Mike Lenz Podcast – A Journey into Voice Acting podcast – with guest voice actor Peter K. O’Connell
Here is the audio version and transcript of the Mike Lenz Podcast – A Journey Into Voice Acting with special guest voice actor Peter K. O’Connell.
PODCAST TRANSCRIPT is Auto-Generated
Mike Lenz:
Hi, everyone. Welcome to Mike Lens’s voice, a journey into voice acting. My name is Mike Lens. I’m an entrepreneur, a professional voice actor, audiobook, narrator, and author of Paid To Talk a journey into Voice acting. My goal is to share with you stories from some of the most amazing and inspiring people from all areas of the voiceover industry, as well as other incredible entrepreneurs to help you achieve your dream of becoming a professional voice actor. So please leave us a review over on iTunes and join us over on the web@mikelensvoice.com to be notified of each episode when it comes out. Now, get ready to be inspired. Hi everyone. Thank you so much for joining me on Mike Lynn’s voice, a journey into voice acting. I’m so happy you’re here with us, and I’m really looking forward to the podcast today because I get to spend some time chatting with voiceover talent and teacher Peter O’Connell. Hello, Peter.
PETER K. O’CONNELL
Who is this? (laughing)
1:25
Why are you on my phone? scheduled an interview.
1:29
Get off my line. . I apologize. , goodbye. This is
1:34
Not a party line. .
MIKE LENZ:
As you know, Peter has a great sense of humor, as I’m sure you’ve realized by now. . Um, as his tagline says, Peter is America’s friendly neighborhood, voiceover talent. Peter’s amazingly versatile vocal talent allows him to share many voice acting styles with his clients. From his conversational every man voice to his hard sell, straight announcer voice to his, I’m annoyed with you. Hang up your phone voice that you just heard. , Peter’s natural telling.
2:03
It’s the phone when clients call. Who is
2:04
This?
2:05
You better have money in your hand. Exactly.
2:07
Exactly. Uh, Peter’s natural voiceover abilities are favored by clients for commercials, for narration, for e-learning documentary. Uh, he does TV promo radio imaging, and he even does somet
Some live announcing.
Don’t forget 900 numbers. Don’t forget the 900 numbers.
Yes. He’s very, very active in the 900 number world. So, some in, in addition that
2:27
The takeaway, we’re gonna have to probably the one takeaway that people go, you know, that O’Connell guy, he’s very interested in the 900 number world. That’s very strange. Yeah.
2:34
We may have to edit that part out. That’s
2:36
Nevermind, . My reputation can’t be sullied after how many years? 30 plus years. It’s not gonna get sed. Now, in addition to the 900 numbers that he does, has lent his voice to include, uh, they do include, uh, companies like Kraft Foods, PBS, time Warner Cable, uh, blue Cross Blue Shield, and the Cleveland Browns of the NFL to name just you.
3:01
That was a long time ago too.
3:03
. Well, there you go, Peter. It’s on your website. So first Browns.
3:05
Yeah. The very first Cleveland Browns , not the Cleveland Browns, all of them lost both, both Cleveland Browns teams lost. Uh, but, uh, that was the fir, the first go round That’s the, uh, prior to the Johnny Menzel era, I imagine.
3:17
Yes. Yes, it was. Yes it was. But Johnny’s tried to turn over a new leaf. I see. So we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and good for him.
3:24
Better days are coming.
3:26
we’ll see.
3:27
That’s all they’ve got. No, I’m kidding. It’s a joke. Cleveland, I love you. Cleveland .
3:31
So, Peter, welcome to the show.
3:33
Thank you. if you would share with our listeners, as, you know, as we talked about, many of our listeners are aspiring voice actors. They’re just thinking about or breaking into the voiceover business. So take us back a bit and, uh, if you could tell our listeners about your particular journey into the world of voiceovers.
3:56
Well, when I first met with Marconi, uh, he No, it’s, uh, I told him this, this radio thing will never work. Um, no. For me, it was, I, I actually wrote about this recently because I was doing something, uh, a little bit about my background in, in Buffalo, in Western New York, and how it all started. So my interest in broadcasting started around 19 69, 19 70. And this puts me at the age of about four or five years old. Mm-hmm . And I’m a kindergartner at Madai School in Buffalo, New York. And, uh, the lovely sister, Donna Marie, who I just remember as being the, the most wonderfully patient soul with a room full of kindergartners. Uh, and the school actually had, uh, had a building built away from the main school for the kindergartners. I’m like, how awful were we, that they put us in a different place entirely. But, uh, so she, so she’s basically fending for herself, you know, she had a phone, but, you know, uh, I don’t know if that would go over Big N nowadays, but, um, sister Donna Marie came up with a great field trip idea. She thought she took us over to a radio station, WEBR in Buffalo, uh, which really isn’t anymore. It’s, it’s been taken over by a different station with a different set of call letters, I think. Uh, but this was a news station and a music station and, you know, just a regular AM station, um, in nineteen sixty nine, nineteen seventy. And I recall not thinking much of the trip, but I remember vividly wa walking through the station and going into the control room and looking into the studio and going, wow. Mm
5:39
Yeah.
