Stereotypically Canadian, with his toque, sleeveless plaid shirt and mullet, a Lake Country man has the country in hysterics over his latest single.
Clark W. wasn’t even finished making the humorous Up Here in Canada video, when it went viral.
The Saskatchewan-born 36-year-old uploaded the video to YouTube to make it easier for some friends to give him feedback.
“The next morning it took off. I only had eight subscribers (all family members most likely) on YouTube at the time so I didn’t think anyone would care or notice if I uploaded it publicly,” said Clark, who now lives in the Okanagan with his wife and two kids.
“But I didn’t account for my mom. So when she saw that I had uploaded a new video, she assumed it was done and ready to share with the world. I woke up the next morning expecting it to have literally two or three views from the friends I was asking for feedback from, and to my surprise it had 50! And the next minute it had 100. I yelled to my wife ‘Who’s watching the video?!!?’ and she yelled back ‘Your mom shared it on her Facebook page!’”
Clark (real name Jordan Wiberg) figured he’d let it be and see what happens.
“It hit a million views in just over five days. The morning of the sixth day actually.”
Now, Uncle Clark, as he’s become famous for, is a sensation, cut off blue jeans and all.
“As for the character, he started out as more of a typical country looking cowboy guy when I released my first video a couple years ago, Marriage Is Always Sexy, but when I was making my Up Here in Canada video, I wanted Clark to look more stereotypically Canadian, so I traded in the cowboy hat and boots for a toque and some work boots. People seem to like him this way and I do too, so I just ran with it.
“I wasn’t planning on making him a super pro-Canadian character, but because the Up Here in Canada video took off the way it did, I thought ‘Hey. Why not? Canada could use a laid back fun Uncle right about now.’”
When he’s not making fun videos, including a countdown to Canada Day series on his Facebook page, Clark operates a small recording studio in Lake Country - The Okanagan Mixing Studio.
“But when COVID hit, most of my mixing work went away (my biggest clients are the type who produce and film live sporting events) so I had a lot time to focus on my own music.”
It was a blessing in disguise and, “it’s been a lot of fun.”
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