{"id":68406,"date":"2023-10-20T11:19:14","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T11:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotcelebon.com\/?p=68406"},"modified":"2023-10-20T11:19:14","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T11:19:14","slug":"we-wanna-be-like-top-gear-without-the-cars-how-long-gone-is-in-its-own-lane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotcelebon.com\/entertainment\/we-wanna-be-like-top-gear-without-the-cars-how-long-gone-is-in-its-own-lane\/","title":{"rendered":""We Wanna Be Like 'Top Gear', Without The Cars": 'How Long Gone' Is In Its Own Lane"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris Black and Jason Stewart are the duo behind How Long Gone<\/em>, the lockdown-induced link-up between two old friends that has quickly become one of the best podcasts in the world.<\/p>\n

While on paper, How Long Gone<\/em> has all the hallmarks of a typical \u2018brocast\u2019<\/em> \u2013 two cis, white guys musing and bantering about pop culture \u2013 it is quickly turning into a very different, and very successful, beast.<\/p>\n

The podcast\u2019s hype is accelerating at a similar rate of knots to its own output, which comprises three new episodes a week. Over 550 How Long Gone<\/em> episodes are now available on streaming platforms, which, in just three years since starting out, is a serious amount of podding. \u201cWe’ve kind of embedded ourselves in your lives,\u201d Chris Black explains to Hypebeast, \u201cWe show up on your phone, three times a week\u2026 you can’t escape us now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dubbed jokingly as a \u201cbi-coastal elite\u201d podcast, How Long Gone<\/em> is a comedy talk show, immersive interview series, and discerning scene report all rolled into an hour-or-so package. It’s free and easy chat that isn’t forcing you to self-improve or get on your grindset. Instead, How Long Gone<\/em> excels in being a regression session; with conversation revelling in frivolity and sh*t-talking.<\/p>\n

Chris and Jason have been friends for nearly two decades, initially crossing paths when they worked in the music industry. Back then, Chris managed a pop-punk band from Atlanta called Cartel, while Jason was spinning Angeleno decks as DJ Them Jeans. Chris now writes for the likes of The Strategist<\/em> and GQ<\/em> while consulting for brands including Thom Browne, St\u00fcssy and J Crew, while Jason is also a podcast consultant.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>How Long Gone<\/span><\/p>\n

Their backgrounds in music originally gave them an inherent desire for discovery, using cultural cache as their capital from the jump. \u201cIt’s just a constant,\u201d Stewart explains \u201cI want to know what the coolest, newest, best thing is because you get a dopamine hit when somebody is like \u201cOh, who’s that? And what’s that restaurant? Knowing just makes you feel cooler.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a comforting element to just hearing people chat without an agenda. I think that’s calming for people,\u201d Chris says. TJ agrees, \u201cYou don’t have to be the best podcaster, you just have to be better than whoever else just pulls up on your Spotify that day for new episodes. If I’m gonna clean the house I need to listen to some pods. And I’ll pull up everything that\u2019s come out that week and I will listen to How Long Gone<\/em> \u2013 cos everything else is kind of sh*t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such confidence might seem over the top \u2013 but Chris and \u2018TJ\u2019 have created something special with How Long Gone<\/em>. They\u2019ll chop it up with New York drill rapper Fivio Foreign about his favourite prescription pills as he sips champagne on Zoom. They\u2019ll compare the inseams of their shorts with actor Lee Pace. They\u2019ll quiz Apple Music host Zane Lowe about how often he talks to his wife in his radio voice. The range is good \u2013 but the consistency makes How Long Gone<\/em> great.<\/p>\n

“Nowadays, everyone can know everything\u2026 but they just say, “It\u2019s lit!”<\/em> One thing that not everyone can do is talk about things in a fun, informative way.”<\/q><\/p>\n