5:40
Wow. What’s, what’s this? And I remember as a child also thinking that the Ray, the way radio worked was, um, you actually, uh, had a band in the studio and they played, and then they cut over to another studio, and the next song came on the radio, and that band played, and then they went back and forth between studio and I, this is how a 4-year-old, 5-year-old thinks mm-hmm . Um, so to have this sort of set straight for me, uh, by actually being in the, in the radio station, I’m like, I wanna be in radio. So the basis of it all is I wanted to be in radio, and I thought that was gonna be the coolest thing in the world. And then when I got to, uh, high school, I was able to, uh, I got my high school’s, uh, first ever internship in communication, radio, television comm, radio communication, specifically. Uh, there’s a radio station called Foxy 93, FM, WFXZ. It was called Foxy 93. So, you know, uh, it wasn’t long for this world. That was not, that was not a handle that was gonna last long . And, and it’s like, um, Foxy, you know, it was the eighties. Okay. So this had to be 81. Right. So this is 1981. And I remember I was in, and I can tell you when I started, I’m pretty sure this is right, because my first news story that I started working on a, as a news intern, and then working in the afternoon in the programming department, but getting up at four o’clock in the morning, being down the station at 5:36 AM twice or twice or three times a week, which didn’t turn out to be so lucky, was, um, uh, was the assassination of John Lennon. Mm-hmm . So I remember getting to bed early, like around 9 30, 10 o’clock, and my brother coming home and saying, did you hear, did you hear it was on a Monday in football. And of course I wasn’t quite asleep. And I’m like, what’s going on? John Lennon was shot and killed. I’m like, mm-hmm. What? Um, and I’m like, well, I’m gonna cover that the next day. Um, and I, you know, ’cause I was a junior in high school, I didn’t know how to write a news story, but I knew how to, you know, try and gather facts. Not that any facts that were gonna be gathered at a FM radio station in Buffalo, New York weren’t, you know, weren’t gonna be stolen from a station in New York anyway, and from the networks, but, you know, it was a big deal to me. And so that was great. And then at college, I was looking at, uh, colleges that had radio stations mm-hmm . And, um, you know, in broadcasting programs. I looked at Syracuse and I looked at Ithaca. Um, I think I looked at Xavier University, and I looked at the University of Dayton. I didn’t end up at Syracuse because, uh, they just said, said no to me. Uh, I didn’t end up at Ithaca because they said, you can go to the English department, you can’t go to communication, you have to wait. And Dayton said, yes. So I’m like, whoosh, off I go to Dayton. Dayton had the most what turned, this is serendipitous, um, had the most interesting of the three programs. The Syracuse has a famous broadcasting program, you know, the likes of Bob Costas and the, like, of graduated outta Syracuse. So, you know, Syracuse kind of thinks they’re, you know, pretty great. And they’re, you know, they got a good school in a lot of ways, the New House School of Communication. But what Dayton had, which just makes, makes me all the Twitter, uh, was a 50,000 watt commercial radio station. The uniqueness of this station was, it had full professional broadcast management. So we’re talking a full-time general manager, not a student. We’re talking full-time program director, not a student. We’re talking full-time sales positions, not students. And that the only part the students had in it was to be, um, uh, the students were on air, but it wasn’t like you were, you know, you worked, you were on the air from one to 2:00 PM on Fridays, you know, let’s play whatever you want. This was a formatted radio station. You had a, if you, if you got on Monday through Friday, you had a regular shift and you were getting a paycheck.
9:22
So you got, so you got a taste of a professional run,
9:26
Wasn’t, it wasn’t a taste. I was in it, you were in it
9:28
First. Exactly.
9:28
Boom, I’m getting college a paycheck and I’m working in college. Mm-hmm . And I, I would’ve, I would’ve gladly dropped every class and just done radio all the time. Just loved, loved radio as everybody who’s ever worked in radio loves it. And then, you know, the reality sets in and you’re like, you need to pay bills and stuff, and you go, this sucks. Uh, but it was, that, that part was, was great. And so I started in, in, um, in, in radio news in the afternoon, having no business being, you know, being a news announcer, but worked my way through it. Um, you know, you fake it till you make it. Mm-hmm . And then, um, I got on the air in, still in my freshman year, um, uh, beginning of my sophomore year for getting on getting music shift. I, um, was six to nine weeknights. Um, and, and did that for I think two or three years, uh, up until I went on vacation. And I came back, and while I was away on vacation, the production department blew up. Something happened, and I, I, I turned out to be pretty good at production. I turned out to be pretty good at, um, uh, at, at commercials and creating and script writing. And, and I had some Atari decks, and I had a, a, you know, pots all over around me and a bunch of cart machines, and I could turn that into a symphony. Mm-hmm . I got pretty good at it. And I was damn handy with a wax pen and a straight razor blade, you know, cutting us all together. So I did all this stuff and, and management goes, O’Connell, you’re up. Why you’re taking me off the air? How dare you take me off the air? You know? Well, of course I was too stupid to understand this was, you know, this was fate intervening. Sure. Um, so, you know, that’s where voiceover developed. That’s where I went, oh my gosh, this is fun. And oh my gosh, I have a bit of talent for it, you know, and I’m not the, you know, the be all and end all, but I was okay at it. Mm-hmm . Um, and it, it went from there. Clients loved it. And then while I was doing that, they needed a, a new host for the oldies show on Saturday nights from seven to midnight, so they could work my, you know, I had to work a limited amount of hours, like 20 hours a week or something. So they worked it out that I could manage production and I could still, uh, do this show. And I took that to number one in the ratings. So that was great. Um, and then I graduated, um, and that was, and then I just kept doing voiceover ’cause radio turned out, I, I worked for a station in, uh, outside of Buffalo for about a week until I was fired and simultaneously quit . Um, so it worked out really, really well. And, um, and then just did voiceover and did a variety of jobs in between there. That was kind of a long story. Did, did I, is that a half hour?
11:55
Well, that, yeah, I think, I think we’re done. Thanks Peter, for coming on the show, and, uh, we’ll
11:58
Talk to you. Oh, look, the time sounds like the prom date. Oh, dear. We’ve been together five minutes. Let’s get outta here.
12:03
Where did it all go? Where did it go? Yes. Where did it go? Well, no, that’s actually a perfect, perfect. And it’s a great segue into my next question for you, because I know you’ve, you’ve already mentioned some of them. I know that, uh, everybody that gets into the voiceover world, into the industry, whether they wanna do it part-time or full-time, they experience some obstacles. Right? I mean, we all experience them. Many of us continue to experience them to this day, I don’t know anybody that doesn’t Right. Ever stop experiencing obstacles. But what are a few of the obstacles that you encountered? And more importantly, what lesson did you learn from them?
