On Stage, On Screen, On Location: Robb O’Day Does It All

Often, when someone is called a triple threat—you think singer, dancer, actor. Kelowna’s Robb O’Day has certainly earned the title of a triple threat, but the lineup looks a little different: actor, hip hop artist, live streamer. The multi-hyphenate artist keeps creative by writing music as MC Bodhi, booking shows and making film content with his media company 3N1GMA and interviewing interesting folks across the Okanagan with his TELUS STORYHIVE live streaming show, On Location in Kelowna.

We caught up with the dynamic artist to talk about his inspirations, what makes a compelling story and his tips for other emerging live streamers.

STORYHIVE: Tell us a little about your working background—you’re a voice actor and seem to have a lot of video experience.

Robb O’Day: I did background acting before the pandemic. And I was getting into voice acting a little bit. Then during the pandemic, I kind of transitioned to starting a podcast where we interviewed bands from across the world about the problems in their scene. We took the problems that everyone had collectively, and when the pandemic ended and we could start hosting shows, we basically started promoting shows as well.

During the pandemic, we also did a documentary, which kind of started everything for me. I don’t know—I still don’t classify myself as a filmmaker. I just do film for fun, and it’s what I love to do. But as a career, filmmaking really started during the pandemic. We had applied for a couple of grants and were accepted, and recently they asked if I wanted to come back and join for On Location.

STORYHIVE: What drew you to live streaming? What drew you to apply for STORYHIVE’s On Location?

Robb O’Day: When I started it with my really good friend Rylan [Kinnin]—he has a beautiful eye for cinematography—he really inspired me to want to do my own thing and see my own vision. Moving from the documentary to the docu-series to On Location and doing it live was kind of a weird transition for me because I enjoy setting up the documentaries and having the questions and beautiful angles. But going live is very authentic and genuine, which I gravitate toward now, because you can’t really have genuine, authentic conversations with someone when you’ve already asked the questions in advance, if that makes sense.

STORYHIVE: How do you seek out the people and organizations that you interview?

Robb O’Day: I’ve been in the creative industry—whether it’s arts, music or film—for a long time, and I’ve made a lot of contacts. I have a lot of friends in the industry I can call up. But when I’m reaching out to new people, I find amazing artists tucked away in little areas who just don’t know how to push their artwork. They make incredible stuff.

Musicians have the capability to book shows, network and market themselves, but I find the arts industry doesn’t fully grasp that. So I’ve been gravitating toward sculptors, painters and other creative mediums versus just musicians. This year was heavily based on music because the Kelowna scene has expanded tenfold in the past two years. I really wanted to capture that magic. Next season, we’ll dive more into painters and artists.

At first, everyone’s skittish about the live aspect, but they realize it’s just me and them sitting in front of a camera talking—and by the end, they love it. They tend to tell others, who then reach out, so my network keeps growing.

The whole season has inspired me to pull back from what I do outside of work—hosting festivals and shows for the metal, hip hop and punk community and maybe start putting on art shows. I want to find venues and restaurants willing to display local artists’ pieces. It’s inspired me to push in a new direction outside of film that still works with STORYHIVE.

STORYHIVE: What makes a compelling story to you?

Robb O’Day: I find that creatives are often people who’ve had extreme hardships and turned them into something magical. They tend to be peaceful, optimistic, and outgoing. I gravitate toward people who’ve struggled, because I’ve struggled too. Those conversations create what I call “magic moments,” when two creative people are firing on all cylinders and something comes out you’d never hear otherwise.

People forget how strong we are as humans. Artists push themselves to the limit to feel better—and that’s where incredible stories come from.

STORYHIVE: Do you have any personal connections to some of the stories you’re telling?

Robb O’Day: Over this last season, there were a handful of really powerful interviewees. Logan Williams from Revelstoke was probably one of my favourites. I tend to think younger generations lack motivation because they want instant gratification, but he changed my perspective.

He left Ontario by himself at 17, moved to Banff and built a career filming extreme sports like downhill biking. He’s 23 now, living off his career and the happiest person I’ve met. Seeing someone 13 years younger than me so far along is inspiring.

I also interviewed my drummer’s other band—20 years older than me—and their career is just taking off, which is the other spectrum for me as I've always thought you have to reach your goals at a certain age or fall back onto being the nine-to-five. That really showed me that there is no age limit to being creative and following your dreams, and that we live at the perfect time in history to basically create a career and a lifestyle off of anything you want. You just have to do it and put the hard work in.

STORYHIVE: Now that you’ve been through the STORYHIVE On Location program, what advice would you give to other emerging live streamers who are thinking of applying?

Robb O’Day: Don’t choose the easiest topic. You’ll struggle to fill an hour. If there’s no real connection, people won’t watch. Choose something you genuinely want to learn about—not just what you think will get views.

It’s a lot of hard work and intimidating to be live. Be authentic. You’re going to mess up—everyone does. I swear sometimes, fumble words or lose my train of thought because I’m thinking about something they said seconds ago. It’s live. Just enjoy the moment.

STORYHIVE: What advice would you have for live streamers currently filming their own shows?

Robb O’Day: Be as professional as possible. Even with friends, give them a heads up: no swearing, no logos on film, set up takes half an hour, tear down takes fifteen minutes. The little things reduce stress before interviews.

Scheduling is huge. I juggle 3N1GMA, TELUS STORYHIVE, my band, my own hip hop career and more. I wish I’d done more interviews earlier in the month when I had the availability. Next year, I’ll improve that. Also, have backups. People cancel last-minute. If you have a list ready, you won’t be scrambling.

SH: What’s next for Robb O’Day?

Robb O’Day: On Location in Kelowna will be back next year, and I’d love to continue as long as possible—or even move up within TELUS. I love STORYHIVE.

I have other projects in the works—some self-funded—around deeper topics like addiction and mental health. I’m a big advocate for mental health awareness. I’d love to do short-form documentaries that dive into serious issues.

Musically, I’m always busy. I’ve got two tours next month and another in October, so I’m always on the go.

Big congratulations to Robb for the amazing accomplishments! Stay tuned with Robb and On Location in Kelowna—available now on TELUS Optik TV Video on Demand channel 9, Stream+ and YouTube.

Follow along on Instagram: @3n1gmamedia.