In a world where everything is accessible, How Long Gone<\/em> digests contemporary culture in a breezy, entertaining manner. \u201cSince the earth is flat, and everyone likes everything, it’s not even niche any more,\u201d Chris says. \u201cThat’s the beauty of the whole thing and the reason why we have so many listeners.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the podcast game is massively oversaturated, the duo\u2019s conversational and sh*t-shooting style into the minutiae of pop culture provides a welcome tonic from social feed scrolling. \u201cYou can talk to kids today and they\u2019re like \u201cI\u2019m listening to Aphex Twin\u201d\u2026 and you\u2019re thinking \u201cWhat the f*ck, you\u2019re literally 12?\u201d It all feels unbelievable,\u201d TJ explains, \u201cNowadays, everyone can know everything\u2026 but they just say, “It\u2019s lit!”<\/em> One thing that not everyone can do is talk about things in a fun, informative way.\u201d1 of 2<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>How Long Gone<\/span>2 of 2<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>How Long Gone<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019d be forgiven for thinking How Long Gone<\/em> is strictly for the lads, but the podcast has \u201c60\u2009\u2013\u200940\u201d, male to female listener split of over 500,000 weekly listenrs. \u201cWe\u2019ve heard interesting feedback from women, in particular, who say: \u2018We get to hear how guys really<\/em> talk.\u2019 That\u2019s a big part of the appeal.\u201d Chris tells Hypebeast.<\/p>\n

The duo\u2019s go-to conversations often find them chatting about new hot spots in their New York and Los Angeles locales, bringing the listener into their world with self-deprecation and a refreshing lack of gate-keeping. \u201cWe’re not critics as we take it seriously in the fact that we want to talk about it \u2013 but we’re not making it unapproachable or intimidating,” Chris says, “We\u2019ll tell people about the experience of a restaurant, saying it\u2019s fine, versus fawning or destroying it. It\u2019s all the stuff that seemingly doesn’t matter that actually<\/em> matters the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve taught our listeners to be fearful, not unlike Britain\u2019s XL Bully\u2019s \u2013 there’s no such thing as bad dogs, it\u2019s just bad owners.\u201d<\/q><\/p>\n

The level of discernment has got to the extent where the Stateside duo are informing guests like Suki Waterhouse about the food scene in her own locale after the actress and singer-songwriter admitted she\u2019d never heard of St. John on a recent episode. \u201cThe best part about that was a friend of mine texted me saying it’s because Suki Waterhouse thinks East London is Marylebone \u2013 I found it charming that she didn’t know,\u201d Chris laughs when talking about how the duo stay so tapped in, \u201cEven I get that joke now \u2013 a year ago I’d be doing a fake laugh, pretending I knew,\u201d Jason explains.<\/p>\n

Success has naturally led to live shows \u2013 and tours \u2013 being a big part of the increasingly hectic How Long Gone<\/em> schedule. The duality of knowing and not knowing their guests on stage creates an exciting and flat-out hilarious dynamic for the audience, who often get to witness three people meeting for the first time in a live setting.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime moves slowly on stage. I’ll glance over because Jason runs the timer on his phone, and there\u2019ll be ages on the clock, and be like \u201cAre you f*cking joking?!\u201d Chris laughs. \u201cIf you go up there with, you know, two pages of pre-written talking points and questions and everything like that, that gets you lost in the quicksand a little bit,\u201d Jason reasserts, \u201cThe equilibrium is just a bullet point list of keywords\u2026 I\u2019ll say \u201cLizzo\u201d \u2026 then boom, eight minutes of content.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>How Long Gone<\/span><\/p>\n

The pod\u2019s growth has also brought on waves of new fans \u2013 with Chris and Jason having differing reactions to their new found appeal. \u201cI think that overall, I struggled with it more than Jason at first \u2013 then I realised we actually have a smart pool listeners and 99% of the time, it\u2019s great. Now I feel guilty about feeling that way.\u201d Jason explains that they\u2019ve helped their audience to act normal with them, \u201cI\u2019ve taught our listeners to be fearful, not unlike Britain\u2019s XL Bully\u2019s \u2013 there’s no such thing as bad dogs, it\u2019s just bad owners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phoebe Bridgers, Charli XCX, The Chainsmokers and Bret Easton-Ellis are just some of the other big names to jump on the pod \u2013\u00a0but their episodes with journalists, media folk and people you\u2019ve probably never heard of are just as entertaining. The duo are still able to read the room expertly (Chris is like \u201cThe Terminator\u201d when he walks into a venue) and understand localized crowds. That was particularly clear when Chris and Jason pulled up to the UK for their show with Matches, earlier in the year, joined with one of their adolescent hearthrobs, Alexa Chung.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur final frontier is being old guys on a daytime chat show. We wanna be like Top Gear, without the cars.\u201d<\/q><\/p>\n

