Nickname: FlyingDJ
Name: Ulrich Schulze
Location: Germany
Age: 21

As our resident shoutcaster departs for Eastern shores one determined German is lingering in the aisles awaiting his big chance. He’s already an established shoutcaster with an ever increasing fan base eager to tune in.

He may not have the easily excitable tendencies of his British counterparts – but don’t let this overshadow his casting abilities. An attentive and experienced head allows him to keep on top of the action, never missing that vital panzerfaust shot, the crazy flag capture or that last gasp defuse.

Though a more than outgoing character, he seems somewhat reserved. Never spamming to gain extra listeners, a sort of smug expectation that they’ll find him. Read on for the first interview with FlyingDJ.

An easy one to get the ball rolling, who is FlyingDJ?

 Quote 

Well, I am about to finish my 21st year of life, I left school two years ago and am now studying to become a teacher for mathematics and English. I have played ET ever since it came out, before that I was quite active in StarCraft and, low and behold, Counter-Strike (when it was still fun). I have played volleyball for 10 years, but I somehow lack the motivation at the moment.

Seems a strange hobby...how does one get into shoutcasting?

 Quote 

Well, I have always been interested and active in acting, performing on a stage and all that stuff. When TosspoT left and there was no one to fill the gap, I just thought I'd give it a try - I never knew how casts by a non-English person would work. I just started doing it, I was never afraid to be disappointed, but somehow I wasn't, so I just kept on going, it can be very exciting,

Also…I do value the publicity and the opportunity to improve my fluency.

That leads me nicely onto the next question, your vocabulary seems to be ever improving - is it through watching films and the like in English? What's your secret?

 Quote 

Well, partly it is because I have started to watch only original versions of movies and series some years ago, of course I get in touch with new vocab because of my studies, and I try to talk to English guest students here as much as possible. Another thing is that I have started looking up synonyms in a Thesaurus, and I try to listen to casts for other games to get ideas. I have started thinking in English, which I suppose is a good sign (my friends are already complaining)

It's a "unique" situation shoutcasting, not many people are comfortable shouting at their pcs commentating on an Esport - do your housemates think you're a little weird?

 Quote 

Of course they do, but they have already thought that before I started casting, and it might be true :-) Now honestly, many people are making strange faces when I tell them what I do, but once they have listened to a cast, they realize that it is really not some geeky stuff, but can be compared to normal radio hosts and sports commentators.

How do you control your nerves, any pre-cast routines?

 Quote 

Well, I was extremely nervous when I casted for the first time, I tried to get everything right, but now I know that no one expects a perfect cast - they just want to be entertained, most of them watch ETTV at the same time anyway. So I just try to research some facts, talk to the players, so that I cannot only talk about the game itself, but about the players, how they made it to that certain game etc. Since I have been along for all EC now, casting most matches, I know pretty much already.

So nerves are no longer a factor?

 Quote 

Now, the bigger the game, the less relaxed I am, but once they have started playing, it all goes well. It helps (as funny as that might sound) if there is something ridiculous before the game, like waiting for an hour before the game start or those anubis discussions.

More generally speaking now, what's your role within the gamestv.org crew, do you just shoutcast?

 Quote 

I am also adminning the zenith ETTV, and I try to help ETTV evolve further (arni's VoD is a first step). I have some knowledge of ET/ETTV servers that I can contribute, and I answer countless queries concerning match coverage. My main task is, nevertheless, to disprove the prejudice that Germans aren't funny.

What's your current listeners peak?

 Quote 

My peak is at 198 (uQ vs. idle game). Pretty high listener count for a game that was not particularly exciting.

Do you wear socks whilst shoutcasting?

 Quote 

Yes, but nothing else (girls are constantly complaining).

Tuesday will be your most prestigious cast yet - anything special planned?

 Quote 

Yes, there will be much more pre- and post-coverage than usual, including all sorts of interviews, we will look at the current season and the last one, we will try to predict the near future and what lies beyond NationsCup, but well, I would have preferred a Sunday for the game, much more time to prepare.

Kee_ring recently announced his intentions of casting the EC final, though his absence from the scene seems to have left him slightly clueless as to what's going on ingame - and there'll be no TosspoT to steer him back on track. This can only be beneficial for you, no?

 Quote 

As much as I like Kee_ring's casts, I personally think he shouldn't do that. While Toss is still around and active and I would have had absolutely no hard feelings about him casting the final as well, Kee has only been around for the Allstars and is not actively following what's going on. In any way, it will not affect the cast I'm going to make, but I will say it one more time: If two guys are doing an English cast, why shouldn't they do it together?

Moving on from that...more specifically the EC final. What are your expectations, can it possibly live up to the hype?

 Quote 

Well, I have constantly said that this game is not a repetition of last year’s final, since Night is the only one of the idle team who was in u96d at that time, but I think idle have greatly improved since the last encounter, they are both going to choose their strongest map and it will be tough fight. Yet we should consider that idle would have to win twice to be the winner, and I don't really think they are that strong. uQ have shown amazing performances, they have a stable lineup and Drc is perfectly replazing Xpaz, so go uQ!

This could be the best NC to date, will FDJ be at the forefront providing shoutcasts for the masses?

 Quote 

I will! I have been asked to do some casting, and I will gladly do it. I will be at my parents' house for 4 weeks because of my practical, but I have a notebook and internet access, so it should all work out. swine will do some casts too, as far as he told me.

Korea, Dallas, China to name but a few - a pipe dream?

 Quote 

I think I am still far from that, but it is surely a lovely thought. I have just written an essay on competitive gaming where I spoke about those countries being far more open to the gaming world. Anyway, I will do some casting at LANs in Germany over the next months, I guess.

You can give one piece of advice to a budding shoutcaster hopeful - what would it be?

 Quote 

This would actually be something that Toss has once told and that I will tell anyone who asks: Do your casts, make the best of it, and don't pay attention to people complaining, whining or flaming you. Once you are satisfied with your own casts, people will love them, too.

"Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war" - agree?

 Quote 

*puzzled*

We'll end by you giving us your favorite saying/movie line/song lyric (and the promise that you'll slip it into Tuesdays cast)

 Quote 

Well, at the moment my favorite line is "Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy." - I'll try to include that!

Team-Zenith.com

Nellie against flags and shoutouts