THEY’RE the original and most successful gang of YouTube content creators in the world racking up a combined £50m fortune.
And the Sidemen are going from strength to strength 11 years after becoming a seven-piece.
They recently sold out Wembley Stadium for a charity football match, launched the second series of their reality show, Inside, on Netflix, and are embarking on a whole host of solo side quests.
It’s a rare feat for a group in the entertainment world to stand the test of time with no whisperings of internal strife or headline-making fallouts.
But somehow the Sidemen – KSI, Vikkstar, Miniminter, Zerkaa, Tobjizzle, Behzinga and Wroetoshaw – have managed just that.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun ahead of his UK DJ tour next month, Vikkstar – real name Vikram Singh Barn – explained the secret behind the boys’ successful dynamic.
“There’s two main points,” he said. “One is that we share everything equally, so there’s no kind of ego in that and who’s worth what. We all see each other as equals.
“Alongside that, there’s a lot of mutual respect between all of us, whereby it doesn’t lead to major issues.”
KSI is perhaps the best-known name in the group thanks to his new role as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent and his successful pop career.
He also launched the energy drink brand Prime with US entertainment star Logan Paul, which some analysts value at a whopping $8billion, and is heavily involved with the Misfits boxing promotion.
But the other six members have huge fame in their own right. Vik boasts 4.4million Instagram followers and is establishing himself as a name in the electronic music scene.
His grid is a compilation of exotic, luxury locations and shoulder-rubbing with names like Jake Paul and DJs Afrojack, Steve Aoki and Alan Walker.
Despite the celeb connections and having an estimated net worth of £8m, Vik is still able to live a relatively normal life that includes nipping to the local shop and enjoying a quiet pint in a pub.
“I do all of these things,” he said. “I wouldn’t say undisturbed, but usually people are pretty polite. They just want to come and quickly say hi and let you get on with what you’re doing. So I tend to still do a lot of normal things.
“I wouldn’t say uninterrupted, but it’s not dramatically disturbed in terms of daily life and routine.”
Next month he will play shows at XOYO Birmingham (4 Apr), O2 Ritz, Manchester (5 Apr), District, Cardiff (11 Apr) and SWX, Bristol (12 Apr).
Fans can expect melodic dance music with huge drops and nights filled with fun and feelgood vibes.
Vik has certainly earned his stripes behind the decks supporting Alan Walker on his European tour. Their Better Off Alone collab has racked up over 130million streams since its release.
The tour with Walker was a career highlight and Vik admits he had impostor syndrome at times, but he’s now ready to step out and headline his own shows on home turf.
He said: “I’m really happy just kind of making the kind of music that I love to listen to and go out and enjoy myself. So for now that’s kind of the aim is just to share that with as many people as possible and make it a fun experience.
“A lot of these people have watched me for five, 10 years. So just, just interacting with these people, seeing them holding up the signs and just kind of all the niche references that they understand through our content. Yeah, I guess for me, it’s just about just a fun way of connecting with that audience and having fun.”
That loyal audience has grown with the Sidemen from when they began as gamers in their mid-to-late teens, to now, in Vik’s case, being on the cusp of 30 and a true multi-disciplinary force.
“Sometimes our fans will bring their children along who are also fans, their entire families that sit and watch Sidemen Sundays together, which is a crazy concept when you think about it,” said Vik.
“So it’s a big mix. I’d say the average age is like from 10 up to 30 and a mix of male and female.”
And many of them were among the 90,000 ticketholders at Wembley earlier this month to watch their favourite online personalities and raise money for Bright Side and BBC Children in Need.
This year’s footy fixture was their biggest to date and they’re aware they’ll have to go some to top it.
“We’ll have to sit and brainstorm and try and work it out because, yeah, there is no bigger stadium in this country,” said Vik.
Series two of the group’s reality show, Inside, launched yesterday and features a range of reality personalities living together and vying for a £1m prize pot by taking on various challenges.
The Sidemen had a major hand in curating the lineup, which features podcaster Mani Vakili, TikToker Dylan Page and Love Island‘s Whitney Adebayo.
Vik said: “We’re trying to pick people that we think will thrive in that environment and kind of new age content creators.
“We’re very much involved in the process and then during the filming itself, we’re watching at all times and making suggestions based on what’s going on and making sure everything’s kind of set up to make an entertaining show.”
Ultimately, Vik said the goal is to make other reality shows obsolete and they’re already thinking of how to go bigger and better for future seasons.
And given the Sidemen’s track record, you wouldn’t bet against them.
Tickets for Vik’s tour are on sale now at https://vikkstar-live.com
