Hello new voicereel! Words for our time.

16 December 2020

#news, performancepractice

Straight Talking: Words to find your way in an unreal world

Throughout this year, I have been converting a walk-in store cupboard in my house to a vocal booth where I can record voiceover. The room is at the end of the hallway. A white Victorian panelled door opens to an acoustically treated room with red fabric walls. A SHURE SM7B or a RODE sits just off centre, guarded by a metal pop screen. It’s all a bit cabaret. Even the microphone lead is red – not intentional, just a happy coincidence.

More than a few times, I have opened the door and sung in my head:

What good is sitting alone in your room. Come here the music play. Life is a cabaret old chap. Come to the cabaret [KANDER & EBB]

Okay, I admit it. I sometimes sing it out loud… Maybe you find yourself wanting to sing it outloud, now? In that case, take it away….

I love words, how they can scale from intimacy to global. In this room, rich in red, I celebrate their intimacy. The company of story.

In the year that the world turned upside down, I have read a lot of words to myself and also to others. Some of these words started to make a new story in my mind. This led to my latest demo. It’s also a personal first for me: the first demo I have curated, performed and engineered.

Introducing STRAIGHT TALKING. My own curation from the books I’ve read this year, fiction and non-fiction. Words to help with tricky times when the ground keeps disappearing, boundaries shift, and sometimes, we’re not sure which way is north.

It’s funny. It cares. It can keep a secret. It’s earnest. And sometimes irreverent. Like a good friend…

LISTEN