The first time you hear a snippet of the Upstairs Neighbors podcast may not be on Spotify, YouTube or Apple Podcasts, but on TikTok – although it may take you a couple of seconds to catch on to what they’re talking about. As fans in their comments put it, co-hosts Dom Roberts and Maya Umemoto Gorman speak in “code” or “riddles” filled with internet speak. You might hear them reference a viral video before you’ve even come across it, and yet their sarcastic humour always seems to be in sync. In one of the videos with over three million views, they are talking about themselves hypothetically: as granola-eating, rich white people who live by the beach. “I would literally be apolitical,” jokes Gorman. But it’s only a bit: despite their podcast swiftly rising in popularity, Roberts and Gorman have managed to do what few can achieve, building a following while still remaining very much in service to and in conversation with their audience. Even the podcast’s name itself is a reference to being in community.

When I first met with Roberts and Gorman over a video call, they launched into back-and-forth jokes. Gorman sat in front of four Bratz dolls perched in the background and complimented my bangs. “OK, now we know we’re in good hands [because of the bangs],” said Roberts, wearing cartoon love hearts on her zip-up. It was almost immediately clear they became friends not just because of their similarities but also how well their differences balance each other in conversation. “It’s very much giving Solange and Beyoncé, Trixie and Katya,” says Gorman. When asked who is who, Roberts chimes in: “Beyoncé is so industry pop star, but Solange is creative, does her own thing and her work is displayed in the most authentic way possible.” Similarly, according to Roberts, Gorman is constantly asking: if everyone is doing it this way, why do we have to do it like that? Some might put it all down to Gorman being a Gemini and Roberts being a Capricorn (which they mention multiple times in the interview). Others might call it a type A and type B friendship.

Roberts and Gorman’s friendship blossomed as many inevitably do – after meeting outside of a club during a night out. The chance encounter led to the making of a podcast that’s taken months of intention to pull off what comes across as effortless conversations. The spark between the two, however, has always been there. Ahead, we asked Gorman and Roberts what went into becoming the internet’s most beloved neighbours.

Now that you trust me (and my bangs), tell me more about when you decide to start a podcast together!

Dom Roberts: So, funnily enough, when Maya and I met outside of a club, I thought she was half Filipino, but she’s actually half Japanese. I’m half Filipino, so I was like, ‘My Blasian sister.’ We started talking and became super close, which I feel is super rare in LA, where you meet so many people who are like, ‘Let’s hang out,’ but you never see them again.

Maya Umemoto Gorman: When we met, it was very invisible string theory. We were both randomly there for people we never really saw again. It was just so kismet because now you would never catch us outside of a club. But, at the time, I was grinding down as a photographer, and Dom was luckily down to shoot, but we were just kii’ing and connecting as people and became best friends. Then, the pod itself was a culmination of a bunch of times when we would literally be talking for an hour straight. We’d be the classic two friends who talk too much, being like, ‘Wait, should we start a podcast?’

With modelling and photography, you both also have other creative outlets. Is that why you moved to LA?

Maya Umemoto Gorman: I feel like I always knew that I was going to live in LA – it was the classic college to LA pipeline. At the time, I was super deep in dancing. I thought I was going to dance for my life and move to LA to bust it down. Then, COVID-19 happened during the last two years of college, so I moved back to Sacramento for a second. I was taking photos at the time, and photography turned into a whole new passion. I ended up back in LA because I loved taking photos.

Dom Roberts: I can’t lie; my coming to LA is really crazy. Growing up, I wasn’t religious at all. I didn’t have a religious bone in my body. But when I turned 16, I became super Christian for whatever reason. I wanted to be a pastor and thought that would be my life’s calling. There’s a church in LA that I found where you can also go to college online while doing hands-on learning about working at a church. I’m from Arizona, and moving to LA with church celebrity culture was jarring. I had a pretty negative experience, and it was pretty cult-like. I finally stepped away, started making graphics online and transitioned into making lifestyle beauty content, which turned into what I do now.

There’s nothing more comforting than being with your friends and sitting and listening to them talk, even if it’s about nothing. Just feeling like you have someone there with you. And I feel like that’s the vibe we explain when we say what our podcast is to a stranger.

I was about to ask you where the name of the podcast came from. Was it a reference to loving thy neighbour?

