NEWS: An Interview With Our New Brand Mascot
Thunder Cloud by Carly Schulman / Illustration by Nathan Graber-Lipperman
In 2017, NGL created a little publication called “UNPLUGGED: With Nathan Graber-Lipperman.” Since then, the Unplugg’d Team has worked hard to create meaningful, longform stories about the intersecting buckets of life and culture we interact with each and every day. This journey has seen three name changes; over 100 podcasts produced; more than 200 articles published; and two hot-take-filled shows.
But we always felt like something was missing. What was the face of our brand, and how could that face translate our brand to the masses? To answer this question, we hunkered down, took a MasterClass in the mystic arts, fed all of our stories into one of those Botnik writing bots, got caught up with HGTV specials, and finally got around to creating a powder-blue-clad, talking thunder cloud through a combination of mad science and pure grit.
Moving forward, we’re taking a step back from doing the talking and instead opting to let our new brand mascot lead the way. We caught up with him in this one-on-one, exclusive interview, which you can read in all its glory below.
The Unplugg’d Staff: So, you’re new around here. What’s your journey been like?
Thunder Cloud: Well, the whole thing started out several years back — during the month of May, I believe. When I was just a couple of water particles mulling around in the cold New England sky, I was looking around and realized that we’d been so inundated with clickbait — and with it, the same tired narratives and echo chambers — that we deserved more from our media landscape. And thus, I set out to showcase unvarnished, unfiltered, and uncensored storytelling with a high bar for quality and no tolerance for bullshit.
Why label Unplugg’d as “A Storytelling Experiment”?
It’s for that exact reason — labels. They’re over-hyped. What we’re doing, both in life and with Unplugg’d, is ever-changing and ever-fluid. You can’t put a label on it. The only thing we’re committed to is exploring the places where our own curiosity takes us.
…so you’re a media company?
More like somewhere in the middle of that and a streetwear brand inspired by Gen Z culture and life.
Describe yourself in three words.
Charming, plucky, and adorable.
If you were stuck on a desert island with only one movie, what movie would it be and why?
Easy — The Big Lebowski. It’s just the most quotable movie of all time and would provide endless entertainment. The Dude Abides.
You’ve expressed thoughts on building a community in the past. What does that look like in your mind (or whatever you have that doubles as a mind)?
First off, there’s a little ball of sparks knocking around somewhere up there, thank you very much.
Second, it’s all about the people. When you’re walking down the street and you see someone wearing a shirt with my beautiful noggin on it, while they probably have their own unique connection to our brand, one thing will always be consistent: that’s someone you know you can have an authentic conversation with the stories and topics we push forward, as well as sharing our brand’s values.
And what are those values?
A hunger for depth and context we often miss out on in our fast-paced, day-to-day lives. A passion for exploring that itch of boundless creativity to solve problems and tell stories that resonate with people. A commitment to vulnerability so that we can engage those deep, authentic conversations, like those ones you have when you and your roommates stay up until 4 am, learning more about each other and how you see the world.
What are you looking at?
Last name Beeswax, first name Nunya.
Real mature.
To be fair, I was born, like, yesterday.
How do you feel about the conspiracy theory of the government hiding aliens at the Denver Airport?
No comment. I will say, the guy I met from Flarbellon-7 under the Boulder Airport was a good guy. His name was Q-14, I think.
You seem to oscillate between seriousness and silliness.
Look, there’s this conversation around tone that I want to throw out the window. We should be able to be be vulnerable and authentic and engage in the dialogue that people aren’t having, to celebrate the wins of life both big and small…but I also want to joke around, to debate Key & Peele sketches and design cool hoodies and raise money for causes I believe in and just engage in the human experiences of being involved in a community.
Where do you want to take this thing now that we’ve handed over the reins?
The vision? To embolden a real, cultural movement against the grain where we as young people celebrate critical thinking and conversation about the information we consume. Where we can create value for a passionate fan base with our stories and products that remind us about the humanity of people behind the screen. Where we can hold live events and feature friends of the brand, open up a store front to engage our community, and make positive change in the projects we take on.
That’s the vision I see.
How you gonna do it?
The only way I know how — one word at a time.
There you have it. Attitude, energy, passion — the one thing our brand mascot is missing is a name. Have a good idea? Fill out this form to let us know and cop our latest designs before they sell out!