12:40
Huh? Obstacles? Well, yes. Do, do I have a list of them? Yes. But of course, as, as soon as someone asked me a question, I’m like, I had no obstacles. .
12:49
It was easy. It was easy. Next question, .
12:52
Um, no, it, I mean, there’s a variety of them. One is, um, having, I, I guess one of the obstacles is not specifically voiceover related, but is adaptable to or applicable, rather, to, uh, almost any business. And that is how much you don’t know and the mistakes you make as you go along in, in any business, whether you’re, whether you’re a voiceover talent or a CPA or, you know, you’re running a disposable waste company. Uh, I mean, you know, there are schools and, and classes in, in, in, in variety of educational institutions that’ll teach you how to run a business. I never took any of ’em. Um, so there was, so there was that issue mm-hmm . Um, and also it was at a time in doing voiceover for me based outta Buffalo, because I, I, after, after college, I went back to Buffalo. ’cause I just felt like, uh, I needed to be back taking care of my parents who were perfectly healthy at the time. Three months later, my father had a massive stroke. Um, my mom had health issues, and they were both dead by, uh, by November of 1988. Wow. Uh, fairly young. But I just, coming outta school, I, there was just, I had to go home now. Mm-hmm . It’s, it’s, there was no, there was nothing to take me home. There was things that should have, you know, could’ve easily kept me from going home and moving to other cities, you know? Uh, but I, but I needed to go home. Mm-hmm . Didn’t know why. And again, sometimes people grab you by the scruff of the neck in the another world and say, you’re going home now, and I’m gonna whisper in your ear, and you’re just gonna do this, and this is the right thing for you. You don’t know why, but that’s what’s gonna happen. So, um, you know, I, I, and I went home and did that and, and started a video production company because, um, I was with a bunch of other guys that wanted to do that. So we all, you know, popped in some money. I wish I would’ve, uh, started a recording studio, but I didn’t mm-hmm . Uh, that would probably would’ve been a better investment. Um, but, you know, I kept doing voiceovers along the way. I did some voiceovers for clients when I, for my, I did a long running, um, well, not long running, I guess two and a half years, three years, which is pretty long. Mm-hmm . Uh, a TV show, a real estate show. I was narrator of that, and I did spots. And, um, so, you know, the, I’ve done a variety of things like that. Um, and it, it all, just the obstacles that came along the way were, were my doing. The other ones were things like, when I, when I would’ve come out of radio and wanted to stay in voiceover, the expense to have your own studio at the time was pretty significant. You know, we’re talking tens of thousands of dollars, uh, to get a decent machine and get, you know, all all that stuff, you know, and $10,000 when you’re coming outta school, it’s not, you know, and you’re trying to do your own, start your own business. Holy cow. Not an easy thing to do. So, um, you know, and being partners with these other guys with a video production company was easier. Nobody’s gonna go partners with me on a VO company. Mm-hmm . At least I didn’t think so at the time. So there, there’s that obstacle. There is the, the ever present obstacle of, uh, producers who you have to woo over, or producers who are, you know, or understanding the producer mindset when you’re fresh outta college or starting a new business, you don’t understand the producer mindset. What is the producer mindset? Well, every producer’s different. Every producer has their own mind. But to me, it, it says, a in, in my head, a producer is overworked and underpaid. And it took me a lot of years to realize that my job is to make their job the producer’s job easier. Mm-hmm . So everything I gotta do, everything I’m doing as a voiceover talent is about that. So, whether it’s in my marketing, it’s in my performance, it’s in my disposition. When the mic is off and we’re on the phone, I’ve gotta be thinking in my head, what am I gonna do to make that person’s life easier? Because if I’m making that person’s life easier, they’re gonna wanna work with me. Yeah.
16:41
That’s a great point. but, but yeah, it’s a good point. Now, I wish I would’ve known that 25 years ago. Why couldn’t we be talking then? Where were you when I needed a psychiatrist to talk all this with? Who
16:52
Knows where I was Peter. But I, I wish I was there for you. I wish I could have been .
16:56
The disappointment is dripping off me
16:58
Right now. But think of all, think of all the people you’re gonna help. Now that’s try to focus
17:01
On that. Oh, they’re all gonna take jobs from me. Because remember, you know, if we’re, if, if we’re an artist of any kind, we’re, we have self-awareness issues and we have huge ego problems, and we, we beat ourselves up. And, and, and that’s one of the, I suppose that’s the third thing, and I’ll end with that as far as obstacles. Um, the obstacle of not feeling you’re worthy or, or not having self-confidence in what you do, right. Or not understanding what your value is, or not understanding what your point of difference is. There’s a, there’s a, you know, there’s a variety of things. You could go in any direction with any one of those three or four things to have an entire conversation about it when it comes to anyone in the performing arts, whether it be on camera, behind camera, uh, whether it be performer, whether it be director, whether it be management, you know, all artistic souls have a, has a, have a sensitivity and a, um, a self-awareness that is sometimes debilitating. And, and it’s just the way we are. We’re a sensitive group. Sometimes we’re, you know, we’re so sensitive. We we’re megalomaniacal.
18:02
Well, it, it, it does happen. And I’ll tell you one of, and you’re not the, the, you’re not the first, uh, guest that I’ve had on that has talked about the,
18:09
Why am I not the first guest that you had on?
18:11
Well, I, I don’t, I think you weren’t answering my calls back then. I, not first. I, I think I tried to call you didn’t, you didn’t call me back. So, so, well,
18:16
That’s right. I’m kind of a big deal in my own mind.
