Thanks for jumping over to continue reading the story of Jase Macalpine and his journey building Gypsy Tales, one of the most popular Moto Pods on the planet!
We left off with Jase mentioning his Australian studio burnt to the ground with many of his life possessions inside, including all his camera and podcast gear, plus a lifetime of images and footage.
Warning: If the young grommets are reading this, Jase likes to drop a few F-Bombs.
DA: So Jase, let’s reflect on the time your studio burned down, how was that period?
Jase: That period was the first time in my life I’d felt like everything was finally good. A week before I told a friend, “This is the best my life has ever been.” We were paying five grand a month in Airbnbs, two grand a month on rental cars — just burning through cash because I had no credit in the US and without that you really can’t do anything. Then we went home to Australia for a few months, no overheads, just making money and setting up podcasts. Everything was lining up. Then the fire hit and I lost literally everything. No insurance. A friend had even told me not long before it happened, “You should probably insure all this gear.”
So, back to square one. It felt like being in that holding cell at LAX all over again. We returned to America with no money and had to start over. But I made sure my team never missed a payday. I bought two cameras, two mics, and rebuilt from there. Luckily, YouTube pays us monthly and we have great sponsors. We were back to living month to month, but at least we could survive. By October 2024, we finally got a house — the first time we’d had a place since February 2023. Full gypsy life before that.
DA: What a journey!
Jase: Yeah, it’s actually crazy. My wife and I hadn’t even had a house together for our first 18 months of marriage. No car, just figuring it out. Now we’ve lined everything up for the year ahead, got guests booked — it’s finally feeling solid.
And through all of it, I told the boys: “Just do the podcast. Put out the shows. No sob stories.” We didn’t even post about the fire for three months. I wanted to prove we could lose everything and no one would even know.
DA: From the outside, people probably thought you had the dream life. But they don’t see the grind behind the scenes.
Jase: Exactly. It’s hard to make money when you give your product away for free. But I never wanted to be one of those people who glorify the struggle. I wanted the podcast to always feel premium, no matter what was going on behind the scenes. We even lived in Bali for a few months during COVID because my wife couldn’t get into Australia. I was recording podcasts in a bedroom, making sure it looked exactly the same. We rode around on a scooter looking for a grey backdrop — ended up in some textile warehouse hunting for grey vinyl. The lengths we went to just to keep things looking seamless were ridiculous.
DA: So, you had good momentum going back to the States full-time. Did you get any pushback from other media outlets? How were you accepted?
Jase: I think a lot of people listen to the pod, which is cool. I mean, the only person who was pretty vocal about me not being at the races was Steve Mathes from Pulp MX. That kind of turned into a meme. Yeah, but I mean, I liked it. To me, it was water off a duck’s back.
DA: It was probably a good thing he was talking about you, yeah?
Jase: Yeah, I mean, when you look at the numbers, we’re just so far beyond what he’s doing. I was like, it’s all good. I think we kind of snuck up on people, you know? I don’t think they understood the level of work we put into what we do. We never aimed to be the best in the industry — we aim to be the best in the world. We want to be the best at what we do, and the best form of content. We literally try to be the best we can be, and it’s always evolving. That’s something I’m really proud of, especially now. From January, we were already planning a run of huge shows — Tomac, Carmichael, Roczen — planning how we would step it up.
We’ve got three guys working on the show now. There’s Alex Roans, who’s been with us since 2020 or 2021, and Ethan, who’s a producer from Canada. Everyone really fucking tries hard to step up their game constantly. It’s a continually evolving thing.
We never wanted to be the biggest or best in the space; that was never our goal. But everyone was stoked when I was finally at the races. Even with Pulp, we’re cool. I don’t want to do what Steve does and I don’t think he’d want to do what I do. He’s got his niche. But honestly, everyone’s been really cool. I’ve worked closely with the media team at Supercross to try and help where we can. We’re good at the whole YouTube thing. I’ve been very genuine in my approach to helping the sport grow. What we do is one way the sport can grow, but there are so many other ways. If I can offer advice — what’s worked for us, what I think could help them — I’m always open and willing to help.
DA: When all that drama was going on with the Lawrence camp and Jason Anderson, you’re good friends with both camps. Did you feel caught in the middle, or do you just stay the same and not let it faze you?
