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<div align='center'><a href='http://www.kontraband.com/blog/17347/An-Interview-With-KBs-Wesbo/'>An Interview With KB's Wesbo</a><br><div align='center'></div><br><a href='http://www.kontraband.com/blog'>See more like this on kontraband.com</a></div>

Wesbo. Kontraband. Rarely will you find two words in the English language more entwined, two words that are practically synonymic.

When most people think of Kontraband the first thing that comes to mind is viral videos. You know, nut shots, epic fails, chesticles bouncing. Funny stuff. But there's more to Kontraband than meets the eye. Whether it's the one-eyed monster in your pants or the two in your skul, you've got one man to thank for that.

Wesbo.

I can't give you his full name. I can't even tell you that Wesbo is his real name. Wesbo simply is Wesbo. So I relate to you an interview with Wesbo; the man, the myth, the legend, the epic ninja, in an effort to educate you about a man who's had so much to do with making sure you've been well entertained for the last 8 years. Please bear in mind, not all of this is word for word, quote for quote, so just enjoy reading it.

Kontraband Police: Heya Wesbo!
Wesbo: WAZZZZZZZ UP!? (He actually just said "hi!")

KP: I wanna know about you Wesbo. Tell me about the Wesbo that no one sees. You know, the Wesbo that's home alone in the basement with a jar of Vaseline and pictures of Gr8fuldane?
Wesbo: That video's got out?

KP: *coughs* What?
Wesbo: What?!

KP: Ahem. Where were you born? What was your hometown like?
Wesbo: I was born in the UK in Essex in a place called Rayleigh. Seems like a distant memory now, but I do remember at the time it felt like it was the centre of the universe.

KP: Weird, I've never heard of it. I'm not saying you're making that up Wesbo, I'm sure there's lots of places I've never heard of, but Google Maps can't seem to find it...So, you're from the UK. Hmm. I grew up here in America so all I know about the UK, honestly, is from movies and news stories. Generally that means they have bad teeth and are villainous dogs. So, what was your childhood like?
Wesbo: I'm still going through therapy sessions to unravel the true answer to that question.

KP: Riiiiight. I'm guessing the FSS section in the forum may have something to do with this therapy. A ninja, as we all well know, mustn't reveal too much of himself to the public. I can respect that. So, tell me, when you were growing up - assuming you weren't just suddenly 35 *laughs* - what was the worst job you ever had?
Wesbo: I worked the graveyard shift for a while at a farm that freeze-dried their produce. It was a conveyor belt operation ending in the food passing through a huge freezer that would constantly fail as the produce got caught up in the workings. I had a special suit that could withstand the -40C temp for about 20 minutes, and a buddy alarm that would alert my co-worker if I got in trouble.

KP: That's great thinking on their part. At least they kept you safe.
Wesbo: I got locked in one time and almost froze to death while my buddy slept through the alarm. I had to climb out through the conveyor belt and have hated the cold ever since.

KP: Ha ha, you almost died. That's neat. Moving right along from that you depressing b#stard, let's get a little personal. You married? Got kids?
Wesbo: Yes and no. And yes.

KP: Well, that's informative. I guess I can end this interview right now with tasty bits of information like that! By the way Wes, so you know, any more answers like that will get you banned from OnHerCam for life. So, something a little off the beaten path, what music do you listen to when you're angry or upset?
Wesbo: I'm gonna get killed for this but Depeche Mode or Bauhaus.

KP: Wow. Did not see that coming. We can finish this as soon as I stop laughing.
Wesbo: *blank stare*

KP: OK, *chuckling* what's one thing in your life you wish you could go back and change, other than the answer to that last question?
Wesbo: *another blank stare* I wish I'd set Kontraband up 2 years earlier. I'd be on a beach right now!

KP: Makes sense, but let's go back in time some more. And quit looking at me like that, it's creeping me out. College?
Wes: *nods*

KP: Again with the answer that isn't an answer. Maybe I'm asking the wrong questions. What college? What was your major?
Wesbo: I have a useless degree in Photography from a college that should have been bulldozed years ago.
KP: Wow. Photography. You could totally use that in pr0n! But, yeah, I suppose it's otherwise useless if kinda...neat...or something. So, you spent time and money in a useless college getting a degree that's useless. What're you doing now?
Wesbo: Webmastering.

KP: Oh, right, I get it. Photography, webmastering. Those are similar... *blank stare*
Wesbo: *blank stare*

KP: Are you trying to start a staring contest with me? Those soft eyes make me hunger for you...
Wesbo: Huh?

KP: Nothing, nothing. Why webmastering? What brought you to that choice?
Wesbo: A higher power.