18:18
That’s what I’m going with anyway. That’s, but, but, but I’ll tell you, it’s
18:22
Been be my prom. How come I wasn’t your first choice so many things in your life and during this counseling session that we’re having ,
18:30
Can I have a prescription? No,
18:32
I’ll take care of you. Don’t worry about that. Thank you
18:34
Very
18:36
And we do Exactly. Exactly. So the, but I’ll tell you the, the business side of it is a big piece because there’s a lot of people out there listening thinking, well, if I just have a microphone and a, and a computer, I’m good to go. Not understanding that, uh, when you venture into the world of vo, uh, especially if you’re trying to do it as a full-time job, it’s a business. And a lot of people don’t have that. You know, I’ve talked to voice actors, very experienced voice actors from when they started. They never, you know, had knew how to set up a business checking account or incorporate themselves, or they didn’t know any of that. And then that is a big piece of it, isn’t it?
19:10
Well, it is. And, and I get two or three calls a week, used to be more, um, and people calling me and saying, and, and it’s a trite phrase, and, and people laugh at it in the voiceover business, but they laugh for two reasons. One, because it’s a trite phrase, and two, because it’s so darn real. And that is the cause that, uh, yes, my Aunt Edna says, I have a great voice and I should be in voiceover. Well, good for Aunt Edna. What casting agency does Aunt Edna work for? Oh, she doesn’t. She just sits home and knits. Well, then she knows all about voiceover. Um, and, but I mean, and, and I, and I make fun because there are people listening going, well, I’ve been told I have a nice voice too. Yes. Alright. You have a nice voice. You have a nice voice. But that’s fine. That’s great. Um, but, you know, the, the sad truth of it is, and everyone thinks you’re, you’re just being mean. Well, yes, I’m being mean. Uh, but I’m . It’s, it’s tough love. Uh, but it’s love nonetheless. And that is, it is a business first. Um, it is beyond all other things, it is a business. Uh, and it, it’s even more so with the advent of technology. Mm-hmm . Uh, ’cause now you have to set yourself up with not only a performance advantage, but a technical advantage of some sort. You need to share with people. Um, you know what your point of difference is? You need to know all about marketing. Uh, you need to know about whether it’s, you know, whether your business is, is of such a state that you need to be an LLC or incorporate, or what the business advantages of all e either of those things are, or more, you know, you need to have people like an accountant or a bookkeeper. You need to know a good lawyer. Um, and you go, oh, what? That’s a lot of work. That sounds like a lot of work. Yeah. Okay. So years ago, um, uh, it’s gotta be five or six years ago now. I can’t remember when I first wrote the book, but I got so fed up with all these calls and people trying to take my time. I, I, I, I sat down with myself and I said, okay, you need to do two things. Alright. I talk to myself a lot. So this was not a normal conversation. Mm-hmm . Um, and the first thing I said is, we, we’ve gotta find a way to let people know that this is a business. I said, we like, it’s, I’m talking with myself. This is how, this is how, doctor, what do you think is my problem?
21:27
Um, well, when you spend a lot of time in a room all by yourself, Yes,
21:30
That’s exactly
21:31
Right. Single bulb day after day after day, and you start answering your own questions. It’s, it’s so sad. Um, but what I found, what I, what I looked at it and said was, okay, you need to write a pamphlet or a blog post or something. Well, a blog post turned into a 50 page ebook mm-hmm . Um, which is, which I call the voiceover entrance exam. Because Well,
21:53
Unless, unless people think that that Peter really is as mean as he sounds, he did this for free mm-hmm . Right? I mean, exactly. Right. You really are a nice guy.
22:02
Because I was, I, I, my thought process was simply this. It’s like, okay, one, I, I wanted a solution for me. I wanted to be able to direct, you know, direct these people away from me, . Yes. And read this, and then see how, how serious they are about, about
22:19
Right. And, and then, and then call. Right. And then call. Yeah. Yeah. Don’t
22:22
Call first. So I, I set up a website, voiceover entrance exam.com. And if you go to that website, if you, if you’re so inclined, God bless you. Um, there is a free download of the book, um, that talks about what voiceover is really like as some, some resources to it. Um, and, and basically tells the honest truth about what voiceover is and, and, and sort of the thick skin you have to be to be a voiceover performer. And I’m sure if I did a little studying, and as, as we discussed in my college years, I’m not big on studying. Um, but, you know, if I did a little studying, I’m sure I would’ve found an acting book that says the exact same thing. Mm. Because it’s not just about performing. It’s not just about, um, you know, stanis ky and all their different, you know, acting methods. And I’m sure there are more than that. Mm-hmm . I know they’re more than that. Um, but it is about being able to operate yourself as a business and looking at yourself as, as a real operation, being serious about that, knowing that you’re gonna have to call people and on the phone and say, hi, my name is, and you don’t know me, but I’d like you to hire me. And that for some people is like nails on a chalkboard. Um, that there, that there is a ton of rejection and voiceover, fully, 90% of, of what you do gets ignored in auditions. Um, and so that must mean you suck, right? Well, no, uh, that unfortunately is not a clear indicator that you suck. Um, the fact that you have no money coming in at all, uh, in your voiceover, and you’ve been doing it five years, you may have a career problem you need. There may be something to that. You need to look at that. Um, you know, but, and, and, and one of the things to talk about in the book is being able to listen, uh, and, and hear people’s insight for you. Mm-hmm . You know, it’s, it’s important, uh, to be able to take real criticism. And it’s also important. This is, this is, wow, this is deep stuff. So be able to take the, the deep criticism to heart and, and, and realize that maybe there’s an issue in some way, shape or form in your life, or secondly, to step over the critics and, and don’t let them get in the way of your dream. Mm-hmm . How you manage that as an individual is you go, girl, I don’t know. Uh, because it’s, it, it, it’s hard to know. Uh, but I, I, I just go back to the fact that life has signposts, and, and, and you’ll figure it out however, you need to figure it out that this is, you know, two roads diverge in a yellow wood. Uh, and, and, sorry, I could not travel both mm-hmm . So, you know, which road is the right road for you. You’ve gotta, you’ve gotta figure that out.