Jase: Yeah, that was a weird one. It was a hectic weekend. I was stressing. Ando hit me up straight after and said, “Hey, I want to do the pod this week, but I want it to come out before A2.” I was like, “Fuck, alright.” My thinking was, and I said this to the Lawrence boys, “Look, if Ando wants to do the pod and wants it out before A2, of course everyone’s going to say yes.” You don’t hear from him anywhere else on any platform. So I said, “Would you rather be with someone who’s a friend and will at least play the other side, or someone who’s just fucking sucking up?” I genuinely believe it’s good for the sport. I know they’ll get over it. It’s not a crazy deal, and it’s cool to give someone a platform to speak and say what they want to say.
At that point, I’d be super disingenuous if I said no. You just have to be professional. It’s hard to fake who you are for three hours. That goes for both the guest and for me. That’s where my dickhead side sometimes comes out. It’s a long time to talk and you can’t hide who you are. But I was stoked to play a part in it. I don’t think anything has been like that in the culture before. Even having Tomac do the pod before A1 — everyone was excited. That wasn’t a thing before. It’s cool to make content that gets people stoked to be Supercross fans. Our sport does dope shit. How good is it to love Supercross?
DA: Away from podcasts, you’re so busy. You have your wife to spend time with, plus trips with your mates and family. Is there much time to actually step away from the podcast and have a life outside of all that?
Jase: Honestly, not at the moment. It’s been very difficult. But it’s one of those things you just have to accept. Right now, we’re in a phase of really making hay while the sun shines. I said I wasn’t going to do anything this week, but since January, I don’t even know how many shows we’ve done. It’s honestly insane. I did a show every day last week and this week, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. calls up. He’s one of the biggest stars in NASCAR. I’m like, “Fuck yes, I’m free.” Then Dominick Reyes, UFC light heavyweight, wants to do the podcast on Tuesday. It’s one of those things where you’re either in or you’re out.
But jiu-jitsu is awesome for me. That’s my place to disconnect. It’s a flow state thing for me. We’ve got amazing mountain bike trails here, so I’ve been getting out on the mountain bike more. The old saying goes, if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. It’s a lot of work, but I love it. It’s a rewarding thing.
It’s hard to explain, but the project is huge. There’s fulfilment in progressing, getting better, doing new deals. The deals have cool content associated with them. It’s rewarding to build something and the more effort you put in, the more you get out. As long as you’re happy doing it, it’s worth it.
This year, I’m focusing on having a bit more equanimity. Last year, I let the stress get to me. I didn’t have a house, I didn’t have a car. It sounds crazy, but I was living in that world of not having things. At times, I let it ruin my experience. I wasn’t stopping to smell the roses enough. So this year, my goal is to not let it all get to me.
DA: So are we entering the golden era now? Do you have future dreams or goals for the next five or 10 years?
Jase: Nah, we peaked with Eli Tomac (laughs). We’re falling off. We joke about it all the time — “The fall-off of Gypsy Tales is crazy.” But who knows? I’m still keen to do it. I haven’t lost the passion or the hunger for it. I find sitting down and doing the shows very easy now. It’s so much easier with the team we have. If I had to do everything I used to do, fuck, I honestly got sick of the sound of my own voice. I wanted to kill myself (laughs).
But now we’ve got some crazy shit in the works. We’re talking to the UFC, MotoGP, F1 — huge changes coming to those sports. We’re talking to them about being a part of it. Side note, I’ve never said “I’m going to do this or that”. I just post the shows and let people watch. I never like to make big promises about what’s next.
When I was a kid I’d always say, “I’m going to do this or that.” But now, I don’t even like talking about the future that much. That being said, Supercross is on a crazy wave and I’d love to continue helping grow it. I think the podcast is like this selfish thing I do that helps other people. It gives them a platform to tell their stories, and it creates connections with fans. It’s part of the culture and makes the fan experience better. It’s a positive cycle. It’s super positive for me and the people who work for it.
There’s also a huge number of mainstream celebrities who love motorsports, like Chris Hemsworth and Keanu Reeves. I want to expose motorsports and motorcycles to as many people as possible. The goal is to give people a platform to express their love for what we do — motorcycles, cars, racing. If we do that, we’ll do fine.
DA: Epic journey Jase. Thanks for sharing your story with our readers. All the best with the next chapter mate — we’ll be tuning in.
Jase: Yeah, no worries, thanks mate.
Check out more about the Gyspsy Tales podcast HERE
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