Meet Austin Morales | Podcast Host, Painter, & Fire Fighter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Austin Morales and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Austin, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I feel risk has been a necessity to my life and career. If you don’t take risks you will not progress in either. During the early days of the Inner Gamer we would go to Conventions (when that was a thing). We wanted to grab interviews with cosplayers and developers but no one knew who we were. We were not very confident in our interview skills as well. During our first PAX South the big game on the showroom floor was Dreadnaught. We thought to ourselves there was no way we would get an interview with a dev let alone play the game. The line was massive each day of the convention. On the last day of the convention we got the courage to ask a dev for an interview. To our surprise they were more than happy to take us back stage to play the game and grab an interview after. We took the risk of rejection that day. At the time it felt like a huge risk. We did not wanted to be rejected or look stupid for trying to get an interview since we were nobodies at the time. Through this moment it helped boost our confidence and open our eyes to taking risks. On another occasion a famous Voice Actor, Carolina Ravassa, the voice of Sombra in Overwatch would be appearing at SXSW Gaming. We took the risk and contacted her agent. It paid off and we were able to set up an interview with Carolina and it was one of our favorite videos we captured at a convention. There were many interviews we were able to capture at conventions just by taking a risk and asking. Take risks often!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art spans many different areas of interest. My first passion was drawing as a boy. My second passion was filmmaking. Lastly, my third passion was Video Games. I was able to turn all of these into thriving hobbies and businesses. My first passion was not long lived. I used to draw all the time but as I grew older I fell out of drawing and into video games. Although I do not draw anymore I turned that old passion into a new one. My passion to create was transformed into my passion to turn plastic figures into something realistic looking. I started playing Dungeons and Dragons 5 years ago and, Our friend at the time, said he would paint up some little figures (or miniatures) to represent our heroes. That never came to pass. I eventually gave in to the hobby and bought a paint set, some brushes, and some miniatures. Before I even bought anything I watched hours upon hours of YouTube videos to give myself a head start. So the second I put my first brush in my first dob of paint I was off to the races. I’ve been painting since 2018. I have grown quite a bit and I have even turned this passion into making some side income by selling some of my painted models on eBay. You can check out my work on instagram: @liberty.brush.studios In highschool I found the art of filmmaking. I had always loved messing with my dads camera at our family events. Recording family members and just having fun with the camera. My two best friends, Brett and Travis, came together and wanted to come up with a script. We decided to go with a scary movie about a possessed little girl. Staring Travis and some friends from our school. We made a full length feature but it was not very good. At the time we just wanted to have fun. Over the years I got better with the cameras skills, editing skills, and writing. I event went to college for film at UTA. After college I ended up following my dads footsteps and joining a Fire Department. Sadly this took up all my time and I never pursued a job in the film industry. Although I wasn’t doing film I wanted to keep up my skills. I still enjoy setting up a camera and getting things prepped. Shooting something and then editing it. I turned my passion to film into co-hosting a video game podcast with my friend Brett. Our podcast focuses on being the podcast for the casual gamer. After all we do have full time jobs and struggle to find time to play all the games. At first we only did audio but we both had backgrounds in filmmaking so we eventually started making videos for YouTube. Then we started going to conventions around Texas to interview developers, cosplayers and Voice Actors. We also starting streaming on twitch every Wednesday at 7PM CST. Together we have made our passion for film and video games into a business. We release new episodes of our podcast every Tuesday and we also release new videos on YouTube throughout the week. It’s not everyday you can turn a passion into a business but it is doable. In this day and age it more doable than ever before. Taking advantage of your skills is key and everyone should be striving to capture on what they do best.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I had a friend come into town there are many places I would take him/her. DFW has some of the best food and drink around. First I would take him/her to Fort Worth. We would stop by all my favorite breweries such as HopFusion, Martin House, Wild Acre, and Cowtown just to name a few. On another day I should show them around the Distilleries around Fort worth: Blackland, Acre, and Silver Star.. On another night I would take them bar hopping on 7th Street. During that same night we would have to stop by Maestros Tacos to grab some late night food. During the whole duration of my friend’s visit I would take him to all the great Mediterranean and Indian restaurants in Arlington. Tandoor, Olives, Andalous, Kabob House and Fattoush. We would have to make one quick stop in Plano to visit Terra Mediterranean Grill.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to think my parents for all of my successes. They have supported me through thick and thin. Pushed me when I needed and extra push and was willing to lend a helping hand all along the way. Without them I would not be who I am today nor would I be where I am today. They came from nothing and fought with blood, sweat, and tears to the life they’ve earned. I look to them for inspiration daily. Thank you mom and dad! I would also like to shout out to Lizette, Brett and Travis for keeping me down to earth. I’m naturally a creative and my head can get stuck in the clouds often. My two best friends are able to pull me back down to earth. I can bounce ideals off them without fear of rejection or ridicule. I would not be where I am if it wasn’t for their support and guidance.

Website: https://theinnergamer.net/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liberty.brush.studios/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/theinnergamer