JF Musial and the Truth Behind Drive, Tangent Vector and a Life on the Edge

In this episode of The Bucket Seat, Trevor and Bonar sit down with filmmaker and Tangent Vector CEO JF Musial for a deep dive into car culture, storytelling and the messy reality behind building a career in automotive film.JF traces his path from obsessive road-tripper and early YouTube experimenter to co-founding DRIVE, building it into one of the world’s biggest automotive channels and ultimately stepping away under difficult circumstances. He talks directly about risk, business failures, negotiating TV deals with NBC Sports and how adversity became the real boot camp that shaped his career.The conversation covers:The first beat-up B5 Audi A4 that started it all and why imperfect cars matterCross-country road trips, freedom and Bonar committing on air to drive his Volvo 240 wagon across CanadaBehind-the-scenes stories from early YouTube including “smash and grab” shoots and filming McLaren’s P1 while Top Gear shot the 918 on the same trackImposter syndrome, overwork and losing track of past work because there was simply too much of itWhy algorithms are destroying attention spans and why JF believes audiences want flaws, failure and honest struggleThe making of “Edith – Porsche’s Volcano Ascent” and the physical limits of filming at extreme altitudeHow he protects story integrity while working with major brands and why blunt honesty and effort matterThoughts on AI and why imperfection will become more valuable as synthetic content growsCreators he respects, including Luke Huxham and photographer Canden ThrasherJF also shares the story behind his temporary ban from Canada after a mis-timed Arctic arrival, hints at upcoming projects he can’t discuss and reflects on what kind of work is worth making in a saturated content world.For anyone interested in cars, long-form storytelling or the reality of building a creative career under platform pressure, this episode lands hard.Audio Engineer: Justin DhamaProduced by: Steak+Sizzle