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“I just go outside, put a suit on and talk to people”.

Humans are odd. We all have our very own fears, desires and beliefs. Across the United States of America, there’s almost 330 million of us. Meet Andrew Callaghan, a young journalist who travels the country, interviewing some of its most unhinged and controversial citizens. Armed with only a microphone and dressed in a beige suit from Walmart, Andrew has a knack for striking up conversations with some of America’s weirdest characters.

Together with his cameraman Nick Mosher and production manager Evan Gilbert-Katz, they are All Gas No Brakes. Andrew says he has absolutely no idea where the name came from but if I were to guess, I’d say it has a lot to do with the full-throttle nature of all those they chat to, whilst also being an ode to the thousands of miles the trio clock in their RV.

From flat earth conventions, alien conferences, COVID lock down protests, wild nights in Vegas or the far fetched Midwest Furfest, Andrew digs in deep, documenting tales of the misunderstood. The people he speaks with are captivating in their oddity. You’ll cringe but you won’t be able to look away. There’s an air of passionate innocence in them. They stand proud and eager to share, not cognizant of the fact that what they’re chatting about might seem strange to the masses.

Thanks to Andrew’s blunt and naive style of interview, his subjects go on and on…and on, spilling out a plethora of golden sound bites. From Bigfoot believers calling out to the mythical sasquatch to sunburnt 4th of July party-goers claiming their greatest passions in life are “cocaine, bad bitches and alcohol” plus Burning man doofers bringing on orgasms simply by breathing, you’ll be amazed at what this crew capture on camera.

“I don’t know why they say crazy shit…I don’t say anything. I just stand there with a microphone and they keep going and going”.

The road has always been where Andrew’s been most comfortable. As a teenager, he hitchhiked from state-to-state chatting with who he calls “real roadies”, crashing in random people’s houses and scavenging meals where he could. As he describes, things really changed with the arrival of his very own, now treasured Coachman RV. On the promise he’d deliver a unique comedic road doco, a media company purchased the van for him, sending him on his merry way.  “That’s how this all started, I convinced a company to buy me an RV”.  Fast forward a couple of years and All Gas No Brakes now has millions of online followers. A meteoric rise in anyone’s terms.

This platform isn’t all about laughs though. During the Minneapolis Black Lives Matter Protests last May, the AGNB crew dived into real-world reporting. Shooting from 11 till 4 in the morning, they went where others didn’t, interviewing arsonists in front of blazing buildings and looters as they ransacked stores. “Mainstream media aren’t talking to those causing destruction in Minneapolis and asking why they’re doing it”.

Andrew isn’t looking to get political or garner a new legion of fans, he’s just motivated to give everyday people a platform. Kudos to him. It’s alarming to see Andrew speak to a host of white protestors who appear to be out on the streets for all the wrong reasons. One trippy couple explains they’re here “just to get naked”, while another gas-masked individual says he’s simply got “nothing better to do”. It’s interviews like this, amongst the smoke and chaos, that make All Gas No Brakes superbly unique.

Here’s hoping Andrew and his pals continue living on the road, shooting the farfetched human of America. Although they might come across a little cuckoo, we’ve got a lot to learn from these segments, about where we’re at as a people. In Callaghan’s own words, “I just want to show people, how crazy things really are out here”.

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