KP: Funny, I always thought you were the higher power. There are higher powers than you? And I've wasted all this time sucking up. You tricked me! Well, let's get into the latest part of your life. What's a normal day look like for you?
Wesbo:
6:00am Wake up every day.
6:10am Laptop and coffee ready and working
8:30am Shower/dress
9:00am Drop brat at school
9:30am Come into KB towers
6:00pm Leave KB towers
6:30 - 9:00pm Lead a normal life
10:00 - ??? See what the rest of the internet is doing

KP: Wow. So basically you're lazy and could use some routine to your life. That's what you're saying? Nice. I kid, I kid. That's a really busy schedule. I can't imagine the toll that must take on you and your loved ones. It must be really hard to sustain that type of lifestyle day after day. I'm impressed. No wonder you don't have time to reply to every question and comment posed to you in the forum. And here we were thinking you just didn't care. So, with that busy a life style if you could remove one part of your day without it having an effect on anything else, what would that be?
Wesbo: Sleeping. Seriously, I'm waiting for the day when you can get a frontal cortex USB plug-in so that you can work while you sleep. I do my best thinking in bed, dreaming.

KP: Ha ha. And you all thought Wesbo was normal. OK who am I kidding, no you didn't and this proves it. Well, since you'd rather not sleep and instead work twenty four hours a day, how would you describe yourself, in one word?
Wesbo: Addicted.

KP: Why doesn't that surprise me? Let's switch gears for a minute since you're starting to sound crazy with your talk of frontal cortex thingies and USB stuff. What do you look for in a mate?
Wesbo: An equal. A beautiful, witty, intelligent, independent, driven equal. And someone who can cook, I suck/stress out at cooking.


KP: I see. So, you're looking for someone who would also like to have things attached to their frontal lobes via USB ports and can cook. Didn't Honda bring out something like that last year? I don't think it can go up and down stairs though. Let's say you find someone as crazy and addicted as yourself, what would the two of you do together, that would make you fap should you watch the replay?
Wesbo: *blank stare*
KP: What does the perfect date with you look like?
Wesbo: Ah. Dinner. Warm weather. A Walk. Stay up all night talking. Sleep all next day.

KP: That sounds nice. What're you doing later?
Wesbo: *blank stare*

KP: *coughs* Switching gears again, and no, it's not because you suddenly look uncomfortable! If you had to play any game over and over again for eternity, what game would it be?
Wesbo: Last One Wins!

KP: That would be quite the game. I figure you might've picked something like "Be Sweet Victoria's bra for the day!" or "Be the guy who gets to fingerpaint on Felicia!" But hey "Last One Wins!" is a good game too I suppose. Weirdo. So, Wesbo, you're pretty well established as the "Wesmaster" of Kontraband. (And yes, you did see what I did there.) What other jobs would you like to stick your dirty fingers in? Yeah, I smelled them. One smelt like Ando's ass, the other smelt like NAL's nose.
Wesbo: Who's NAL? Kinda like to be the editor of something like Face magazine - I feel like the internet is waaaay more plugged in atm than any off-line publication. The editor of YouTube - I'd love to get my hands on that little puppy and make it 'right.' Head of programming at a major TV station. War photographer, still want to try that.

KP: NAL's no one you should worry about *laughs nervously*. Those are some fairly interesting choices. So, let's get to the fun stuff. The stuff everyone wants to know about. Kontraband and the forum. Now, most people in the forum believe you to be the owner and webmaster of Kontraband. I personally believe it takes more than one man to run a site like this, regardless of how many OHC Doritos you may have conquered. So, how many people are employed at Kontraband Towers?
Wesbo: It varies, and depends on whether 'employed' means giving them money at the end of the month. We have 5 core people working on the website, including me. I pick all the content, but need a team around me to help find it and make sure I don't go insane and start picking videos of cats all the time. The 'company' itself employs 20 people in total, but 15 of those work on the business side of the company, not the content for Kontraband. That's just me and 4 others. They're the editorial team; finding content, writing copy, maintaining and updating the site.

KP: Well, obviously I wouldn't consider myself to be employed by someone who doesn't pay me, with something. So you're just a bunch of nerds sitting around computers looking at videos all day, I wish that's what I was paid to do! You guys have it easy. OK, so twenty people, it couldn't have started out that way. How did Kontraband start, and what was your eventual goal?
Wesbo: *laughs* Soooo long ago!

KP: How long ago are we talking?
Wesbo: 2000, 2001

KP: I was 14 years old then you pedo. OK, please continue.
Wesbo: I started Kontraband as a place to dump all the attachments that people kept sending me via email in the days of dial-up. It'd take hours to download them and then a week later the same people would want them back! So I said 'f#ck it!' let's build a site where I can put all this stuff so they stop bothering me!

