In the camming game of thrones, only the most sophisticated cats are destined to dine with the greats, fated for fabulous riches and hard-won notoriety. Only the fellas who swerve when they cross paths with con artists, who can parse fading legacies from futuristic victors, will rule the coming kingdom.
Only proper dons will raise fists agleam with kissable ruby rings.
I strive tirelessly to be authentic and genuine. Being a cam model is different than other professions. We are as much personalities as we are appearances.
And Dave Slick, the first-ever XBIZ Best Male Cam Model, is one such monarch. He rules, not because of bought-and-paid-for ceremonial parlor tricks, but because he shines fiercely, even in the midst of competitive chaos. His is a name so imbued with Excalibur-like glory, that it can calmly walk through the flames of other famous brands, the magic of other personas and the intensity of other personalities, with dangerously amused grace.
He is not threatened by their spectacle. He is not diminished by their echoes. He is not made petty by their comparative abundance. If anything, he draws increased power from it all … from the feverish fanfare, from the coliseum clashes, from the serpentine shadows cast by gladiator-lit torches.
For he has tapped into a camming community that transcends company lines to forge unbreakable bonds, taking the hand of Shawna Lenee and swearing a professional pact that soon bloomed into storybook romance … not to mention two glistening trophies.
Their votes were earned with sheer marketing wizardry and with pounding-the-pavement prowess. They made statues of their stardom, not by the grasping tendrils of would-be monopolies, but by the merits of their magnificence.
And when the dust settled, after the inaugural XBIZ Cam Awards lit up the Villa Casa Casuarina “Versace Mansion” in South Beach, Miami, Slick held his head high, repping his brand and chosen network with flying colors.
Backed by the bleeding-edge visionaries at Chaturbate, this smooth operator brings his laser-bright intellect and well-honed instincts to bear upon his cam modeling career to great effect. And in this exclusive XBIZ Cam World interview, as the Cam Star of the Month for August 2017, Slick proves with every word why his ascendant career has only just begun to flourish.
Behold, the roar of a true lion!
XBIZ: How did you get into cam modeling?
Slick: Like almost everyone else in this line of work, it’s not something I aspired to do as a kid. I grew up in an affluent community, where expectations remained high all my life. I had always wanted to go to college and go on for another degree. Because of mistakes as a teenager and young adult, that did not happen. I developed problems with substance dependency at 17 years old, and they plagued me through early adulthood.
Now, I have always been ambitious. Not long after getting sober, I began freelance writing as a means to make extra income. My introduction to the adult industry was on the marketing side, where I began writing web copy for a couple of different businesses overseas. I realized the potential that existed within this industry, and ventured to learn some more about it and the opportunities that existed within it. Realizing there was minimal risk and that I had so little to lose at that point in time, I decided to try webcam modeling.
I had no friends or associates who knew the slightest about it, and was forced to resort to blogs to educate myself. I did well in the beginning, but it was always meant to be temporary. My ambitions laid outside of the adult industry and I saw camming as a means to an end.
In time all that began to change. The business I thought would make me happy, in financial services, was not leaving me fulfilled. At the same time, I began to look at my side venture as a career. Working in adult entertainment held serious long-term potential, and I loved it. After I embraced it as my path in life, all the most wonderful things followed. I’ve met with more success than I could have ever imagined doing this.
XBIZ: Describe the “Dave Slick” brand, in a nutshell. What are your unique selling points?
Slick: The answer to this question is always evolving, and I devote a lot of time and energy to it. My brand is everything. I often tell people that everything I do has a reason. This is the truth. I have not always done everything perfectly, but every little decision I make factors into how it might impact my brand or how it’s perceived.
First, and this is unchanging, I strive tirelessly to be authentic and genuine. Being a cam model is different than other professions. We are as much personalities as we are appearances. I am not perfect, and know being perfect is unrealistic. But I do know that I can live a life of integrity and respectability. How I live my life has everything to do with my brand. I try to do my best and treat people well. I try to show compassion and help those in need. I also live a lifestyle that I’m both proud of and grateful for. I have an appreciation for the nicer things in life, as in active addiction I had none.
One person described my brand to me once as “aspirational.” That is one of my favorite words to describe it. I hope that I am able to show people on a large scale just how much can be accomplished in life, in seemingly the most unconventional of means.
XBIZ: As a cam model who identifies as bisexual, what is your fan base like? How do you cater to your diverse audience members, or are you just universally appealing?
Slick: So, if we go by the numbers, I would say that no less than 90 percent of my fan base is comprised of men. There are naturally some women, but female users generally make up a small portion of the traffic for webcams. Fittingly, I cater to that male audience. My duo or group content is with other guys, and I have not wavered on that yet. While personally, I’d just as soon do content with females as with males, that’s not what the bulk of my audience desires.