24:57
Well, and everybody’s journey is different, and we know that. And, but I’ll, I’ll tell you that folks, I have read the book. I read the free download, and it’s incredibly valuable. And, and Peter’s exactly right in that it’s a little bit of tough love, but it’s, it’s something that anybody who’s thinking about getting into the voiceover industry, do yourself a favor and, and, and download that and read it. Now, Peter, in addition to that, uh, for those people who are, who’ve made that decision, they’ve, they’ve read the, the voiceover entrance exam. Uh, they’ve made that decision that they’d like to move forward with their career. You do also offer a voiceover workshop. So tell us about that and how you work with perspective, uh, voice actors, uh, in that area of your professional life.
25:40
Well, that was part two of what I needed to do when, so the first part was to write the book and say, okay, here, uh, go, go read this book. And then if you, if you want to study with me and learn from me, fine. I’ll put together a workshop. And I called it some, I, I spent hours and hours and spent thousands and thousands of dollars on the name. And I came up with voiceover workshop.
26:05
Magnificent. and Pepsi just didn’t sound right. Mm-hmm . So I went voiceover workshop. Mm-hmm . And, um, would you believe that VO workshop.com was available at the time? I was stunned. I’m like, oh, please, somebody must have grabbed this name off the internet, but they didn’t. And so I wanted to get paid for my name, . Mm-hmm . What I do. And I, and I’m, and I’m extremely clear to people about a number of things. One, if you wanna get into voiceover, it’s vital. Well, you know what, I’ll save that. I think you wanna ask me about some, you asked me about advice, and also I’ll hold on that mm-hmm . Um, but so when I, when I wrote the book, I knew I was gonna have to have this backup opportunity. I, I needed to, you know, direct them somewhere if they wanted to pay me, okay, I’ll talk to you. And if you don’t wanna pay me, I don’t wanna be a jerk, but I’m getting paid by other people, so my time has value. Right. But, you know, I’m also very clear about a number of things when it comes to teaching. I, boy, I hate using the word teacher for me, because, um, I am not as good a teacher as a Pat Fraley, as a Maurice Tobias, as a Nancy Wolf, as a Tony Sil, you know, all these, all all these teachers and, and on and on and on. I mean, there’s just a bajillion of ’em. Mm-hmm. Who are people you can learn from, who you can work with. Um, y you know, they’re just, they, they know, they understand the principles of teaching. I, as we have discussed, and this is the theme going through here, and not much on studying. Um, and so , the way I set it up was this. I said, if you wanna work with me, I’ve got 30 plus years of experience. We can cover performance, we can cover marketing, we can cover technology, we can cover, uh, problems at home. Whatever you wanna talk to me about for two hours, you can do that. Um, and, and, and so I’m sharing with them my experience, what my knowledge is. And, and so if they wanna talk about performance, I’ll tell ’em, well, here’s what I do and how I do it, and let me listen to what you do and how you do it. Mm-hmm . Or if I’m talking with somebody about, um, uh, about a marketing plan, here’s, you know, here’s how I write a marketing plan. Let me help you write your marketing plan. Um, and so, you know, that type of thing. You wanna talk about technology, I’ll, I’ll go, you know, to a certain extent, and then I’ll direct you, uh, to people who are really experts in tech, uh, technology. Um, and, and that’s the same as true in marketing and performance, because I don’t present myself as the be all and end all. I never have, never will. Now,
28:33
You, you, you refer to yourself as what the voiceover, uh, cons, cons, cons,
28:38
Cons. Because I think the voiceover teacher is just, you know, I, I, I, you know, the, the one that comes to mind first and foremost is, is, is Fraley. Yeah. Because he has a whole syllabus mm-hmm . I mean, that guy’s got it down for character, voice and everything. I mean, there’s just, I, I don’t know. There’s many greater character voice teachers than Pat Fraley. Uh, and I’ve been to a bunch of ’em. None of ’em are bad, but he’s j he just, his enthusiasm, his, his, his, his, his overall knowledge, his ability to communicate to a performer, uh, what they need to do, and how they need to get there in so many different ways, depending on the person is so valuable. It’s just, it’s just great.
29:16
Right, right. Yeah. He is, he is. Fantastic. Um, so I do want to get off subject just a little bit, because I did see on your website that you, uh,
29:24
I’m here all night. I’m not,
29:26
We, we only have a few more minutes, but, but I do want, I’m, I’m Peter, what can I tell you? , we’re running out of time. Um, the, we can talk all night. We don’t worry. I, I’ll edit most of it out. But the, the, uh, the you do have on your website about how you are, uh, your goal is to visit 50 states and stay overnight. Yes. How the heck is that going?