Maya Umemoto Gorman: Maybe that’s an undertone, I guess. We never forget our roots. But actually, we were literally just sitting in Dom’s apartment for four hours saying, ‘What the fuck do we call this?’

Dom Roberts: We wanted something silly but also something with a throughline of the neighbourhood and community. It was about bringing people together, but also embracing the chaos of an upstairs neighbour. You hate them and want them to shut up or stop walking up and down the stairs.

It’s now been just over a year since you launched the podcast. Did you ever expect it to become as popular as it has?

Maya Umemoto Gorman: I would say yes and no. I remember the first time when we had a clip that hit the algorithm hella crazy. We were at Yuko Kitchen having lunch, and our shit was blowing up. Our phones were literally like bam, bam, bam. We got all of these comments, and I realised people were seeing it. It might be silly because we were posting them, but I remember thinking, ‘Woah, this is doing so much better than I thought.’ Meeting listeners in person is so humbling. Like, wow, I’m just a girl, and you’re just a girl. We are connected.

Dom Roberts: There’s nothing more comforting than being with your friends and sitting and listening to them talk, even if it’s about nothing. Just feeling like you have someone there with you. And I feel like that’s the vibe we explain when we say what our podcast is to a stranger. I always tell people it’s as if you were coming over to a friend’s house, and two people were already talking when you walked in.

The podcast has a very distinctive approach to social media. Where did you get the idea to film and post snippets of your conversations?

Dom Roberts: We started with three followers, and one was Maya’s mum. It was literally just squad. We started from ground zero. But being consistent was the strategy with social media as well. I was just hoping that I was not as delusional as I thought I was by just posting the moments we found the funniest. 

Maya Umemoto Gorman: That’s Dom’s power. You were never delusional, Dom; you were always very tuned into something greater. We are very yin and yang in this show. I’m a consumer Barbie and a YouTube baby, and you can always tell when people are doing a podcast because they want a  Bugatti. I’m like, period, power to you. But I always felt very passionate about us keeping it fucking for real. If we were going to do this, we need to kiki and that’s it. No shebang, no clickbait, no nothing. This is who we are. Looking back, I feel affirmed in the idea that we kept it very us. 

You do share a lot of personal details and stories. Is there ever anything you’ve agreed not to discuss on the podcast? 

Dom Roberts: Well, everything has a price, and the price is $7 a month on Patreon. Sometimes, we also give something a second listen, and if it doesn’t sit right, it’s like ‘bye’. 

We’ve been conditioned to feel like people on the internet aren’t real people, but those are real connections and real people who can hold out. Making friends is so important as things get scarier and darker, and the world feels much less relatable. 

Maya, you said Dom could always see a vision for the podcast. So what’s next? Is there a legacy you want to leave behind? 

Maya Umemoto Gorman: If I’m being real, with a tear rolling down my face, I think it’s just about bridging the gap of being somebody who listens to us and being somebody who goes out and does shit. When we started the podcast, I was serving artist-core elusive. I didn’t want to be perceived. But what shifted for me was having conversations with friends about being willing to be embarrassed or be wrong if it means other girls will see us and feel like they can do something, whatever they want, for real.

Dom Roberts: We always say, and it’s literally one of my life’s mottos, but the only difference between you and the person that’s doing the thing you want to do is the fact that they’re doing it. That’s the underlying idea of an upstairs neighbour.

That feels especially important in the US right now.

Maya Umemoto Gorman: One hundred per cent. We’ve been conditioned to feel like people on the internet aren’t real people, but those are real connections and real people who can hold out. Making friends is so important as things get scarier and darker, and the world feels much less relatable. 

Dom Roberts: There’s a hopelessness aspect. It’s so easy to go online and see people’s lives stripped away by this current administration and think, ‘Why would I even try?’ But we need to try because we need to change shit. If you live in the middle of America and don’t have people who look like you around you, it’s insanely isolating. We want to provide a place where there are people who look like you, even if they are not where you live right now.

They might not be your upstairs neighbours right now, but they may be one day. 

Dom Roberts: Exactly. Arm and arm, we’re going through this shit together and we’re going to change shit up while we’re at it. We’re not just going to lay to the side and wait for shit to change. We can do it too.