Delving into the world of a professional voiceover, we’re asking our talent a variety of questions – from their experiences, to why you should be booking them for your next VO project!

For the first in the series, we chat to Kieran, who’s been a professional voice actor now for over a decade, and one of our original voices at GBV.

So, Kieran, how did your career as a Voiceover Artist begin?

Great question! So ever since I was young, I always did voices. From primary school, secondary school, to the first office I worked in during my early 20’s. I found creating silly voices and mimicking teachers and bosses was so much fun, and the penny dropped, how can I get paid for this? Voiceovers felt like the most natural fit.

At the time I worked for a production company and asked one of the producers if I could give it a go, luckily they agreed and the rest became history. I set up as a full-time voice actor and for the last eleven years have worked all over the world recording all kinds of voices overs. Absolutely love it and will never retire!

What’s the best thing about being a voiceover artist?

The best thing about being a voiceover artist is the lifestyle. I have complete freedom! I remember working 9-5 jobs and I hated it. I liked the security of a pay check, but beyond that, it was not for me.

With voiceovers, I have complete freedom to travel the world and continue to work. Depending on what projects I am working on, I have time to split into other passions of mine and I am enjoying life.

I also love the creative feeling I get when working on certain types of projects. Putting my spin, or creating a voice/character and really bringing them to life and seeing others enjoy is the best feeling. I’ve found that working as a voiceover artist has brought a great sense of freedom and happiness to my life.

Not an easy career to build, but with faith, persistence, and the will to continue to always learn and grow, its a wonderful path to be on.

What’s your favourite kind of job to voice?

Ah see this is a hard question to answer because I have a few! But I would have to say commercials excite me quite a bit.

I like the fact that you have a particular amount of time to cram in a good performance, engage and deliver the message. So commercials are always fun for me. But then again I do specialize in accents, and character/animation work is such a thrill!

LISTEN TO KIERAN'S CHARACTER/ACCENTS REEL

I can really bring characters to life and use my voices to capture people’s imaginations. As different as it may seem, E-learning is another type of project which I love getting stuck into.

If I had to pick, maybe commercials which allow me to develop a character voice, but I get such joy recording all kinds of voice-overs!

HIRE A VOICE/CHARACTER ACTOR
CASTINGS VOICEOVERS FOR COMMERCIAL PROJECTS

How is your home studio set up to meet client’s needs?

When I started in voiceover, it seemed that home studios were just slowly becoming an essential way into the industry. So most of my work since starting in voiceovers has always been remote. I do attend studio sessions and have done all around the world, but generally, my home studio has been the main studio I work from. I’ve since built quite a few home studios over the years, one in London, Bali, and Austria. But now I’m solely operating from my London studio.

I believe it is key to dedicate space in a property and do everything necessary to turn that space into a lovely sounding studio. In my current studio, I installed eight inches of soundproofing layers of materials all around the room. So we have no noise getting in. I then invested in a lovely set of Primacoustic panels and positioned them strategically around the room, so we don’t create that live sound or too dead sound when recording.

I’ve invested in a beautiful Neumann TLM 103 Microphone along with a Kaotica Eye, Roland Interface, plugged into my dedicated Macbook Desktop. Loaded with Pro Tools HD and hardwired into my super-fast modem, I am set up for live sessions via Source Connect Pro, Now, ipDTL, Skype, Zoom, and any other software where clients can listen in. I record live sessions usually every day and they are such fun and its great to hear happy clients.

THE BENEFITS OF BOOKING A VOICEOVER ARTIST WITH  A HOMESTUDIO

And finally, what do you feel you can offer our clients as a professional Voiceover Artist?

If there is anything I can offer clients its not just my vocal versatility, but my experience. I’ve spent thousands of hours in studios over the last decade really learning my craft and fine-tuning my abilities to deliver a performance that would serve the purpose of the client’s expectations.

I really enjoy my work and one great attribute I can very confidently say that I bring clients, is high levels of enthusiasm and passion for their idea. This really comes across as I receive many emails daily from past clients with very very kind words on how happy they with our collaboration. I guess to put it simply, I really care about my craft and I am so keen to impress and deliver.

Couple that with an incredible home studio and high-end equipment and we have a recipe for success!

For more of Kieran’s voiceover work, visit his profile page.

To book, call +44 1753 439 289 or email Alex at Great British Voices to hire Kieran for your next voiceover project.