29:48
It’s , it’s going very well. I’m down to 16 more states. I have a marketing company that’s, that I’ve had since 1995. And, um, and, and with that marketing company, I do do voiceover. I do marketing. Why do I do that? I have three children. I have to feed them. They have to clothe them. And they like to go to school, don’t you? Yes, he does. He’s, he’s, he’s down in my booth here. He is just, he’s just hanging out with me, one of ’em. Oh, that’s great. And, um, and so, you know, I, I started this marketing company and, and I’m, and I’m pretty good at marketing, so, and, and sales. And so, um, I travel for that, for that business. And I can do, you know, I have a portable studio, and I’m, I’m the one of the best pillow fort builders you ever, ever saw. And, you know, I’ve done, I’ve done spots across the country in various cities. Mm-hmm . I remember the most memorable one for me was I was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Um, and I was, uh, I, I was connected in a, in a session with Mumbai, India, uh, and I think it was Mumbai, and it was a, a, a recession for Bacardi rum. And I was the voice of Bacardi rum in India for a while. Um, and I still don’t know how they found me, uh, but they did. And, and I decided mine was the most American sounding voice in the world. Uh, but Okay. That was, that was kind of a nice gig. And, you know, yay for me. And, and glad it worked out. And, but I was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota recording in a Marriott hotel room. Woo hoo. Woo. A good life. Yeah. A
31:14
Good life. You know, you have, if you have the equipment, it works out well. So yes, I have been to, um, I only have, I only have 16 states remaining. Um, and, and two of them, of course are Alaska and Hawaii. Mm-hmm . Uh, I don’t know if I’ll get there, but if you’re gonna go on the road, as I’ve told many friends, you’ve gotta, you’ve gotta turn it into, you’ve gotta turn it into a bit of a game. And then the other thing I get to do when I, when I travel is, uh, I get to see my voiceover friends mm-hmm . Um, and I’ve made a lot of them over the years. I, uh, there’s a, uh, a, a website called vo bb.com. It’s the voiceover bulletin board. It’s been around since, since Marconi, I think, uh, uh, DB Cooper, Deirdre Cooper, uh, Deirdre Cooper has, um, uh, put it, put it together years ago. And it really is just a very nice community and has outlasted many, uh, wannabe voiceover bulletin boards. And it’s just a good group of people. Um, from that group of people, uh, I met your friend of mine, Bob Soer mm-hmm . Who was one of the first people years ago who I met up with in person. Uh, he was in the area, and he called me and said, Hey, let’s get together. And I drove an hour and a half, uh, down to Dansville, New York, and he and I had lunch. It was, it was great fun. And, uh, so, so that, and so with that, with the traveling, I get to see all these people. I was in Min . This is a, uh, try and be a brief story. This, uh, this past week is was Tuesday. I flew into Minneapolis Airport, and I had a meeting in, uh, in a suburb of, uh, Minneapolis. And while I was, while I was taxiing to the gate at Minneapolis Airport, arriving at the airport in my plane, my private plane, I’ll have, you know, , I just wanted to make you sound, sound important. Sound important. Yes. Yes. Um, but I saw on Facebook that one of my voiceover friends was tweeting from the Minneapolis airport, who doesn’t, doesn’t usually hang out in Minneapolis Airport. Mm-hmm . He was traveling, he was connecting flights in Minneapolis. And it was, um, uh, Peter Bishop, who is a great, um, uh, UK voice talent based outta New York City. Uh, he calls himself, uh, very smartly, I think English, an Englishman in New York. Mm. Um, and so he was stuck waiting for his plane. And I got off my plane, and we met at one of the bars. We hung out for about an hour mm-hmm . Uh, and had a lovely visit. So that was, uh, that was very nice. And, uh, and that sort of stuff happens all the time. And so on my blog, which is called Vox marketizing.com, um, if you just blog it, it’s connected to the audio O’Connell dot com website, uh, under social media. But if you look under, uh, voiceover meetups, you’ll see, I don’t know how many, maybe over a hundred by now. Wow. Not including anything having to do with FAF Con, which is a whole nother story if you wanna talk about that.
33:57
Right. Right. Yes. And, and, and I’m familiar with faf Con ’cause I’ve had some other guests that have been at FAF Con, and that’s one of those conferences that I think everybody should attend. I have personally not been, but I will be in front of my computer that day typing in all the information frantically with everybody else, trying to be one of those 100 people that gets to go. Right. Because
34:15
I want to, that’s, that’s the great thing, because it is a vetted event. It’s one of the very few vetted events, possibly only the vetted event. But I never wanted, uh, you know, uh, speak in, in extremes. But, um, you know, Amy Snidely is the brain trust behind that. Uh, I have been with her, uh, on the journey since, since I guess the beginning. I helped do some, some marketing for the first one. I, I created a video and, uh, for it to help market it and get people involved. And then I got involved, and I’ve been, uh, part of the team for a bunch of years. Pam, Pam Tierney, my friend, the great actress and voice talent, Pam Tierney roped me in on, on sponsorship. And then, uh, she said, oh, you’re good. You’re great. Doing great now. That’s terrific. Bye
34:59
Where’d she go? . Um, but, uh, and, and with Amy, Amy has a co-producer, uh, Lauren McCullough. Yes. Who, uh, I believe is, uh, is, uh, Amy’s Angel sent on high to, uh, help Amy put this event together, because, uh, Lauren’s not only a lovely person, but she’s also so incredibly organized and so patient, uh, in so many ways. She has a great disposition. And so she’s perfect for that, uh, for that role, uh, of co-producer in there. So it, you know, it works out extremely, extremely well to be involved in. I think the next, uh, faf Con is, we just did a faf camp, uh, a little while ago. We’re gonna do a faf Con in, uh, in I think 2016. The date has not been picked. And no, I don’t know the city, and everybody’s still Peter Bishop. I’m walking out the bar in the Minneapolis airport the other day, and I hear Pizza, pizza. And I go, what, what? Where is the next Faf Con? I’m like, I dunno, uh, . He’s like, alright, off with you then. And I’m like, well, fair enough. Um, and so, you know, but it’s a great event. Um, and it’s, and it’s, you know, voiceover professionals, you know, working with voiceover professionals, learning from voiceover professionals, uh, not trying to sell you on books, not trying to sell you on webinars, not trying to sell you on, on anything. Mm-hmm . Um, and that’s, that’s the beauty of it. And, um, and there’s some really talented people there who I become great friends with and, and who’s, who’s now whose friendship I value most of all, but whose insights I value almost equally, uh, with that. So, uh,
36:28
Absolutely. And I, and there, there’s so many of them that I’m meeting through the podcast then, and I’ll tell you, and I’ve said this to other guests as well, you, you, you realize when you get involved in the voiceover industry, that voice actors are some of the nicest people you’re ever gonna meet. Some of the, some of the most generous people, the most gracious people. And it, it’s really is a wonderful group of people to be associated with. And it’s a great, it’s just a great, uh, organization all around. So
36:51
It’s, it’s interesting in this industry. And, and, and my you point that out so well, uh, because what I have, I have talked to actors, um, and specifically on camera actors, on not, you know, not, uh, not just voice actors, but people who actually are good looking and have some, you know, crazy talent beyond voice, uh, which I, which I don’t have . Um, but they, they look at our community, the voiceover community in stunned admiration, because they don’t have this, it doesn’t mean that all actors are, you know, all, all on camera stage actors are jerks. They’re not, they’re, I mean, they don’t, they’re just people trying to get by. And some of ’em are more insecure, so they act like buffoons and egotistical twits and all the rest of that stuff. And look, there are buffoons and egotistical twits and voiceover too. You’re talking to one of ’em. But, you know, there’s, but by and large, you know, myself excluded, the, the community of, of, of voice talent is a very supportive community. It is a group of people where, look, you know, we don’t, we’re based on voice and voice print is based on, you know, reception and subjective opinion of a producer. So it doesn’t matter how we look, it matters how we sound. Mm-hmm . And it, and the only sound that matters is the sound that’s inside the producer’s head. Mm-hmm . He can’t, he can’t reproduce it, and we can’t articulate it exactly as he wants it, or she wants it. And, and so it’s, he’ll know it or she’ll know it when she hears it. Mm-hmm. And then you get hired.