However, working in this industry I’ve learned a very easy way to build my female audience. I gladly share this with anyone who asks, because I wish more people would listen. Simply, I’m not a creep. Too many men act disrespectfully towards women, and it’s the easiest way to alienate that entire viewership. It’s astounding to me just how many men do that to their own detriment.
XBIZ: What makes Chaturbate your cam network of choice, versus the competition?
Slick: I tell people my beginnings were with Chaturbate. I researched and had narrowed my choice of platforms to Chaturbate and one other site. Chaturbate verified me first, and simple as that, it became my platform of choice. Now, almost a year and a half later, I am a diehard Chaturbate believer. I love the models that makes this site so successful. I can sound like a salesmen talking about it just by the sheer respect I have for its success.
Seven years ago this company didn’t exist. And now it’s a powerhouse and a titan of the industry. I am fascinated by its staggering growth. For my own part, I see immense advantages in the traffic that comes through the site and the exposure that brings. As a community, there isn’t a better one out there in our industry.
XBIZ: How was XBIZ Miami this year? You had a unique approach to the voting process, partnering with Shawna Lenee — how did that come about? What was it like winning 2017 XBIZ Best Male Cam Model?
Slick: No lie, XBIZ Miami was one of the greatest experiences of my life. The people were downright wonderful and incredible. The camaraderie that transcended any sort of competition was superb. And of course, the setting was just beautiful.
Now while I agree it was a unique approach for the voting process, I cannot take the credit. The series of events that led to that partnership is nothing short of bizarre and amusing. It’s a story Shawna and I laugh about when people ask. I’ll use a cliché and tell you I’m going to make a long story short.
I met a rather unstable young lady while in Las Vegas this past January, unbeknownst to me that this person was so unstable. In doing a quick favor for this acquaintance this past March, it escalated to my name getting dragged into an instance of cyberstalking. Unfortunately for Shawna, she was the one being harassed by this girl. She contacted me and we resolved the issue.
Only a couple weeks later, Shawna and I received our nominations for our respective XBIZ Cam Award categories. She approached me and asked if I’d be interested in teaming up in the interest of winning. Naturally, I loved the idea.
She brought others into the fold with a similar goal in mind. In the months that followed, Shawna and I developed what is quite easily one of the most incredible working relationships I’ve ever had. We were in constant contact, and we worked endlessly. When one project would be completed, we were already beginning another. Our ideas built off each other, and our strengths complimented each other perfectly. Everything we undertook, we were happy with the results. Win or lose, the experience was rewarding in more ways than one.
Now, going into awards night was beyond special. We both were admittedly confident, but by no means did we think our wins were assured. To me, this was now about us winning, not me winning. We sat side by side in the audience and watched as not only us, but also a number of those others with whom we had mutual support, won awards. It was magical and surreal.
So to answer your last question, winning Best Male Cam Model was incredible, one of the proudest moments of my life. But watching Shawna win her award meant just as much, and I was so happy for it. She is a wonderful, brilliant, and beautiful woman. I am so grateful to a crazy cyberstalker for bringing me one of the greatest people I have in my life today.
XBIZ: In fact, you two are an item now, yeah? How did that come about and do you have any plans for duo camming? In what ways do you complement one another, in terms of your individual strengths?
Slick: We are most definitely an item! And I, for my own part, couldn’t be happier. So obviously, it should come as no surprise to anyone that our collaboration for the XBIZ Cam Awards played no small part in bringing us together. This began, as I had said before, with being an extremely productive working relationship. But the byproduct of that was our getting an excellent opportunity to get to know each other. Beyond being incredibly beautiful and sexy, Shawna has all the greatest qualities I could hope to find in another human being.
There are no plans for duo camming anytime in the near future. Shawna and I have different audiences and we cater to different tastes. We like to think of ourselves as being very capable of seeing the bigger picture. We have been discussing goals for our futures since we first began working together, and accomplishing many of them together has been on the table for some time now. We will be focusing our joint efforts on work behind the scenes.
As far as complementing each other, I firmly think she’s the better of the two. Even still, we think in ways … and have beliefs … that are incredibly similar. Professionally and otherwise, there’s no one I’d rather be with. For my own part, I am work obsessed. I had at least temporarily resigned myself to a life of solitude. Shawna is the one person who can make me completely relaxed, and I think I’d forgotten what that was like.
I can say what I do know. I know Shawna makes me a better, stronger, and happier person. I’m very lucky to have her.
XBIZ: For 2017 and beyond, what are your cam model ambitions?
Slick: That’s the question that I ask myself every day. Short-term goals are easy. I am continuing to build my brand as a cam model and be the best I can be. Longer term, I have general ideas, but am uncertain of the precise route to reach them, though I have no doubt I will. I have stated that I want my career to be in this industry, that’s decided and there’s no changing my mind on that. I also recognize that there is no longevity in being a cam model. I have goals that exist more in the behind the scenes side of this business. Cam modeling has yet again become a means to an end, but a much bigger and great end surrounded by people that I have come to love and admire.
