Tim Powers is another one of our newest coaches here at SAV and has been getting rave reviews from his students. Let’s hear a bit about how Tim got here, what his background in VO is like, and what he is working on now! Plus, where can you get the best slice of pizza in the US? Tim has some opinions on the matter.
How did you first get your start in voice-over?
I knew this was the thing for me from a very early age. When my grade-school classes did plays, I was always The Narrator. My voice changed when I was about 9 or 10 and everyone said, “Wow, little boy, you should go into radio!” I LOVED rock & roll – at 10 or 11 I had just discovered The Beatles (This was about 1979 or so) and consequently I also discovered the dying days of AM Top 40 radio. This may be a dated reference but I wanted to be Johnny Fever so badly. Three days after I graduated from high school, I was in my first radio broadcasting class at a college in St. Louis, where I quickly became the program director… and discovered both the joys and heartbreak of radio. 1987 was a golden age for free-form college radio and we had 50,000 stereo watts to play with in the St. Louis area. At 18, I had a taste of fame.
Over the years, I worked “town to town, up and down the dial” like a lot of radio folks, and I got tired of working for as little money as possible, so I started looking for other ways to make a living. In my 30’s, I found myself in Los Angeles, working as a stand-up at the Improv and the Comedy Store, as well as with various improvisational troupes in LA including the Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade, and the LA Connection, and I was introduced to my first VO mentor, the late Lori Tritel. She saw something in me and took me under her wing. I remember working with her at the legendary Buzzy’s studio on Melrose in LA (where all the celebrities who had recorded there had signed the wall – I was more excited to see Soupy Sales than Rob Paulsen) and Andy, the owner of Buzzy’s, pulled me aside and said, “Tim, you’re ready. Let’s do this.” And ever since, I’ve been able to work with clients like Disney, Warner Brothers, a ton of Netflix projects, and a lot more.
What was your favorite part of working in college radio? Is there anything you learned then that you hold on to in your career now?
Those are two very good questions. In the 80’s we were still playing vinyl records and MTV was still playing music videos. We weren’t beholden to sponsors, so we could do pretty much whatever we wanted as long as it didn’t violate the college’s code of conduct. I remember being the first station in the St. Louis area to play U2’s “Desire” as a special gift from the record label. We got to play new releases from “new” acts who you now hear on the overhead music at your local grocery store:The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Ramones, REM. he DJs could play
whatever they wanted, as long as it was cool. If you ever saw the movie “Pirate Radio” with Phillip Seymour Hoffman (and you should; it’s awesome!) it was a lot like that. Crazy, young men and women living, eating, and breathing good music.
The biggest lesson I carry with me today is to never buy into the pretense of celebrity. Just because you get recognized for your voice at a concert, or because you get fan mail, it doesn’t make you any better or more important than anyone else – and further, you need to consider the feelings of others. You’re never so important that you can afford to be impolite or arrogant. Be courteous, protect your personal boundaries, but ALWAYS be kind. In other words, and these are OLD words in Hollywood, “Never believe your own press.”
What voice-over jobs have been your favorite to work on? Why?
The one that stands out for me is when I was hired to do an ADR (Automated Dialog Replacement, or “dubbing”) job for a movie on Netflix. I was paid a good amount of money per hour, and guaranteed a two-hour minimum, so I went to the studio prepared to give my best performance and put in a good, strong workday. I got into the studio, met the director and the engineering team, got mic’d up, and watched the scene I was to dub. In the scene, my character was a guy in a cell-phone costume dancing outside a cell phone store, and he gets jostled by the lead in the movie. My line, my SINGLE line, was a four-letter word that polite company might replace with “fudge.” I did 8 takes, I made the full two-hour pay, and I was back in my car in just 28 minutes.
I’m sure my mother is proud.
What would be a bucket list VO role for you?
My DREAM job is to play Marvel superhero Mister Fantastic in a full-length CGI Marvel movie starring The Fantastic Four. I’ve been a Marvel fan since 1975 and I’d love a chance to play in that universe.
How have you enjoyed your time at Such A Voice so far? Give us some insight into your coaching style!
Such A Voice’s internal staff are all wonderful people, It’s rare that you join a company where EVERY SINGLE PERSON you encounter is not only devoted to what they do, but good at it. From the accounting team, to the admins, to the home studio coaches, to us on the front lines, every single person I have worked with has been excellent.
My coaching style morphs from client to client. I consider myself a coach instead of a teacher. If someone could learn VO out of a book, they would. But like a sport, or a musical instrument, the learning process is a lot easier with someone in your corner reminding you to do what you’re supposed to do. I think there are more secure ways to make a living, so if VO is your chosen vocation, you better have fun at it. Otherwise, go get a desk job. So I try to approach my sessions with a sense of fun and playfulness, knowing that you “gotta get the work done.”
Heather Costa says I get “epic fan mail” from my students, so I guess my style is working.
Plus, I’ve had clients who have booked their first job BEFORE they’re even done with me. That’s saying something.
What advice do you have to newcomers in VO?
Work on performance first. Anyone can read off a piece of paper – what will get you the job is your ability to make it compelling to listen to, to be believable, to connect with the listener. Having a good voice or a $5000 microphone no more makes you a voice actor than having a Fender Stratocaster makes you Eric Clapton. Performance, acting, theater, script analysis – all the parts that aren’t glamorous – are what sets you apart from the hundreds of people who bought a $50 mic on eBay and think they’re the next Mel Blanc. The reason Billy West gets the money he does is because he takes the time to prepare his performance – not because he can sound like Stimpy the Cat.
Where is your favorite place you’ve ever travelled?
You know, this sounds dopey, but I used to live blocks from Hollywood and Vine, and I used to LOVE to walk up and down Hollywood Boulevard and see the stars on the street, the handprints in front of the Chinese Theater, the old NBC studios where Bob Hope worked, the Columbia lot where they shot The Three Stooges, The Capitol Records Building where Stan Freberg recorded all his brilliant stuff. I moved out of Hollywood proper, but I’m only 15 minutes away now. I’ve been all over the place, but I am very happy to live here in Hollywood. We could use a better place for pizza in the entire LA area, but otherwise, it’s pretty cool.
Best-ever slice of pizza?
Fortel’s Pizza Den in St. Louis. Ask for Shelley. There is no debate on this whatsoever.
Since you’re working from home: are you the “get up and get dressed in real clothes”-type or the “sweatpants forever!”-type?
I haven’t worn a pair of socks in five months! After 12 years of Catholic School uniforms, I swore I’d never wear a tie or a shirt with a collar ever again. I do from time to time because, well, my wife makes me, but left to my own devices, I’d be in my Captain America pajama pants every day. I’ll put on Levi’s to run errands, but more often than not, at home, I’m in pajama pants. To be honest, I’m glad it’s getting cooler, because I love a good, cheap hoodie, too.
Anything you’d like to add or plug?
As a matter of fact, yes. Beginning September 22, you can subscribe, FREE, on your favorite Podcast platform, to “Carcerem: The Series,” Carcerem is a completely original audio drama series featuring a full cast, original music, and immersive sound design. More like a movie than an audio play, this captivating fantasy series put you in the middle of the action. Featuring sword fighting, monster attacks, giant battles, heartbreak, and humor, Carcerem is the next step in the evolution of audio entertainment. The cast includes Neil Flynn, Jane Lynch, legendary VO director Kal-El Bogdanove, Piper Laurie, the guy who was Cousin Oliver on The Brady Bunch, Pat Fraley, and me.
Dig it here: https://www.carceremtheseries.com