38:25
That’s right. That’s the name of the game. That’s ultimately what you wanna do.
38:28
Exactly. So for voiceover talents, it’s not a matter of us being able to say, oh, I, I sound like Mike, and so I can’t, you know, hang out with him. Like, forget it. Mm-hmm . You know, there’s plenty of different voices out there, and some people sound like me, and you sure they do. And if that happens, it’s, it’s, it’s more like lightning striking than anything else. About a, about a year and a half ago, um, I started a, a, a, a marketing cooperative called Male Voiceover, MVO, the voiceover guys. Mm-hmm . And it’s a, the domain is male voiceover talents.com. And I, I picked 20 guys who I knew were amazingly talented, who had amazing credentials, uh, in, in voiceover, who, you know, just worked for a terrific group. And all of them sound unique and, and special and all bring something, something, uh, challenging and wonderful to each production. Mm-hmm . You can’t find a group of actors. Well, maybe you can, I don’t think you’re gonna find many actors who would be willing to go into a, into a, into a website and say, we’re in this together. You know, this is us, and we’re, we wanna tell you about our business. We all sound individual and we’re all, you know, but, but we’re cheering on each other. Let’s let, let’s support each other as we go. And, and that’s what we do with, and it’s a marketing cooperative. People can, can reach us. You know, clients can reach us any way you want. And I limited it to 20. Mm-hmm . I get calls every day, can I join it? No, you can’t. Why? Because there’s 20 people in it already. Right.
40:00
So, right. I mean, that, and, and that makes sense. And, and at the end, at the end of the day, as you pointed out, oftentimes it’s not really a competition per se. The producer is going to pick the voice they like, they’re not gonna not pick you. They’re gonna, they’re going to pick somebody. And maybe it’s you, or maybe it’s somebody else, but it’s kind of a hard concept to wrap your head around sometimes. But just because you weren’t picked, as you said, doesn’t mean that you suck. It just means that they were looking for a particular sound, a particular delivery that they got from somebody that they locked in on and liked.
40:32
There is a, there is a great quote, and I, and I will attribute it to, uh, the great, uh, again, UK voiceover talent. His name is Philip Banks, and he is a friend of mine for a bunch of years, and he’s got more talent in his, in his pinky for voiceover than I’ll ever have in my entire body. But he has this great, uh, quote, and, and it, it applies to a lot of things in life, not just voiceover. Um, but it’s not about me. That’s the quote. Mm-hmm . Remember, when you’re talking to the producer, when you’re looking for the job, it’s not about me. There’s only so much you can control, because as an actor, as a performer, they’re buying you. They’re buying you in whatever gift wrap or bow that you put yourself in for a voice actor that’s, uh, you know, that’s tonal quality, that’s accents all the, all the tricks we have. So, so whatever gift wrap they want from you, and they’ll tell you, you know, we want you to sound southern, or they want you to sound like another actor, you know, a famous movie actor who’s a asks too much to do the spot. So we’re gonna, gonna, we’re gonna let you do it for a third of the cost. Mm-hmm . You know, but they want you in that, in, in that, um, in your packaging, that’s who they’re buying. So, but, but it’s, but when it comes to whether they pick, you know, pick you or don’t pick you or, or, uh, you know, give you direction on something to don’t, don’t make it personal. Mm-hmm . It’s because it’s, it’s not a, it’s not about it. They’re buying you, but it’s not about you. Right. If that makes any sense.
42:04
No, it does. It does. And, and that kind of brings me to my final question. You may have already said this in the course of our conversation, if so, you can go ahead and repeat it. But if you were sitting across the table from an aspiring voice actor,
42:15
That’s, that’s the guy there,
42:16
That’s the guy. I can hear him,
42:17
The guy say, hi, Mr. Mike. No, you gotta say hi, Mr. Mike, he can’t see you. Hi.
42:22
Hi. How are you today? He said, good. Okay. Good.
42:28
You are a great interview. Thank
42:29
You. He has a great interview. So say, say bye. You gotta go, and I gotta finish this up.
42:33
Bye-bye. Bye-bye. . What a cutie. So, um, so let’s say you were sitting across the desk for, from an aspiring voice actor. They just came into your office and said, Peter, I’m interested in getting into the VO world.
42:45
Do they have money in their hand?
