VAM 137 | Interview with Keythe Farley, Part 1
Welcome to episode 137 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!
As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:
http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast
In this episode, I’m happy to share with you part one of my interview with the amazingly talented and astoundingly accomplished, Keythe Farley! Keythe’s work is so varied that it’s difficult to reduce him to categories! He’s acted on stage, on screen and in front of the microphone. He’s voice directed animation and video games. He’s also one of the creators of the hit musical Bat Boy. He’s even produced an animated series version of the Spy vs. Spy comics from Mad Magazine! You may be familiar with his voice acting work as Thane Krios in the Mass Effect series of games, the villainous Kellog in Fallout 4 as well as Eruptor in the Skylanders series of games. He’s also voice directed the incredibly popular animated show the Rugrats for the animation studio Klasky/Csupo. When the Rugrats video game was in development, Keythe was asked to voice direct it and so began his work in Interactive media. He’s voice directed such high profile game franchises as God of War, Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Final Fantasy 15. And those are just the highlights of his work in games and animation! His theatrical and radio accomplishments are too numerous to mention here! Suffice it to say, I was very eager to sit down with Keythe and get his insight into the voice over world.
In the first part of our discussion, we talk about the early part of Keythe’s career and how his passion for Top 40 radio hits eventually led him towards storytelling and theater. His love of story in all its forms is what gave him the flexibility to be open to whatever entertainment opportunity came his way, whether it was an acting job or some other position in production. In fact, it was his willingness to take a relatively low level production assistant job at an animation studio that allowed him to learn the process of creating cartoons. The education he got from that experience not only lead to more and better opportunities at the studio, but it has helped him immensely in all aspects of his career. I really admire Keythe’s openness and his humility when it comes to working in an industry that can often be emotionally challenging, and I’m eager to share his wisdom with you!
To learn more about Keythe and his VO Lounge, visit his website at:
www.KeytheFarley.com
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #137 Here (MP3)
Hi! I’m slowly making my way through these podcasts and am on episode 20. I really enjoy them and am learning a lot! Right now, I’m taking voice acting lessons. Because of my voice, I am commonly recommended by my teachers to contact Lisa Biggs. While I am interested in learning from and connecting with Ms. Biggs, I am nervous that any attempt to reach out to her will come off as invasive or ambitious, especially because my voice is also high pitched. She also sells lessons, but I am already taking lessons at another studio. How should a newbie in voice acting contact such high profile actors when recommended as I was?
Hi there Catherine! Thanks for listening to the podcast.
In my experience starting out, it doesn’t hurt to reach out to professional voice actors as long as you behave professionally yourself, and not coming off as a fan. Keep in mind, voice actors commonly get these kinds of inquiries, so try not to take personal offense if you don’t hear back (or not within a small timeframe).
Though since you mentioned that Lisa Biggs provides lessons, I think it’s safe to say she would be more than welcoming to any questions you may have, since she’s worked with students. Also, I personally like to work with the actor first if there’s an opportunity for a class or workshop, so it gives me a proper introduction of how serious I am about my voice acting endeavors. I hope that helps you out!
I apologize if this isn’t in the right place, but I have been following your advice on seeking singing lessons, but I keep running into the problem of my throat hurting when I sing. I can barely make it through a church service. I have tried to sing “at” my natural pitch, but no luck. If this is not out of the scope of the podcast, are there any at home exercises we can learn from you to strengthen our vocal cords? Thank you for your time and effort to the art form.
Hey Jeremiah, thanks for your question–not entirely out of the scope, as singing is a great way to improve voice acting technique. I think Crispin will be able to give better advice, but I personally have found that Youtube is a great place to find throat exercises for singing warm-ups. Of course, nothing is better than having a personal teacher point out and correcting your mistakes though. I hope that helps you!
I would echo what Brenda is saying. Using your voice should never cause you pain or discomfort. If you are finding that singing causes you pain, then there is something off in your singing technique. You are most likely holding unnecessary tension in your throat while you’re singing. My advice would be to find a singing coach who can observe what you’re doing and give you advice about how to improve your technique. The solution is probably less about “strengthening” and more about relaxing. Babies can cry for hours and hours at a time without straining their voices. As we grow up, we often internalize more tension than is necessary and we lose that clear, open vocal production. A reputable coach can help you rediscover that.