoy them but not really to Sonny’s level. I really listen to everything though. For example, Sonny and I would be just hanging out or headed to a movie jamming to System of a Down. Sonny would sing Serj’s part and I would sing Daron’s part.

Sonny: Yeah, that would be our biggest influence for harmonies.

Miles: Other groups we take inspiration would be Killswitch Engage, Coheed and Cambria, The Used, Taylor Swift, My Chemical Romance, Avenged Sevenfold, the list goes on. If you listened to all of our songs back to back it doesn’t even sound like the same band. We have everything on the spectrum down. We do all of that because it’s all the music we love.

In addition to creating YouTube content, you also stream on Twitch. Why did you decide to start streaming?

Miles: I started streaming on Twitch because Sonny and I were separated... Not like a relationship or physically separated, we were in two different states hours apart so there was no way for us to work on music in person together. Working on songs over Skype is really difficult and there were also personal issues that lead to a lull in our content. All that lead me to start full time streaming. I had already started streaming before as something fun to do, but those issues lead me to do it full time as a way for me to stay connected to our fans. Also as small source of income, but overall it was just something I enjoyed doing. It is hard to balance the two.

What would you say the pros and cons of streaming versus creating YouTube content are?

Miles: They are both really long lasting communities that synergize well together. The biggest con that I can think of is something many people including myself would be guilty of. You stream and get some income from it and have a bunch of fun, but your content creating takes a back seat even though it’s why you’re able to stream in the first place. Even keeping a streaming schedule is difficult when you need to put so much time into creating content. Our songs can take from hours to days to write and that’s not even counting the video.

Sonny: Another thing is YouTube isn’t as instantly gratifying as streaming. I usually don’t stream with Miles instead getting my own work done, but I work at Gamestop. Working so hard on a song and then putting it on YouTube and finding out people don’t like it sucks.

Miles: Some other cons are it’s hard to manage your other content while also keeping a happy face on while you’re so tired. I don’t really have a Twitch personality, I’m just a goofball all the time, but for others that could also be a difficulty. For pros, I agree with Sonny. You get immediate feedback and you feel a connection with the people who are watching.

Sonny: Streaming is all Miles. I’m very introverted unless I’m on stage.

You must have faced many challenges with streaming and being a content creator. What would be the hardest challenge you overcame?

Miles: It’d be safe to say us being apart was the largest obstacle. Our biggest problem is consistency, and being apart for two years really hurt our YouTube channel.

Sonny: If we were doing other kinds of content it would be easier, but music is a lot more difficult. Trying to sing a song over Skype is impossible, and that’s how we write: he’ll play the guitar and we’ll sing at the same time and we figure out a harmony that way. Without any of that it’s more like “Hey, record this and then send it to me. Never mind, try it again.” and that’s pretty much a whole day.

If you could improve something in your streaming and content, what would it be?

Sonny: Consistency…

Miles: Yeah, consistency.

Sonny: We’ve been on a pretty good streak recently, but yeah…

Miles: Consistency.

What do you love most about doing what you do?

Sonny: I would say, and I’m assuming Miles would agree, the fans. The fans are amazing.

Miles: Hate them. Hahaha.

Sonny: Heh, the fans are great. It’s always a weird feeling. You never get used to someone walking up to you and asking for your signature cause I always assume that Blakinola is behind me or something. People saying “I flew out to Summoner's Con to see you.” and that they admire what we do and how good it is. We performed at Summoner's Con on the last day and people were so hyped to see us.

Miles: It was fantastic. The fans are definitely the best thing about what we do and it is really hard to believe that people come to conventions just to see us. People who want us to sign stuff and take pictures with us. There was even a guy that wanted us to sign his butt. There are people out there who really love what we do and that is one hundred percent the reason we continue. Without the fans, we would not exist.

Do you think you’ll continue making content and streaming into the foreseeable future?

Miles: Absolutely! We’ve talked about doing songs for other games but as long as League is around, we are definitely going to be around too.

Sonny: Riot as a company is so helpful with content creators because they know the community helps build the game so they're very supportive of the whole community. It’s the perfect game to be a content creator for.

Miles: They’re fantastic, fantastic, fantastic.

Sonny: They have all chat and mix tape where they spotlight channels. They are all about the community.

Miles: And they are always looking for ways to improve and help the community. Riot Games in general is just a fantastic company, but not just Riot, the community itself is great. The running joke is that the League community is so toxic but a quote from my mom that really resonates with me and applies to this is “There are far more good people in the world than bad ones, the bad ones just stick out more.” There are way more awesome people in the League community doing cool things or helping out or just being nice and supportive teaching people than there are toxic idiots that ruin games. But those toxic players are the minority and we are so happy to be a part of such a great community.

If there was one piece of advice you could give to any startup streamers or content creators, what would it be?

Miles: As far as YouTube goes, consistency is probably the most important thing. You want to find something that works for yourself. Be you.

Sonny: Yeah, be you. Don’t try to be Keyori or Dunkey because their fans are just going to eat you alive and you won’t get somewhere by doing that. Be you and do what you want to do.

Miles: If you are making something you love, people will see that. You wanna be yourself and find something that works for you then work from there. As for streaming, probably more of the same just don’t over do it. It’s too easy to burn out on streaming.

Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans or any possible new ones?

Miles: We love you guys.

Sonny: Goes back to what we said earlier. You made us who we are. You guys brought Miles and I back together.

Miles: Without you guys we would not be here.

Sonny: We wouldn’t have met all the awesome people we met or had any of the experiences we’ve had. All the people we know now and hang out with are all because of you. Our lives changed for the better because of you.

Miles: Sonny and I wouldn’t be friends like we are now. I don’t even know where I would be in life right now if it wasn’t for you. You guys are all amazing and we love you. As long as you guys are supporting us we will continue to deliver content that hopefully meets and exceeds your standards. So thank you and we love you.

Dignitas Store

View All

Dignitas Hoodie - Black

noblechairs Hero Dignitas Edition Gaming Chair