KP: *laughs* Looks like that back fired like a mofo on you. Go on...
Wesbo: As for goals, when I started taking Kontraband seriously (It was just a hobby for a few years) * said in a hushed tone*
KP: What? Of course that's off the record Wes. I won't print that. *looks around*

KP: *laughs* Funny, we don't take it seriously now.You were saying?
Wesbo: I went for daily traffic targets - 50k, 100k and then the mystical 200k a day. Me and a few friends who ran sites could never seem to break that barrier and it took a while - the excitement about who was gonna break it first was great. (Kinda like breaking the sound barrier)
KP: More off the record, hushed tones. He doesn't want people knowing he equates his goals to that of the sound barrier I guess. Of course getting 200,000 visits a day is obviously the same as a huge technological feat like breaking the sound barrier.
Wesbo: *blank stare* We finally did it and then the site really started to fly. 500k, 600k, 750k and the last target I set myself 1mill a day.

KP: For the people who don't know, 1 million views a day, that's a pretty big number in the internet world. With everything there is to do online; games, blogging, researching, having one million people a day spending their personal time looking at your content is a pretty big thing. No doubt you never made it that far.
Wesbo: We broke that on the 12th December 2007. (I still remember where I was when I saw the stats)
KP: I don't know why that was hushed. I honestly don't.

KP: Wow. So you did make it. Apparently, I was wrong.
Wesbo: After that I kinda lost interest and started to look at milestones on improving the site. I'm still doing that!

KP: Obviously you didn't mean you lost interest in the site, just on breaking barriers. You'd reached one million a day, everything after that is just icing on the cake. So, why ninjas?
Wesbo: They're cool. They're fearless, deadly killers but they also make me laugh.

KP: Well, that made a whole lot of sense! Where does most of Kontraband's revenue come from? Your biggest source of income?
Wesbo: Viral placement, banner revenue, bespoke advertising, etc

KP: That makes sense. *laughs* You finally said something that made sense! So, keeping on the Kontraband train of thought. If you could change anything about the site, including the forum, what would it be?
Wesbo: How many days do you have?

KP: About 10 more minutes of this one. Let's go old man.
Wesbo: The one thing I am working towards is a hybrid between the forum and the site. Getting areas of the forum on the main site and vice versa until it becomes one entity.

KP: Wow. That would be interesting, as it seems like there's a clique of forum goers and mainsiters. Rarely do the two cross paths. It'll be interesting to see where and how far you take the two in the future. What would be your end-all-to-end-all for the site? I mean, what would make you roll your chair away from the desk and step onto the beach saying 'My work here is done!'?
Wesbo: Getting the users to run the site.

KP: It's so simple it just might work. And one hell of a dream, sir. What would make you walk away from the site saying 'F#ck it, I'm done!'?
Wesbo: Waking up in the morning and having no desire to fire up my laptop.

KP: You didn't really answer my question, but hell, with as long as this has gone on, I'll take it. Who came up with the idea for the forum? It was Ian wasn't it? We all know how much Ian loves lolcatz and the forum!
Wesbo: Who's Ian? Pressure, lots of pressure from the audience and other members of Kontraband. I always wanted a forum from the outset, but I also wanted to contribute to it. So much time in the early days was spent making the site bigger and expanding the offering, I didn't have time.

KP: I think you made the right choice. The main site is a hell of a place, and I for one think you did a fantastic job. The forum has evolved constantly since its outset and seems to be getting better and better every day!
Wesbo: I'm sorry? All I heard was om nom nom on my nuts there for a minute.

KP: It's not like you can blame me. How big of an impact has the forum had to the main site?
Wesbo: Not as much as I wanted it to and that's my fault. I dropped the ball in terms of driving the development to integrate it more into the main site, but it will happen.

KP: There's no doubt in my mind that it will Wes. With what you've done with the forum so far and the main site itself, the talent behind the two and the connections you've formed over time, I'm sure whatever you envision for either will come to fruition with time. When all is said and done, what about yourself. What do you want people to take away from the site and the forum?
Wesbo: I wanna feel that it was somewhere worth coming to. That the site is a good visual representation of what is worthy on the internet for vids, games and pics, and Kontraband highlights some of the best of what's around. And to have a forum where people don't feel shy about expressing their feelings and are respected for having the courage to voice out!

KP: I think you're closer to that then you might think Wesbo.

So there you have it folks. You've been inside the mind of Wesbo and lived to tell the tale. Granted, there are many more things that could be said about Wesbo, but Wesbo, isn't even really Wesbo. In fact, no one's even seen him before. These interviews were conducted through the most secure of means and I didn't actually get to do them myself. Wes interviewed himself and then had someone code, recode, decode, recode again and then email them to me. I didn't even write this. Wesbo did. He does after all own Kontraband. If you haven't already and you get the chance, drop into the forum and say 'Hai!' to Wesbo. It might take him a month or two but he'll get back to you. Or you can even drop by to say hi to me if you want. But who would want to do that?

Added: 1015 days ago by Will | Posted in: Internetz | 10 Comments

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