42:46
Uh, they may, they may we’ll use. We’ll,
42:49
Exactly. We only go talk if they have money in their hand. Let’s,
42:51
Let’s assume they have some money and they’re asking you for some advice. They’ve got cash. Um, and that sound like
42:56
Biggest jerk in the world. Somebody who does not know me is gonna go, what a complete jerk he is. I don’t like him at all. I am never listening to this podcast again. Oh my God. He guys just ego, ego, ego. But enough about me. What do you think about me?
43:09
I’m gonna cancel my subscription to that podcast. Exactly.
43:14
Thanks a lot, Peter. . So, so let, let’s say you’re sitting across from this person and they aren’t mad at you. Uh, right. And they’re not offended by anything you’ve said, and they, and you, they ask you for one piece of advice that you could give them. What would it be?
43:30
My piece of advice is only to get into voiceover. If you need to perform voiceover and be a part of the voiceover community in the same way that you need to breathe it, it, it has to be that serious. It’s not vo being in voiceover. And, and again, this could apply to any other career in any other fashion, but I, I will say specifically for voiceover, it’s not about wanting to be about a voiceover. It’s about needing to be a voiceover. Mm-hmm . You need to, to just, it’s in your blood, it’s in your veins, it’s in your very being. It’s that moment when you’re five years old and you’re walking into that radio station and you’re looking at, at, at the, everything around you and seeing what’s happening. And you’re five, little 5-year-old brain is saying, I gotta do this. Mm-hmm. I gotta do this because me, me, like that, me like that muchly. Um, but the reason is you’re gonna face those obstacles of, you know, of whether I have the talent or not, or whether I have, uh, you know, a bookable voice or whether I have the versatility to do all the things I need to do in a, as a voiceover. And sometimes you’re gonna lose, but the, the need to do voiceover is going to carry you, you know, and it doesn’t mean you’re always gonna get to do voiceover full time. It, it doesn’t work out that way for everybody. Okay. No shame in that. Okay. You need to do voiceover. You need to follow your passion, but you need to have a roof over your head. You need to have a car to get around. You need to feed and educate your children, and your wife likes nice things. Okay? So whatever it takes to do all those things, happy wife, happy life. Mm-hmm . Then you have got yourself. And, you know, and if that means you do voiceover at night and you bus tables in the morning, nobody judges mm-hmm . You know, ’cause we’ve all heard stories of actors doing, you know, a menial jobs or whatever, and then they make it. And you know, what you forget is sometimes those actors who make it then, you know, drop off the face of the earth and the checks run out and the residuals aren’t there. And suddenly they’re, they’re selling insurance in Topeka, Kansas. Mm-hmm . You know why? Because they’ve got a family to feed and life goes on. That’s right. And, and, you know, their dream was short-lived and okay. But if you, if you need, if you need to do voiceover, that’s going to help get you through a great voice isn’t gonna do it. The passion will. Now you’re, you’re gonna say, if you’re listening to this, you’re gonna go, well, I have passion for voiceover, I need to do it. But people say, I have a rotten voice. Okay. That’s, that’s a conundrum. You’ve got a problem. I get it. You know, and if, and, and not just one person, but 50 people have said, I have a rotten voice. Okay. I, I don’t know how that dream’s gonna get filled. And I don’t have any good advice for that, except it’s, you know, if, if that many people think it’s not going for you, you can still try mm-hmm . But, you know, don’t give up the day job and, and, and, and still, you know, take care of the family. But I think by and large, if you have a passion for something, usually you’re pretty good at it. Yeah. You know, and it is gonna be an exception here and there, but by and large, if you have that passion, if you have that need, that need, NEED mm-hmm . I gotta do this. Like, I gotta breathe, then you’ve gotta, then you’ve got an absolute opportunity.
47:00
That’s great advice. And I know, uh, everybody listening, you know, Peter’s a funny guy and he’s self-deprecating and he’s, he, he claims he’s kind of a mean guy, but believe me, it’s a, it’s a very close knit community and the voiceover world. And everybody that I’ve ever talked to has recommended talk to Peter O’Connell, and you’re one of the nicest guys out there, Peter. So I want to thank you for coming on the show and sharing your passion and your expertise in the voiceover world and sharing that with our listeners. I know that your journey, your advice, uh, your, your, your passion are gonna inspire our listeners to keep working, to achieve their dreams. So, uh, everybody, if you haven’t downloaded the free ebook, it’s called voiceover Entrance exam, you’re gonna wanna make sure you check that out. And you can also check out Peter’s website, which is audio connell.com, A-U-D-I-O-C-O-N-N-E-L l.com for some more information. Peter, thank you so much for coming on the show, my friend.
47:57
Well, and thank you, uh, thank you for two reasons for, for giving me the time to be on the show. And, and I appreciate that very much. And then for doing the podcast, because, um, I started out with my blog. I was gonna do a blog and a podcast, and I got, I got too frustrated with doing blog, doing podcasting. And because I wanted everything to be just absolutely perfect and just so, and, and I, I found out that was giving me a high, you know, agita, so I stopped doing it. But there are people like you who are, who are good at it, who have a flow for it, who have a, a, a great talent for it that I don’t know that I had, or maybe I just had impatience in small children. I don’t know, . Um, but you know, I I, I, I find myself a much better guest on podcasts than a producer or host of a podcast. So I’m, I’m glad, I’m glad you’re doing this because I know it helps other people and it share, uh, you know, everybody can obviously hear your passion and your interest in it, and it, and it, and it bodes well for you. And, and thank you so much for taking the time not only to have me, but to actually do the show. That’s, uh, that’s a terrific thing.
48:54
Well, I, I, and it is passion for me, and I appreciate all of those sentiments. So, Peter, thank you again and continued success on your journey.
49:01
Thank you, sir. so much for joining me today on Mike Lynn’s voice, a journey into voice acting. Head on over to mike lynn’s voice.com for links and recaps of every show and other great resources to inspire you on your journey to becoming a professional voice actor. Catch you next time on Mike Lynn’s voice, A journey into voice Acting.
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