James Banks: “If you’re not passionate about esports, it’ll quickly rip you apart.”

In the esports talent scene, James Banks is a name that needs no introduction. With over a decade of experience in the industry, Banks has become one of the most recognizable faces that walk us through the action at some of the biggest CS:GO tournaments we love to watch so much. 

Absolutely adored by the community, he has earned success thanks to his contagiously good vibes, hard work, dedication, and seemingly endless passion for esports. And, as he says, thanks to maintaining good fitness and a good mental state.

In this interview, we dive into Banks’ esports journey and discover how he has managed to navigate difficulties while staying fit, both mentally and physically.

To do my job well, I need to be fit and happy

Fragster: Let’s start off by asking how do you stay fit? We know that you’re a promoter of exercise and a healthy lifestyle, but can you tell us more about where you get the energy, especially when traveling so much? 

James Banks: I’ve spoken about it in public previously — I’ve struggled with depression and other things as well. And obviously, it’s hard when we’re traveling so much. We travel maybe 180 days a year, so fitness is hard to maintain, and you can’t be always correct on what food is gonna be available. But for me — and this does not work for everyone, and may not be good for everyone — but I can function with four to six hours of sleep and then I’ll go to the gym for two hours because it makes me feel better before an event.

And I want to feel good. I want to be able to pump myself up and get myself ready because my job is so intense. To be confident and fun and be around the players, I need to be positive. It’s all about my mentality. To do my job well I need to be fit and happy. It all comes together. It’s not easy and maybe not fully healthy all the time, but we try our best.

And about staying fit, what’s the hardest part for you? 

Always eating. Because anyone can go to the gym for an hour; I do four to five days a week during events and six days a week at home including one day of cardio when I’m at home. I always make sure to focus on working out, because then I’ve got a good mentality.

But the food is a hard one cause I wanna go hang out with some other talent or the players and have a beer or something. But you have to just minimize all, you have to make sacrifices. That’s what it’s all about. 

Passion drives everything

You’ve been on the scene for quite some time and you actually started as a professional player. Can walk us through your transition from pro player to where you are now? What were some main factors in the decisions that you made? 

I was a professional player since 2003 and I retired back in 2007, so long long time ago. For me, there was no money in it back then, being a player, I even went to work normal full-time, nine-to-five jobs, came back and esports had grown. And then I was able to make it my full-time job since 2016. But the one thing I always did was make sure I stayed.

So I never left esports. I did little things. I was a journalist, I’ve been in marketing for ZOWIE when the company first started making mice and keyboards, I worked for BenQ, I worked for different publications, made videos. I used to commentate on my personal stream and that was it.

So I just kind of kept going. I just loved esports ever since I started. For me, I come from a very poor background and I come from the ghetto. We didn’t have much, so I feel very lucky that gaming could give me all this and I just keep going. 

What’s your advice for those who want to start a career in esports? 

If you are doing it for money, stop. That’ll never work. Not cause there’s no money in it, I live a good life from what I do. But it’s just, if you’re not passionate about this, it’ll quickly tear you up. It’ll quickly rip you apart. You have to make sure that you really love it. 

I’ve been playing Counter-Strike since 2003. I love everyone in this. I love events like this. I get sad when I don’t get to work in an event like, for example, Cologne. Last year was the time I ever did Cologne. It’s been a dream of mine to work Cologne, same for Katowice. And working the Majors is always the best thing going.

I just wanna do every event. It’s almost nonstop, but I love it. I absolutely love it. Passion drives everything. If you want it, you’ll work hard enough to do it. 

Header: ESL