As self-certified anglophiles, Chris and Jason were incredibly excited to join the British model on stage \u2013 and even more so when she posted them straight to her Instagram grid. \u201cA British crowd is a crowd I understand,” Chris says, while talking about performing in London for this first time with Chung, “Put me in an Atlanta Falcons game and the crowd’s gonna be a little more confusing. I think the people we looked up to always dressed very cool. Our guys were corny, while British guys were cool: your Beckhams, your Robbie Williams\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s their dream guest? \u201cI mean, we’ll get Drake. I guarantee you,” Chris asserts. “Eventually, when we do get a Liam Gallagher on, there’s a good chance that if we’re like so excited, we’re trying so hard, that it might not be a good conversation; we might blow our load or the energy will be off,\u201d Jason explains, \u201cSo you have to sort of let it come to you a little bit and have it be mutual. I need this as much as you need this. So there is not that weird dynamic where we’re glazing, like, \u201cRemember when you played at Knebworth? That was so awesome.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>How Long Gone<\/span><\/p>\n

The success of the pod coupled with the duo\u2019s acerbic taste has seen How Long Gone<\/em> work on several runs of merch, with a slew of on-point collaborations with brands like Copenhagen\u2019s Palmes, and most recently, Pacific Tote Company. Chris asserts the duo keep their collabs really high quality and to small, on pieces that they would wear and love. \u201cWe’re not huge on like, big, crazy graphics. We just work with people we respect on good product.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking about the recent collaboration with Pacific Tote Company, Jason said: \u201cMost totes are sh*tty, and I realised that having one, really nice one \u2013 which is what this collab is \u2013 is a much better approach to life. It’s the right size and holds everything but the quality ages really nice \u2013 and that’s when a tote looks the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

The totes are seemingly not the only thing that set to age well. After the WGA strike ended at the end of September, How Long Gone<\/em> are on the cusp of switching lanes into TV. Chris and Jason have been eyeing up some lucrative film and TV opportunities, having signed with CAA. The future and \u201cfinal frontier\u201d of How Long Gone<\/em> is sounding bright, with plans to expand into visual content and partnerships, with the duo aiming to become “old guys on a daytime chat show”, like good old British TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, we’re trying to take it up a notch. We recognise that without putting out the show the way that we do, none of that would be possible,\u201d Chris asserts, \u201cThe push into something visual is definitely on the table and something we’re working towards. There’s a concept and we’ve been working on and talking about \u2013 we now have some partners that we’re really excited about.\u201d Jason agrees, \u201cIt’s our final frontier. We wanna be like Top Gear, without the cars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head to How Long Gone’s website to listen to the podcast now.<\/em>
\nSource: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris Black and Jason Stewart are the duo behind How Long Gone, the lockdown-induced link-up between two old friends that has quickly become one of the best podcasts in the world. While on paper, How Long Gone has all the hallmarks of a typical \u2018brocast\u2019 \u2013 two cis, white guys musing and bantering about pop culture \u2013 it is quickly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68405,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n"We Wanna Be Like 'Top Gear', Without The Cars": 'How Long Gone' Is In Its Own Lane - Hotcelebon.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hotcelebon.com\/entertainment\/we-wanna-be-like-top-gear-without-the-cars-how-long-gone-is-in-its-own-lane\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""We Wanna Be Like 'Top Gear', Without The Cars": 'How Long Gone' Is In Its Own Lane - Hotcelebon.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chris Black and Jason Stewart are the duo behind How Long Gone, the lockdown-induced link-up between two old friends that has quickly become one of the best podcasts in the world. 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